SOLAR ENERGY SOURCE: solar radiation, Measurements of Solar Radiation, Collectors,

working principle of photo voltaic cell, Equivalent Circuit model, Performance Characteristics,
Applications

WIND ENERGY SOURCE: Introduction, site selection considerations for installing wind
mill, Construction details of the wind mill (Wind Turbine Gear System), Types of Wind Power
Plants

Solar Radiation:
 Solar radiation is radiant energy emitted by the sun from a nuclear fusion reaction
that creates electromagnetic energy. The sun emits electromagnetic radiations as a
(black body ) having a surface temperature of about 6000K. This is because of the
nuclear reaction running in it, where the sun is converting hydrogen into helium.
 The radius of the sun amounts to 1.39 * 10 9 m. The total radiation power received
from the sun on a unit area perpendicular to the sun rays at the mean earth sun
distance, termed an astronomical unit, is called the solar constant (SC) , Where
1 astronomical unit = 1AU =1.496 *1011 m.
 The solar radiation intensity at other distances is expressed in terms of SC with SC =
1.353 KW/m2
 As sunlight passes through the atmosphere , some of it is absorbed, scattered , and
reflected by Air molecules, water vapor
 Like a black body radiation, the sun’s radiation covers a wide spectrum of
wavelengths from deep ultraviolet to far infrared.
 Infrared means (of electromagnetic radiation) having a wavelength just greater
than that of the red end of the visible light spectrum but less than that of
microwaves. Infrared radiation has a wavelength from about 800 nm to 1 mm, and
is emitted particularly by heated objects.
 The power spectral distribution of the sunlight is shown in fir.1.
 The vertical axis represents the spectral irradiance I() while the horizontal
axis represents the wavelength in mm.
 The irradiance I() is equal to the incident solar power /m 2/ =
W/m2/mm. Where  is the respective wavelength range in µm.
 Irradiance means the flux of radiant energy per unit area (normal to the
direction of flow of radiant energy through a medium).
 It is clear from above fig 1 that the maximum spectral irradiance lies at  =
0.5 µm.
 The spectral irradiance decreases because of the presence of air in the
atmosphere. The air molecules scatter and absorb the solar radiation. There
are multiple absorption bands for O2, H2O and CO2. It is important to notice
that the solar irradiance resembles the block body radiation at 6000K
represented by the dashed line.
 The solar power intensity without the effect of the atmosphere or ground
surface is called Air Mass Zero where one AMO = 1 SC = 135.3 mW/cm2.
 As the solar radiation passes through the atmosphere, it gets absorbed,
scattered reflected or transmitted.
 All these processes result in reduction of the energy flux density. Actually, the
solar flux density is reduced by about 30% compared to extraterrestrial
radiation flux on a sunny day and is reduced by as much as 90% on a cloudy
day.
 The earth’s atmosphere contains various gaseous constituents, suspended
dust and other minute solid and liquid particulate matter. These air
molecules, ozone oxygen , nitrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water
 vapor , dust and water droplets. Therefore , solar radiation is depleted during
its passage through the atmosphere. Different molecules do different things
as explained below:
 Scattered things are spread over an area in an untidy or irregular way.
 Reflected means "when the sun's rays hit the Earth a lot of the heat is
reflected back into space"
 Earth absorbed solar energy
 The solar radiation reaching the earth is highly variable and depends on the
state of the atmosphere at a specific locality. Two atmospheric processes can
significantly affect the incident irradiation: scattering and absorption.
 Scattering is caused by interaction of the radiation with molecules, water and
dust particles in the air. The amount of light scattered depends on the
number of particles in the atmosphere , particle size and the total air mass
the radiation comes through.
 Absorption occurs upon interaction of the radiation with certain molecules,
such as ozone (absorption of short wave radiation – ultraviolet), water vapor
and carbon dioxide (absorption of long wave radiation – infrared)
 Due to these processes, out of the whole spectrum of solar radiation, only a
small portion reaches the earth surface. Thus most of x-rays and other short
wave radiation is absorbed by atmospheric components in the ionosphere,
ultraviolet is absorbed by ozone and not so abundant long wave radiation is
absorbed by CO2. As a result, the main wavelength range to be considered for
