Solar Energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the
Sun.
Solar energy is the cleanest and most
abundant renewable energy source.
The energy from the Sun is available at free of
cost.
It is known that only a small fraction of the
energy radiated by the Sun reaches the earth.
Solar energy is harnessed using ever-evolving
technologies, how they capture & distribute
solar energy, such as
Active Solar techniques – Solar thermal, Solar
Photovoltaic to harness the energy.
Passive Solar technique – Orienting a building
to the Sun, selecting materials with light-
dispersing properties and designing spaces
that naturally circulate air.
Solar Thermal Power Plant
Utilize energy from the Sun to heat a fluid to a high temperature. This
fluid then transfers its heat to water, which becomes superheated
steam. This steam is then used to turn turbines in a power plant, and
this mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy by a
generator.
This type of generation is essentially the same as electricity generation
that uses fossil fuels, but instead heats steam using sunlight instead of
combustion of fossil fuels.
These systems use solar collectors to concentrate the Sun’s rays on one
point to achieve appropriate high temperatures.
Concentrated
collectors
Parabolic Troughs: Also known as line focus collectors.
Parabolic shaped reflector that concentrates incident sunlight
on a pipe that runs down the trough.
Collectors utilize a single-axis Solar tracking system to
track the Sun across the sky as it moves from east to west.
This maximise the solar energy incident on the mirrors.
The receiver pipe in the centre can reach
temperatures of 4000C as the trough focuses Sun at 30-100
times its normal intensity.
These troughs are lined up in rows on a Solar field. A
heat transfer fluid is heated as it is run through the pipes in
the parabolic trough.
Fluid returns to heat exchangers at a central location
where the heat is transferred to water, generating high
pressure super heated steam.
Concentrated
collectors
Parabolic Dishes:
These are large dishes that use motors to track the
Sun. This ensures the highest possible amount of solar
radiation incident. This radiation/sunlight incident then
concentrate at the focal point of the dish.
These dishes can concentrate sunlight much better
than parabolic troughs and the fluid run through them can
reach temperatures up to 7500C.
In these systems, a Stirling engine converts heat to
mechanical energy through a turbine. A generator then
converts this mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Concentrated
collectors
Solar Towers:
These are large towers that act as a central receiver for
solar energy. They stand in the middle of a large array of mirrors
that all concentrate sunlight on a point in the tower. These large
number of flat, sun tracking mirrors are known as heliostats.
In the tower, there is a mounted heat exchanger where
the heat exchange fluid is warmed. The heat concentrated to this
point can be 1500 times as intense as incident sunlight. The hot
fluid is then used to create steam to run a turbine and generator,
producing electricity.
One drawback with these towers is they must be very
large to be economical.
Flat Plate collectors
The flat plate collector consists of an absorber plate,
tubes or pipes for conducting or directing the heat transfer
fluid, one or more covers, insulation to minimize the
downward heat loss from the absorbing plate, casing which
encloses the foregoing components and keeps them free of
dust and moisture and reduces thermal losses.
The absorber element is made of a metal such as
galvanized iron, aluminum, copper etc. Cover is of glass of
4mm thick. The back of absorber is insulated with glass wool,
asbestos wool or some other insulating material. The casing is
made of wood or some light metal like Aluminum.
Solar Cell Construction & Working
Solar Panel Working
Solar Plant Systems
SLD of 200kWp Roof top Grid connected Solar PV power Plant
Module 1 PV Module:
Make : WAAREE
String26
String36
String46
String31
String41
String51
String66
String81
String16
String11
String56
String21
String71
String76
String86
String21
Model : WS – 280
Pmax : 280.0W
Vmp : 35.0V
Module 15 Imp : 8.0A
Isc : 8.68A
Voc : 43.0V
6 Strings 6 Strings 6 Strings 6 Strings 6 Strings 6 Strings 6 Strings 6 Strings Max. System Voltage : 1000V
No. of Cells in Module : 72
Cell Efficiency : 17.25%
Module Efficiency : 15.4%
Inverter – 6
Inverter – 7
Inverter – 8
Inverter – 1
Inverter – 2
Inverter – 3
Inverter – 4
Inverter – 5
Solar Inverter:
Make : SMA
Model : STP20000TLEE – 10
Mode : Grid – Tie Operation
Vdc max : 1000V
Vdc MPP : 580 – 800V
V – BLOCK M.C.C.B J.C BOSE – BLOCK Idc max : 36A
(150A,3PN) M.C.C.B (250A,3PN) Vac, r : 400V (3P+N+PE)
AC PANEL BOARD AC PANEL BOARD
Pac : 20KW
Sac : 20KVA
Iac max : 29A
Iac max fault : 50A
Frequency : 50Hz (44 to 55 Hz)
Efficiency : 98.5%
POWER HOUSE BUS BAR
M.C.C.B (400A,3PN) AC PANEL BOARD
TO COLLEGE LOAD
Solar Satellite Power
Plant
The man-made satellite revolving around the earth will
receive energy for all the 24hrs and will not be affected by the
weather conditions.
The solar cell panels installed on the satellite in area from 16-
100sq.km according to the capacity. The panels generate DC
power and transmitted by means of microwaves(about 10cm
wavelength), using transmitting antenna(dia of 1km). Microwave
transmission may be at 2-3GHz as this keeps the losses minimum
( the η of transmission is about 55-75%).
On the earth(receiving antenna of dia 7-10kms) this
energy is converted into high voltage DC or commercial frequency
AC power. The overall η is around 25% may go upto 60%.
