Unit 1
Historical development of energy demand and supply systems. Impact of fossil fuel based systems. Energy scenario – global and national; Renewable energy potential – global and national. Renewable energy technologies – stand-alone, hybrid and grid-connected systems.
Solar Energy: Solar radiation, its measurements and analysis. Solar angles, day length, angle of incidence on tilted surface, Sunpath diagrams, Shadow determination. Extraterrestrial characteristics, Effect of earth atmosphere, measurement & estimation on horizontal and tilted surfaces.
Principle of Photovoltaic Conversion – Dark and illumination characteristics, Figure of merits of solar cell, Efficiency limits, Variation of efficiency with band-gap and temperature. Equivalent circuit. Crystalline and thin-film cells. Multi-junction cells. Concentrated PV cell.
Module,panel and array – series and parallel connections. Maximum power point tracking. SPV applications – battery charging, pumping and lighting, power plant. PV system design.
Small Hydro Power – Resource assessment, Environmental restrictions, SHP schemes – types, construction and equipment selection, Load frequency control.
Unit 2
Wind Energy: Atmospheric circulations. Wind shear and turbulence. Wind monitoring and resource assessment; Weibull parameters. Classification of wind regimes.
Aerodynamic principles – lift and drag forces. Power coefficient and Betz limit. Types and characteristics of wind turbines.
Wind electric generation systems – grid-connected systems: WT-IG, WT-DWIG, W T-DOIG, W T-PMG and W T-VSIG. Comparison of performance. Economic performance.
Development of windfarms, site selection, wake effect, performance indices.
Small WEGs – stand-alone and hybrid systems.
Unit 3
Biomass energy – Gasifiers and dual fuel engines; Ocean-thermal energy conversion; Tidal energy conversion; Wave energy conversion; Geothermal energy conversion; MHD; Hydrogen and fuel cells.
Energy Conservation in electrical equipment: Energy efficient lighting – luminous efficiency of lamps, efficient lamps, energy conservation codes and lighting design. Energy conservation in motors – estimation of operating efficiency of industrial motors, right selection of motor ratings, energy efficient motors; auto-stop control, delta-star operation, voltage control; Energy conservation in variable speed operation of pumps and fans – demerits of mechanical resistance control, advantages of variable speed drives, specific energy consumption, system design using VSD.