solar applications is from 0.29 to 2.5 µm
 Classification of solar radiation:
1. Absorption Radiation:
 Selective absorption of various wavelengths occurs by different molecules.
 Absorbed by particles and molecules in the atmosphere – 10-30%. The absorbed
radiation increases the energy of the absorbing molecules, thus raising their
temperatures
 Nitrogen, Molecular oxygen and other atmospheric gases absorb the X-rays and
extreme ultraviolet radiations.
 Ozone absorbs a significant amount of ultraviolet radiation in the range <0.38 µm
 Water vapor H2O and carbon dioxide absorb almost completely in infrared radiation in
the >2.3 µm and deplete to extent the near infrared radiation below this range.
 Dust particles and air molecules also absorb a part of solar radiant energy irrespective of
wave length.
2. Scattering Radiation:
 Scattering by dust particles, and air molecules or gaseous particles of
different sizes involves redistribution of incident energy. It divided into two
parts.
 A part of scattered radiation is lost (reflected back) to space.
  Remaining part is directed downwards to the earth’s surface from different
directions as diffuse radiation. It is the scattered sunlight that makes the sky
blue.
 Without atmosphere and its ability to scatter sunlight , the sky would appear
 Reflected and scattered back to space – 2-11%
 Scattered to earth (direct radiation becomes diffuse ) – 5-26 %
 In Cloudy atmosphere,
 A major part of the incoming solar radiation is reflected back into the
atmosphere by the clouds
 Another part is absorbed by the clouds
 The rest is transmitted downwards to the earth surface as diffuse
radiaion
The energy is reflected back to the space by
 Reflection from clouds
 Scattering by the atmospheric gases and dust particles
 The reflection from the earth’s surface is called albedo of earth atmosphere system
 On the surface of earth have two components of solar radiation
 Direct or beam radiation, unchanged in direction
 Diffuse radiation, the direction of which is changed by scattering and
reflection.
 Total radiation at any location on the surface of earth is the sum of beam
radiation and diffuse radiation.
 These terms may be properly defined as follows:
 Beam radiation: Solar radiation propagating in a straight line and received at the
earth surface without change of direction, i.e., in line with sun is called beam or
direct radiation.
 Diffuse radiation: Solar radiation scattered by aerosols, dust and molecules is
known as diffuse radiation. It does not have a unique direction.
 Global radiation: The sum of beam and diffuse radiation is referred to as total or
global radiation.
 The scattered and reflected radiation that is sent to the earth surface from all
directions (reflected from other bodies, molecules, particles, droplets, etc.,) is
defined as diffuse radiation. The sum of the beam and diffuse components is
defined as total (or global) radiation
 In general, the intensity of diffuse radiation coming from various directions in
the sky is not uniform . the diffuse radiation is therefore said to anisotropic in
nature.
 Heavy cloud situation, the intensity from all directions tends to be reasonably
uniform and it thus becomes isotropic in nature.
 As a result, the direct radiation reaching the earth surface (or device installed
on the earth surface) never exceeds 83% of the original extra earthly energy
 flux. This radiation that comes directly from the solar disk is defined as beam
radiation.
 Short wave radiation, in the wavelength range from 0.3 to 3 µm, comes
directly from the sun. it includes both beam and diffuse components.
 Long wave radiation, with wavelength 3 µm or longer, originates from the
sources at near ambient temperatures (Ambient temperature is the
temperature of the air surrounding a component.)– Atmosphere, earth
surface, light collectors, other bodies.
 Insolation is incident solar radiation onto some object. Specifically, it is a
measure of the solar energy that is incident on a specified area over a set
period of time.
 Insolation is expressed in two ways. One unit is kilowatt hours per square
meter (KWH/m2) per day which represents the average amount of energy
hitting an area each day.
 Another form is watts per square meter which represents the average
amount of power hitting an area over an entire year.
 It is important to have values for insolation at certain positions on the Earth
as these figures are used to help determine the size and output of solar
power systems. Values for insolation can help to determine the expected
output for solar panels and determine where on earth solar panels would be
most effective.

