Smartworld.

asia 1
Energy Engineering 10ME53

UNIT-6
SOLAR ENERGY AND WIND ENERGY
Wind energy is another potential source of energy. Winds are the motion of air caused by un-even heating of the
earth‘s surface by the sun and rotation of the earth. It generates due to various global phenomena such as ‗air-
temperature difference‘ associated with different rates of solar heating. Since the earth‘s surface is made up of
land, desert, water, and forest areas, the surface absorbs the sun‘s radiation differently. Locally, the strong winds
are created by sharp temperature difference between the land and the sea. Wind resources in India are tremendous.
They are mainly located near the sea coasts. Its potential in India is estimated to be of 25 × 103 mW. According to a
news release fromAmerican Wind Energy Association the installed wind capacity in India in the year 2000 was
1167 mW and the wind energy production was 2.33 × 106 mWh. This is 0.6% of the total electricity production.

Availability of wind energy in India

The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years.
Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or the United States, India has the
fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world. In 2009-10 India's growth rate was highest among the other
top four countries.
As of 31 Jan 2013 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 19051.5MW, mainly spread across Tamil
Nadu (7154 MW), Gujarat (3,093 MW), Maharashtra (2976 MW), Karnataka(2113 MW), Rajasthan (2355
MW), Madhya Pradesh (386 MW), Andhra Pradesh (435 MW), Kerala (35.1 MW), Orissa (2MW), West
Bengal (1.1 MW) and other states (3.20 MW) It is estimated that 6,000 MW of additional wind power capacity will
be installed in India by 2012. Wind power accounts for 8.5% of India's total installed power capacity, and it
generates 1.6% of the country's power. India's wind atlas is available.

Forces on the Blades. There are two types of forces operating on the blades of a propeller-type
wind turbine. They are the circumferential forces in the direction of wheel rotation that provide the torque and the
axial forces in the direction of the wind stream that provide an axial thrust that must be counteracted by proper
mechanical design.

The circumferential force, or torque, T is obtained from

T=
where T = torque, N or lb,
ω = angular velocity of turbine wheel, m/s
D = diameter of turbine wheel = A/π, m

N = wheel revolutions per unit time, s-1

For a turbine operating at power P, the torque is given by

For a turbine operating at maximum efficiency ηmax = 16/27, the torque is given by Tmax,

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 84

 Smartworld.asia 2
Energy Engineering 10ME53

The axial force, or axial thrust, is

The axial force on a turbine wheel operating at maximum efficiency where Ve = 1/3; Vi is given by

The axial forces are proportional to the square of the diameter of the turbine wheel which makes them difficult to
cope with in extremely large-diameter machines. There is thus an upper limit of diameter that must be determined by
design and economical considerations

The performance of a wind mill rotor stated as coefficient of performance is expressed as:

Cp = A/Pmax
= A/ (1/2 ρV3)
where ρ = Density of air
A = Swept area
V = Velocity of the wind

Further the tip speed ratio being the function of speed at the tip of the rotor to the wind speed,
i.e. U/V and in most of the parts of India, the wind velocity being low (through the wind energy average around 3
kWh/m2 day) The exploitation of wind mills in India is feasible. Depending upon the survey of velocity in a region
the appropriate value of design parameter may be computed

Wind Turbine Classification

Horizontal Axis Machines: Machines with rotors that move in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the wind.
A farmer‘s windmill, for example.

Vertical Axis Machines: Machines that have the working surfaces traveling in the direction of the wind.
These machines are sometimes called ―panemones.‖

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 85

 Smartworld.asia 3
Energy Engineering 10ME53

Horizontal axis type wind mill

Fig: Horizontal-axis wind turbines

Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a
tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines
generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor. Most have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the
blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive an electrical generator. Since a tower
produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is usually positioned upwind of its supporting tower. Turbine blades are
made stiff to prevent the blades from being pushed into the tower by high winds. Additionally, the blades are placed
a considerable distance in front of the tower and are sometimes tilted forward into the wind a small amount.
Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence (mast wake), because they don't need an
additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the wind, and because in high winds the blades can be allowed to
bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since cyclical (that is repetitive) turbulence may
lead to fatigue failures, most HAWTs are of upwind design.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 86

