Imperialistic competition algorithm: Novel advanced approach to optimal sizing of hybrid power system

Energy is vital to social and economic development. Increased energy demand and reduced fossil fuel resources led to use of renewable energy (RE) resources, whose intermittence and high investment cost spur research into optimal sizing of hybrid systems. Advancements in computer hardware and software enable solution of optimization problems through algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), etc. The recently introduced Imperialistic Competition Algorithm (ICA) has shown excellent capability in solving various optimization problems. This paper introduces it and shows its benefits to an optimal-sizing problem of a hybrid RE system. The results will be shown and the effect of changing optimization's parameters will be discussed. To test the potential of proposed algorithm for minimum cost solution finding, a comparison between ICA and PSO algorithm will be provided. Results show the advantage of using ICA algorithm to find a better optimum solution for hybrid power system.