Solar Energy

Introduction:
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient
times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-
powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most
of the available renewable energy on earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar
energy is used.
Solar powered electrical generation relies on heat engines and photovoltaics.Solar applications
includes space heating and cooling,daylighting, solar hot water, solar cooking and high
temperature process heat for industrial purposes.To harvest the solar energy, the most common
way is to use solar panels.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on
the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use
of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive solar
techniques include orienting a building to the Sun,selecting materials with favorable thermal
mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

Working Principle of Solar cell:

Photovoltaic modules, commonly called solar modules, are the key components used to convert
sunlight into electricity. Solar modules are made of semiconductors that are very similar to those
used to create integrated circuits for electronic equipment. The most common type of
semiconductor currently in use is made of silicon crystal. Silicon crystals are laminated into n-
type and p-type layers, stacked on top of each other. Light striking the crystals induces the
“photovoltaic effect,” which generates electricity. The electricity produced is called direct
current (DC) and can be used immediately or stored in a battery. For systems installed on homes
served by a utility grid, a device called an inverter changes the electricity into alternating current
(AC), the standard power used in residential homes.
A p-n junction is formed by placing p-type and n-type
semiconductors next to one another. The p-type, with one less
electron, attracts the surplus electron from the n-type to
stabilize itself. Thus the electricity is displaced and generates a
flow of electrons, otherwise known as electricity.

When sunlight hits the semiconductor, an electron springs up

and is attracted toward the n-type semiconductor. This causes
more negatives in the n-type semiconductors and more
positives in the p-type, thus generating a higher flow of
electricity. This is the photovoltaic effect.

Photovotaic(PV) cell and its operation:

Photovoltaics is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. Some materials
exhibit a property known as the photoelectric effect that causes them to absorb photons of light
and release electrons. When these free electrons are captured, an electric current results that can
be used as electricity.

The photoelectric effect was first noted by a French physicist, Edmund Bequerel, in 1839, who
found that certain materials would produce small amounts of electric current when exposed to
light. In 1905, Albert Einstein described the nature of light and the photoelectric effect on which
photovoltaic technology is based, for which he later won a Nobel prize in physics. The first
photovoltaic module was built by Bell Laboratories in 1954. During the energy crisis in the
1970s, photovoltaic technology gained recognition as a source of power for non-space
applications.
The diagram above illustrates the operation of a basic photovoltaic cell, also called a solar cell.
Solar cells are made of the semiconductor materials, such as silicon. For solar cells, a thin
semiconductor wafer is specially treated to form an electric field, positive on one side and
negative on the other. When light energy strikes the solar cell, electrons are knocked loose from
the atoms in the semiconductor material. If electrical conductors are attached to the positive and
negative sides, forming an electrical circuit, the electrons can be captured in the form of an
electric current -- that is, electricity. This electricity can then be used to power a load, such as a
light or a tool.

A number of solar cells electrically connected to each other and mounted in a support structure
or frame is called a photovoltaic module. Modules are designed to supply electricity at a certain
voltage, such as a common 12 volts system. The current produced is directly dependent on how
much light strikes the module.

Characteristic of solar cell:

Types of solar cell:

There are many types of solar cell technologies which are under development, but four of them
are most commonly used, these technologies are crystalline silicon, thin films concentrators and
thermophotovoltaic solar cell technologies. These cells are integrated to other solar power plant
components to make electricity available.They are in detail in following:

Crystalline Silicon:

Crystalline silicon cells are quite widely used in most solar power plants. These types of cells
contain two layers, positive layer and negative layer just like in most semiconductors. Positive
layer exist on the top side whereas negative layer exists on button. Electric field is created with
in these layers. Photons from sun light strikes on semiconductors in result electrons are released,
electrons are electric charge. This electricity is transferred as direct current (DC) in panel.

There are some cells available which are made from polycrystalline silicon, these type of cells
are made of multiple but small in size silicon crystals, these kind of cells are relatively cheaper to
be produced but there efficiency is compromised, where as single silicon crystal cells have better
performance.

 Thin Film:
Thin film solar cells are simple, durable lighter and easier to assemble when we compare it with
silicon module solar cells. Amorphous is used to build best quality thin film cells. In these form
of solar cells atoms arrangement is not in particular order. It is very efficient type of cell; it can
convert over 90% of usable solar energy to electricity when it is exposed to light only by using
amorphous silicon thin film cell which is only one micron thick. Thin film cells have advantage
of being cost effective, they are required lesser amount semiconductor materials.