 Smartworld.asia 4
Energy Engineering 10ME53

Vertical Axis wind mill

Fig: Vertical-axis wind turbine

Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. Key advantages of this
arrangement are that the turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind to be effective. This is an advantage on
sites where the wind direction is highly variable, for example when integrated into buildings. The key disadvantages
include the low rotational speed with the consequential higher torque and hence higher cost of the drive train, the
inherently lower power coefficient, the 360 degree rotation of the aerofoil within the wind flow during each cycle
and hence the highly dynamic loading on the blade, the pulsating torque generated by some rotor designs on the drive
train, and the difficulty of modelling the wind flow accurately and hence the challenges of analysing and designing
the rotor prior to fabricating a prototype
With a vertical axis, the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground, using a direct drive from the
rotor assembly to the ground-based gearbox, hence improving accessibility for maintenance.
When a turbine is mounted on a rooftop, the building generally redirects wind over the roof and these can
double the wind speed at the turbine. If the height of the roof top mounted turbine tower is approximately 50% of the
building height, this is near the optimum for maximum wind energy and minimum wind turbulence.

COEFFICIENT PERFORMANCE OF WIND MILL ROTOR

As WECS is a capital intensive technology it is desirable for the overall wind electric plant to have the highest
efficiency possible optimally utilizing capital resources and minimizing the electric energy cost

This eqn is an application of cascaded energy conversion, where in overall efficiency will be strongly
determined by the lowest efficiency convertor in the cascade. For the aerogenerator this is the aeroturbine; the
efficiency of the remaining three elements can be made quite high but less than 100%
Consider an arbitrary aeroturbine of cross sectional area A driven by the wind.Its efficiency is given by

ηa =
=Cp

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 87

 Smartworld.asia 5
Energy Engineering 10ME53

=Coefficient of Performance
The Coefficient of Performance of an aero turbine is the fraction of power in the wind through the swept area
which is converted into useful mechanical shaft power. Cp for horizontal axis wind machine has theoretical
maximum value=0.593
The convertible power of energy is proportional to the cube of the wind speed.Thus if the wind speed
decreases by 20%,the power output is reduced by almost 50%.The wind speed may vary from day to day and from
season to season.

Fig: Typical performance of wind machine

SOLAR ENERGY
The sun is the source of the vast majority of the energy we use on earth. Most of the energy we use has
undergone various transformations before it is finally utilized, but it is also possible to tap this source of
solar energy as it arrives on the earth‘s surface.

Solar energy is quite simply the energy produced directly by the sun and collected elsewhere, normally the
Earth. The sun creates its energy through a thermonuclear process that converts about 650,000,0001 tons
of hydrogen to helium every second. The process creates heat and electromagnetic radiation. The heat
remains in the sun and is instrumental in maintaining the thermonuclear reaction. The electromagnetic
radiation (including visible light, infra-red light, and ultra-violet radiation) streams out into space in all
directions
A solar collector is a device which converts solar energy into heat, used most frequently for warming water
passing through the collector. Depending on their material and design, objects reflect, absorb or transmit solar
radiation. Heat is generated when solar radiation is absorbed by a material. Therefore the task of a heat
utilization equipment with solar collectors is to absorb as much solar energy as possible and to convert it into
heat effectively. Devices absorbing solar radiation and converting it into heat are called solar collectors (solar
energy collectors).

Solar radiation measurements

Instruments for measuring solar radiation:

Two basic types of instruments are used in measurements of solar radiation. These are:

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 88

 Smartworld.asia 6
Energy Engineering 10ME53

1. Pyranometer: An instrument used to measure global (direct and diffuse) solar radiation on a surface. This
instrument can also be used to measure the diffuse radiation by blocking out the direct radiation with a
shadow band.
2. Pyrheliometer: This instrument is used to measure only the direct solar radiation on a surface normal to
the incident beam. It is generally used with a tracking mount to keep it aligned with the sun.
Solar radiation defining terms:

Diffuse radiation: Scattered solar radiation coming from the sky.

