Urbanization and escalating energy demand have intensified the need for sustainable, reliable, and efficient energy solutions in modern cities. Hybrid renewable energy systems offer a promising approach to integrate multiple renewable sources, energy storage, and intelligent management mechanisms to address intermittency, optimize energy utilization, and enhance grid resilience. The deployment of these systems within smart city frameworks enables real-time monitoring, predictive scheduling, and decentralized energy coordination, ensuring seamless integration with distributed generation, microgrids, and electric mobility infrastructure. Advanced control strategies and predictive analytics improve operational efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and support peak load management while maintaining power quality and reliability. Significant advancements, challenges related to system optimization, urban constraints, cybersecurity, and policy alignment remain critical areas for research. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of hybrid renewable energy architectures, design considerations, integration strategies, and emerging research directions, highlighting their role in fostering intelligent, low-carbon, and resilient urban energy ecosystems.
The rapid expansion of urban populations has significantly increased energy demand, placing unprecedented pressure on existing power infrastructures [1]. Urban areas consume a substantial portion of global electricity while simultaneously contributing to elevated greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation [2]. Traditional fossil fuel–based power systems struggle to meet these demands due to limited resources, high operational costs, and adverse ecological impacts. The emergence of smart cities as a comprehensive urban development model emphasizes the integration of intelligent infrastructure, data-driven governance, and sustainable energy management to address these challenges [3]. Smart city frameworks aim to enhance operational efficiency, improve resilience against disruptions, and optimize resource utilization, positioning energy systems as a central component of urban sustainability initiatives [4]. Within this context, hybrid renewable energy systems offer a promising solution by combining multiple renewable sources with energy storage and intelligent control mechanisms, ensuring a reliable and environmentally sustainable power supply capable of supporting complex urban activities [5].
Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and small-scale hydropower provide clean alternatives to conventional electricity generation but exhibit inherent intermittency and variability [6]. Standalone renewable installations often struggle to meet continuous urban energy demands due to fluctuations in generation linked to weather conditions, seasonal patterns, and location-specific factors [7]. Hybrid renewable energy systems mitigate these limitations by integrating complementary energy sources and storage units, allowing for optimized energy utilization and stable supply. Storage technologies, including batteries and supercapacitors, buffer temporal mismatches between supply and demand, while intelligent management systems coordinate generation, storage, and load requirements in real time [8]. This integration ensures energy availability during peak demand periods, reduces reliance on centralized grids, and enhances operational efficiency [9]. The deployment of hybrid systems in urban environments also supports distributed generation and microgrid architectures, which strengthen resilience, reduce transmission losses, and facilitate localized energy autonomy [10].
Integration with smart grid and microgrid infrastructures enhances the operational capability of hybrid renewable energy systems within urban contexts [11]. Advanced communication networks, Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, and real-time monitoring enable predictive energy scheduling, adaptive load management, and automated control of distributed energy resources [12]. Decentralized coordination frameworks allow individual generation and storage units to make autonomous decisions based on local conditions while maintaining alignment with overall grid stability and reliability [13]. These frameworks facilitate peer-to-peer energy exchange, demand-side response, and optimized energy dispatch, creating a resilient and flexible urban energy ecosystem [14]. Predictive analytics, machine learning, and data-driven modeling further enhance system performance by forecasting energy generation, identifying potential system failures, and enabling proactive operational adjustments. Such intelligent management approaches ensure that hybrid systems operate efficiently under dynamic urban conditions while maximizing the utilization of renewable resources [15].