Concentrators:

One can easily understand the working of concentrator cells, they works just as optical lens do.
Concept is very much same as in magnifying glass. In concentrator cells light is concentrated
using lens to fall on solar cells to produce maximum energy as possible. By using concentrator
cells lights intensity is increase by targeting on certain area, which in result increases electricity
production.Most of concentrator cells produced these days are made up of crystalline silicon
material. But there are materials like gallium arsenide and gallium indium phosphide have
proven to be much more effective in performance when compare with silicon in solar cells, there
are chances for these cells will increase in use in future.

Thermophotovoltaics:

Thermophotovoltaics cell uses different technology to produce electricity. Thermo- means heat,
these cells converts heat into electricity; rest of it works as same as photovoltaic cells which
converts light into electricity. The only difference between thermo-photovoltaic and photovoltaic
is that thermo photovoltaic cells uses semiconductor which are designed for long wavelength,
invisible light like infrared rays released by hot objects. This way of generating electricity is very
neat and clean and also simpler to what we experience in power generation using generators,
steam turbines etc.

Applications of solar cell:

Applications of silicon solar cell:

Ordinary silicon cells are smaller in size hence produce small amount of electricity. One silicon
cell can be used for powering up calculator or wrist watch. To produce enough energy from these
types of cell for lightening up entire home modules of silicon cells are require to be made in
which these cells are connected together. These modules are building blocks for solar power.

Application of Thin Films:

These types of cells are not produced individually, but they are developed in modules and then
joint together to frames and rest of the plant. Thin layers of semiconductors are used to
manufacture thin films by using backing materials like plastic or glass. These backing materials
are directly coated with anti-reflected materials and protective layers. Thin films are designed to
match the shape of backing materials; this enabled these types of cells to be extremely flexible in
using in innovative and different shapes.

Application of Concentrator cells:

Concentrator cells are widely used in high tech industries like space and satellites etc,
concentrator cells are reliable cells that’s why these cells used in such sensitive and expensive
space operations.
A normal concentrator cell is consist of lens which help focusing sun on perfect spot of cell,
assembly of solar cell, device to waste of extra heat, wires for connectivity etc. These units are
capable of combining with other units of different shapes and sizes to form bigger modules.
Concentrator cells best works in direct sunlight, dry climates.

Applications for Thermophotovoltaic Cells:

These kinds of cells are very useful as they do not require much of maintenance works. They
cannot only convent heat energy from sun into electricity but can also convert heat from any
source into electric energy. Heat sources like fuel combustions, combustions of gasses etc.
thermophotovoltaic cells like all other types of solar cells do not release any by product which
can harm environment,that’s why they are clean sources of energy. Thermophotovoltaic cells can
be used in furnaces in future to produce their own electricity,can also be useful in battery
charging and power generators

Limitation:
Availability-Solar energy's biggest limitation is its sporadic availability.Because clouds and, of
course, nightfall interrupt the collection of solar energy, many solar plants actually are hybrid
plants that also need a secondary fossil fuel source, such as natural gas, to keep producing
energy.

Intensity-Solar energy does not always provide the level of power necessary to fulfill energy
needs of a large area. In those cases, a secondary energy source must supplement the solar
energy.
Cost-With technology to harness solar energy still under development, panels and other units
that collect and store the energy still remain prohibitively expensive for some regions.

Transmission-Because sunny deserts are the ideal spot for solar energy collection, plants there
do not have easy access to major energy grids. The plants require some method of transmission
to compensate for the lack of power lines in the desert.

Evironmental Impact-While solar energy is kind to the environment, not all of the facilities
needed to harness it are. Some of the higher capacity solar energy plants take up large amounts
of land, and building a large number of those plants could displace animal population.

Wind Turbine

Introduction:
Throughout history human have tried to utilize the forces of nature to their benefit; with nothing
but inventive mind with their side they've always tried to minimize their manual labor. In
accordance to that various device/machines are invented; turbine was an important addition to
that. A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful
work; therefore a wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind to
mechanical energy.