Direct or beam normal radiation: Part of solar radiation coming from the direction of the sun on a
surface normal to the sun‘s rays.
Equation of time: Correction factor in minutes, to account for the irregularity of the Earth‘s motion
around the sun.
Extraterrestrial solar radiation: Solar radiation outside Earth‘s atmosphere.
Insolation: Incident solar radiation measured as W/m2 or Btu/hr-ft2.
Solar altitude angle: Angle between the solar rays and the horizontal plane.
Solar azimuth angle: Angle between the true south horizontal line and the horizontal projection of the
sun‘s rays.
Solar constant: Extraterrestrial solar radiation at the mean Earth-sun distance.
Solar declination: Angle between the Earth-sun line and a plane through the equator.

SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANT

In the solar power plant, solar energy is used to generate electricity. Sunrays are focused using concave
reflectors on to copper tubes filled with water and painted black outside. The water in the tubes then boils
and become steam. This steam is used to drive steam turbine, which in turn causes the generator to work. A
plant using this principle is working on experimental basis in Gurgaon in Haryana. Its capacity is 500
kilowatt. Another plant of similar type is being constructed in Jodhpur in Rajastan. Many power plants today
use fossil fuels as a heat source to boil water. The steam from the boiling water rotat

es a large turbine, which activates a generator that produces electricity. However, a new generation of
power plants, with concentrating solar power systems, uses the sun as a heat source. There are three main
types of concentrating solar power systems: parabolic-trough, dish/engine, and power tower.

Parabolic-trough systems concentrate the sun‘s energy through long rectangular, curved (U-shaped)
mirrors. The mirrors are tilted toward the sun, focusing sunlight on a pipe that runs down the center of the
trough. This heats the oil flowing through the pipe. The hot oil then is used to boil water in a conventional
steam generator to produce electricity.
A dish/engine system uses a mirrored dish (similar to a very large satellite dish). The dishshaped
surface collects and concentrates the sun's heat onto a receiver, which absorbs the heat and transfers it to fluid
within the engine. The heat causes the fluid to expand against a piston or turbine to produce mechanical
power. The mechanical power is then used to run a generator or alternator to produce electricity.
A power tower system uses a large field of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto the top of a tower,
where a receiver sits. This heats molten salt flowing through the receiver. Then, the salt‘s heat is used to
generate electricity through a conventional steam generator. Molten salt retains heat efficiently, so it can be
stored for days before being converted into electricity. That means electricity can be produced on cloudy days

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 89

 Smartworld.asia 7
Energy Engineering 10ME53

or even several hours after sunset.

‗Solar Power Tower’ Power Plant The first is the 'Solar Power Tower' design which uses thousands of
sun-tracking reflectors or heliostats to direct and concentrate solar radiation onto a boiler located atop a
tower. The temperature in the boiler rises to 500 - 7000°C and the steam raised can be used to drive a turbine,
which in turn drives an electricity producing turbine. There are also called central Receiver Solar Power
Plants.

FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR

A typical flat-plate collector is a metal box with a glass or plastic cover (called glazing) on top and a dark-
colored absorber plate on the bottom. The sides and bottom of the collector are usually insulated to minimize
heat loss.

Sunlight passes through the glazing and strikes the absorber plate, which heats up, changing solar energy
into heat energy. The heat is transferred to liquid passing through pipes attached to the absorber plate.
Absorber plates are commonly painted with "selective coatings," which absorb and retain heat better than
ordinary black paint. Absorber plates are usually made of metal—typically copper or aluminium because
the metal is a good heat conductor. Copper is more expensive, but is a better conductor and less prone to
corrosion than aluminium. In locations with average available solar energy, flat plate collectors are sized
approximately one-half- to one-square foot per gallon of one-day's hot water use.

Solar ponds for trapping solar energy

The sun is the largest source of renewable energy and this energy is abundantly available in all parts of the
earth. It is in fact one of the best alternatives to the non-renewable sources of energy.

One way to tap solar energy is through the use of solar ponds. Solar ponds are large-scale energy
collectors with integral heat storage for supplying thermal energy. It can be use for various applications,
such as process heating, water desalination, refrigeration, drying and power generation.

The solar pond works on a very simple principle. It is well-known that water or air is heated they become
lighter and rise upward e.g. a hot air balloon. Similarly, in an ordinary pond, the sun‘s rays heat the water
and the heated water from within the pond rises and reaches the top but loses the heat into the atmosphere.
The net result is that the pond water remains at the atmospheric temperature. The solar pond restricts this
tendency by dissolving salt in the bottom layer of the pond making it too heavy to rise.

