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• Techno-economic feasibility of the hybrid PV/Wind/Biomass system for sustainable rural electrification have been demonstrated under both off-grid and on-grid modes, via a case study of a village in West China. • Impacts of future development of the village and changes in government incentive policy have been analyzed by performing sensitivity analysis. • Flexibility of the proposed HRES has been demonstrated by comparing off-grid and on-grid modes of the hybrid system. Reliable and sustainable power supply for remote rural areas is of vital importance for development of these areas. In this paper, the techno-economic feasibility and flexibility of hybrid renewable energy systems are demonstrated under both off-grid and on-grid modes for rural electrification, where a case study of a village in West China is presented. According to simulation and optimization results as well as sensitivity analysis, the most cost-competitive configuration is found by Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy resources (HOMER). Comparison of the off-grid and on-grid modes of the hybrid system has been carried out. The results demonstrate that a hybrid renewable energy system which comprises solar, wind and biomass is reliable and cost-effective regarding sustainable rural electrification. Moreover, environmental and social benefits can also be acquired by this system. The high capability of the proposed flexible design is demonstrated over conditions for both off-grid and on-grid modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of 12 years of the European Centre for Mesoscale Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis dataset, we statistically analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution of lower atmospheric ducts over the seas around China, and we investigated the possible generation mechanisms. The results show that the ducts' occurrence had obvious seasonal and regional variations. Ducting events were more likely to occur in spring and summer, and the maximum occurrence rate reached 45.6%, which was closely related to the East Asian monsoon. The ducts' altitude in continental coastal areas was lower than that far from the coast due to the dominance of surface ducts. The ducts' thickness varied between 50 m and 450 m, and the thicker ducts were mainly concentrated in the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean on the east side of the East China Sea near the Philippines and Taiwan. Except for a few areas, the ducts' intensity was less than 10 M-units (an M-unit is the unit of atmospheric modified refractivity) and the diurnal variations were less pronounced. The duct formation in the lower atmosphere was related to factors such as monsoons, tropical cyclones, ocean currents, radiative cooling, and sea–land breezes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]