Working Principle of Wind Turbine:

The working mechanism of wind turbines is simple.In a wind turbine,the blades are positioned at
45-degree angle so as to capture maximum kinetic energy from wind. As the broad surface of the
blade faces the wind, it creates a positive pressure on the front when the wind hits the blade. This
pressure creates a suction behind the blade, which turns the rotor. When wind accelerates and
reaches a certain speed the blade gradually rotates and produces mechanical energy.
The energy produced is then converted into eletricity via the generators and stored in batteries
for further use. The amount of energy production depends on the rotational speed of turbine,
which in turn is directly proportional to the speed of wind. The turbine speed can even reach to
about 250 kilometers per hour. However,at very high speeds, the rotation of the blade is ceased
with the help of brakes, otherwise, there are chances that strong winds may rip off the turbine
blades.

Wind Power vs. Wind speed curve:

Typical Power Curve of a

Wind Turbine

The power available from the wind is a function of the cube of thewind speed.Therefore if the
wind blows at twice the speed its energy content will increase eight-fold.

Components of Wind Turbine:

A wind turbine installation consists of the necessary systems needed to capture the wind's
energy, point the turbine into the wind, convert mechanical rotation into electrical power, and
other systems to start, stop, and control the turbine.Components should be chossen such that the
turbine can make use of the available wind energy to maximum amount.Following are
components of wind turbines:
Blades- The blades of a wind turbine are basically the sails of the operation. They act as wind
barriers and catchers. When wind blows and causes the blades to move, some energy from the
wind is harnessed and transferred to the rotor of the wind turbine.
Two types of blades are possible. One type is the lifting-style wind turbine blade, designed
especially for capturing strong, fast winds. The second type is the drag-style wind turbine blade,
as seen on Dutch windmills. Drag-style wind turbine blades are poorly designed for capturing
high velocity winds.

Rotor & Shaft-The shaft is connected to the center of the wind turbine rotor. When the blades
and rotor spin, the shaft also spins. This allows the rotor to transfer the captured mechanical
energy to the shaft, which directs the energy to an electrical generator.

Majority of these machines have two kinds: a low-sped shaft and a high speed-shaft. The low-
speed type is turned by the rotor or the fans at 30-69 rotations per minute.The purpose of the
high-speed type is to increase the rotations up to 1200 rpm or more. This is the speed needed to
generate electricity.

Brake (to stop turbine rotation in emergencies)-

Electrical breaking- Cyclically braking causes the blades to slow down, which increases the
stalling effect, reducing the efficiency of the blades. This way, the turbine's rotation can be kept
at a safe speed in faster winds while maintaining (nominal) power output. This method is usually
not applied on large grid-connected wind turbines.

Mechanical braking-A mechanical disk breake is made of steel and is used to hold the turbine
at rest for maintenance. Such brakes are usually applied only after blade furling and
electromagnetic braking have reduced the turbine speed, as the mechanical brakes would wear
quickly if used to stop the turbine from full speed.

Controller (regulates the turbine)- The controller starts the system when speed hits 8-16 mph. It
also shuts off the system when speed is measured 65 mph or above. This is very important
because high speeds destroy the whole machine.

Generator (for producing electricity)- Wind turbine generators make electricity from the
mechanical energy generated by the rotation of the rotor. Depending on the size and capacity of
the wind turbine, generators come in different forms
Nacelle (houses the turbine and is placed on top of the tower)- The nacelle houses and protects
the generator and gear box from external elements that could cause damage.

Pitch (for controlling the direction of blades)- Standard modern turbines all pitch the blades in
high winds.Since pitching requires acting against the torque on the blade,it requires some form of
pitch angle control,which is achieved with a slewing drive.This drive precisely angles the blade
while withstanding high torque loads.In addition, many turbines use hydraulic systems.

Tower (houses the rotor)- Typically,2 types of towers exist:floating towers and land-based
towers.Generely For HAWTs tower heights approximately two to three times the blade length.

Yaw drive (required for upwind turbine and is used to regulate rotor direction) & Yaw motor
(powers the yaw drive)-wind turbines are typically actively controlled to face the wind direction
measured by a wind vane situated on the back of the nacelle.By minimizing the yaw angle,the
power output is maximized and non-symmetrical loads minimized.since the wind direction varies
quickly the turbine will not strictly follow the direction and will have a small yaw angle on
average.
Other components of a wind turbine-
Gear Box (to start the machine)
Anemometer (for measuring wind speed)
Wind vane (to measure wind direction)

Types of Wind Turbine:

Wind turbines can be separated into two basic types determined by which way the turbine
spins.They are:

Horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT)-

Horizontal axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a
tower, and they must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane
placed square with the rotor (blades), while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled
with a servo motor.
Advantage of this turbine is it’s highly efficient and can increase wind speed can by 20% and the
power output by 34% in evry ten meters up.