A solar pond has three zones. The top zone is the surface zone, or UCZ (Upper Convective Zone), which
is at atmospheric temperature and has little salt content. The bottom zone is very hot, 70°– 85° C, and is
very salty. It is this zone that collects and stores solar energy in the form of heat, and is, therefore, known

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 90

 Smartworld.asia 8
Energy Engineering 10ME53

as the storage zone or LCZ (Lower Convective Zone). Separating these two zones is the important
gradient zone or NCZ (Non-Convective Zone). Here the salt content increases as depth increases, thereby
creating a salinity or density gradient. If we consider a particular layer in this zone, water of that layer
cannot rise, as the layer of water above has less salt content and is, therefore, lighter. Similarly, the water
from this layer cannot fall as the water layer below has a higher salt content and is, therefore, heavier.
This gradient zone acts as a transparent insulator permitting sunlight to reach the bottom zone but also
entrapping it there. The trapped (solar) energy is then withdrawn from the pond in the form of hot brine
from the storage zone.

SOLAR ENERGY STORAGE

It is well known that human beings have been using solar energy for different uses, from ancient days.
Find examples of these uses and add to the list given below.
1. To get salt from sea water.
2. To dry wet clothes
3. To dry firewood
4. To dry cereals
5. To dry fish
6. To dry leather

We now use several appliances which work using solar energy. Appliances like solar cooker and solar heater
absorb solar radiations and convert it into heat

SPACE HEATING
In colder areas of the world (including high altitude areas within the tropics) space heating is often
required during the winter months. Vast quantities of energy can be used to achieve this. If buildings are
carefully designed to take full advantage of the solar insolation which they receive then much of the
heating requirement can be met by solar gain alone. By incorporating certain simple design principles a
new dwelling can be made to be fuel efficient and comfortable for habitation. The bulk of these
technologies are architecture based and passive in nature. The use of building materials with a high
thermal mass (which stores heat), good insulation and large glazed areas can increase a buildings
capacity to capture and store heat from the sun. Many technologies exist to assist with diurnal heating
needs but seasonal storage is more difficult and costly.

For passive solar design to be effective certain guidelines should be followed:

1. A building should have large areas of glazing facing the sun to maximise solar gain
2. Features should be included to regulate heat intake to prevent the building from overheating
3. A building should be of sufficient mass to allow heat storage for the required period
4. Contain features which promote the even distribution of heat throughout the building.

SPACE COOLING
The majority of the worlds developing countries, however, lie within the tropics and have little
need of space heating. There is a demand, however, for space cooling. The majority of the worlds
warm-climate cultures have again developed traditional, simple, elegant techniques for cooling their
dwellings, often using effects promoted by passive solar phenomenon. There are many methods for
minimising heat gain. These include siting a building in shade or near water, using vegetation or land -

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 91

 Smartworld.asia 9
Energy Engineering 10ME53

scaping to direct wind into the building, good town planning to optimise the prevailing wind and
available shade. Buildings can be designed for a given climate domed roofs and thermally massive
structures in hot arid climates, shuttered and shaded windows to prevent heat gain, open structure
bamboo housing in warm, humid areas. In some countries dwellings are constructed underground and
take advantage of the relatively low and stable temperature of the surrounding ground. There are as
many options as there are people.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SOLAR POWER PLANTS

Solar Thermal Applications. The applications include water heating for domestic, commercial and
industrial use, space heating and drying, solar distillation, solar cooling through absorption & adsorption
cycles, solar water pumping and solar power generation.

Solar Photovoltaics. Photovoltaic (PV) or solar cells refers to the creation of voltage from light.
A solar cell is a converter; it changes the light energy into electrical energy. A cell does not store any energy,
so when the source of light (typically the sun) is removed, there is no electrical current from the cell. If
electricity is needed in the night, a battery must be included in the circuit. There are many materials that
can be used to make solar cells, but the most common is the element silicon. A typical solar cell is 3-6
inches in diameter and is now available in various shapes like circular, square, etc. The conversion
processes occurs instantly whenever there is light falling on the surface of a cell. And the output of the cell
is proportional to the input light.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, SJBIT Page 92