Main drawback of this turbine is its massive tower construction is required to support the heavy
blades gearbox and generator.It also require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the
blades toward the wind.

Verticalaxis wind turbine (VAWT)-

Verticalaxis wind turbines(VAWT) have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. The main
advantage of this arrangement is that the wind turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind.
This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly variable or has turbulent winds.

With a vertical axis, the generator and other primary components can be placed near the ground,
so the tower does not need to support it also makes maintenance easier.The main drawback of a
VAWT generally create drag when rotating into the wind.

Sizes of Wind Turbine:

For a given survivable wind speed, the mass of a turbine is approximately proportional to the
cube of its blade-length.Wind power intercepted by the turbine is proportional to the square of its
blade-length.The maximum blade-length of a turbine is limited by both the strength and stiffness
of its material.

Labor and maintenance costs increase only gradually with increasing turbine size, so to minimize
costs, wind farm turbines are basically limited by the strength of materials, and siting
requirements.
Typical modern wind turbines have diameters of 40 to 90 metres (130 to 300 ft) and are rated
between 500 kW and 2 MW. As of 2010 the most powerful turbine is rated at 7 MW.
In generel we see three type of wind turbine different in size.They are:
Utility-Scale – Corresponds to large turbines (900 kW to 2 MW per turbine), it has has blades
that span more than the length of a football field, stands 20 building stories high, and produces
enough electricity to power 1,400 homes. They are typically installed in large arrays and can also
be installed in small quantities on distribution lines,known as distributed generation.
Industrial-Scale – Corresponds to medium sized turbines (50 kW to 250 kW)intended for
remote grid production.It has rotors between 8 and 25 feet in diameter and stands upwards of 30
feet and can supply the power needs of an all-electric home or small business.
Residential-Scale – Corresponds to micro- and small-scale turbines (400 watts to 50kW)
intended for remote power, battery charging, or net metering type generation.it is used for
homes, telecommunications dishes, or water pumping.

Maintenance of Wind Turbine:

Wind turbines are unmanned, remote power plants which, unlike conventional power stations are
very much exposed to highly variable, harsh weather conditions, ranging from calm to severe
winds and conditions ranging from tropical heat, lightning, arctic cold, hail and snow. In
addition, because of these external variations, wind turbines undergo constantly changing loads.
As a result of these highly variable operational conditions, there is high mechanical stress on
wind turbines unmatched in any other form of power generation, and they therefore demand a
high degree of maintenance to provide a safe, cost effective and reliable power output with
acceptable equipment life.
Common maintenance:
Common maintenance procedures on large scale wind turbines include: periodic gearbox oil
changes, turbine blade cleaning, bolt tensioning and blade pitch control monitoring. Keeping up
with all of these minor maintenance procedures will help a wind turbine operate at its peak
performance level as well as help prevent major breakdowns like gearbox bearing failure, which
could potentially lead to replacing the entire gearbox,one of the most expensive components of
the entire wind tower.
Preventive Maintenance:
Preventive or time-based maintenance activities usually comprise time-based turbine visits set at
6 month intervals, and include mechanical activities such as fluid level checks, greasing, bolt
torque checks,inspection of blades & brake pads,as well as electrical activities such as inspection
of cable connections,fuse checks,voltage level checks,battery inspections and trip tests.
Predictive Maintenance:
Predictive maintenance activities are on-line and off-line sensors and tests. The goal from these
predictive maintenance activities is to produce an equipment condition assessment. They allow
the plant owner/operator to plan in advance for ordering parts,scheduling work and planning for
the repair-refurbish activities.A well organized predictive maintenance will minimize unplanned
turbine outages and maximize turbine energy output and revenue generation.it reduce the threat
of sudden and unexpected failures of different components.

Disadvantage:
The strength of the wind is not constant and it varies from zero to storm force.This means that
wind turbines do not produce the same amount of output all the time.
Wind turbines are noisy.Each one can generate the same level of noise as a family car travelling
at 70 mph.Also,the blades of wind turbines can hit birds who attempt to fly between them.