Measurement of Solar Radiation:

It is important to measure solar radiation, owing to the increasing number of solar
heating and cooling applications, and the necessity for accurate solar radiation data to
predict performance.
The following three devices are used for measuring the solar radiations,
1. Pyranometer 2. Pyrheliometers 3. Sunshine recorders
Pyranometer working and construction:
Pyranometer is a device that can be used to measure both beam radiation and diffused
radiation. It is used to measure total hemispherical radiation (beam plus diffuse on a
horizontal surface)
 The working principle of this instrument is that sensitive surface is exposed to total
(beam, diffuse and reflected from the earth and surrounding) radiation.
Construction:
 It consists of a “black Surface” which receives the beam as well diffuse radiation
which rises heat. A glass dome prevents the loss of radiation received by the block
surface.
 A “thermopile” is a temperature sensor, and consists of a number of thermo couples
connected in series to increase the sensitivity. The supporting stand keeps the black
surface in proper position.
Working:
 When the pyranometer is exposed to sun, it starts receiving the radiations. As a result, the
surface temperature starts rising due to absorption of the radiation,
 The increase in the temperature of the absorbing surface is detected by the thermopile.
 The thermopile generates a thermo emf which is proportional to the radiations absorbed; this
thermo emf is calibrated in terms of the received radiations. This will measure the global solar
radiations.
Pyrheliometer: Pyrheliometer is a device used for measuring direct beam radiation at
normal incidence. Its outer structure looks like a long tube, projecting the image of a
telescope and to point the lens to the sun to measure the radiance.

The lens is pointed towards the sun and the radiation will pass through the lens, tube and
at the end falls on to the block object present at the bottom. A simpler diagram is shown in
the fig.
  In the circuit, it can be seen that the black body absorbs the radiation falling from
the lens and a perfect black body completely absorbs any radiation falling on it, so
the radiation falling into the tube gets absorbed by the black objet entirely.
 Once the radiation gets absorbed the atoms in the body gets excited because of the
increasing temperature of the entire body. This temperature increase will also be
experienced by the thermocouple junction ‘A’ .
 Now with junction A of the thermocouple at high temperature and junction ‘B’ at
low temperature, a current flow takes place in its loop. (Thermo couple action)
 This current in loop will also flow through the galvanometer which is in series and
thereby causing a deviation in it. This deviation is proportional to current, which in
turn is proportional to temperature difference at junctions.
 The deviation in the galvanometer can be reduced by adjusting the rheostat to
change the current in the Metal Conductor,. Now by adjusting the rheostat until the
galvanometer deviation becomes completely void. Once this happens , obtain
voltage and current reading from the meters and do a simple calculation to
determine the heat absorbed by the black body. This calculated value can be used
to determine the radiation, as heat generated by the black body is directly
proportional to the radiation.
Sunshine Recorder:
 A sunshine recorder is a device used to measure the “hours of bright sunshine in a
day”
Construction: It consist of a “glass sphere” installed in a section of “spherical metal bowl”
having grooves for holding a recorder card strip” and the glass sphere.
Working:
 The glass sphere, which acts as a convex lens, focuses the sun’s rays/beams to a
point on the card strip held in a groove in the spherical bowl mounted
concentrically with the sphere.
 Whenever there is a bright sunshine, the image formed is intense enough to burn a
spot on the card strip. Through the day, the sun moves across the sky, the image
moves along the strip. Thus a burnt space whose length is proportional to the
duration of sunshine is obtained on the strip.

Solar Energy Collectors:
 Solar energy collectors are the device used for collecting the solar radiations and
focus the solar radiations at particular location to transfer the Heat energy into the
solar ponds or fluid. They are two types of collectors.
1. Non concentrating or focusing type solar collectors which are used for low
temperature cycle
i. Flat plate collectors ii) Evacuated Tube collector
2. Concentrating or focusing type solar collector which are used for medium and
high temperature applications. i
i) Parabolic through collector ii) Power tower receiver
iii) Parabolic dish collector iv) Fresnel lens collector
Flat Plate Collectors:
 Flat plate Collectors consists of an absorber, a transparent cover and insulation. This
technology used in residential building where the demand for hot water is big and
affects bills.
 Commercial application of flat plate collectors is usually seen in car washes ,
Laundromats, military laundry facilities or restaurants.
 The parts of a Flat plate collectors are
 Black Surface - absorbent of the incident solar energy. Blackened absorber plate
usually of copper, aluminum or steel, typically 1 -2 mm thick.
 Glazing cover – a transparent layer that transmits radiation to the absorber, but
prevents radioactive and convective heat loss from the surface.
  Tubes containing heating fluid to transfer the heat from the collector. Tubes (1-2
cm dia) , channels or passages, in thermal contact with the absorber plate. In some
designs, the tubes form integral part of absorber plate.
 Support structure to protect the components and hold them in place.
 Insulation covering sides and bottom of the collector to reduce heat losses. The
thermal insulation, typically 5-10 cm in thickness. Tight container to enclose the
above components
Flat plate solar collectors show a good price performance ratio and give a lot
of mounting options. It absorbs both beam and diffuse radiation.
It is flexibility for tracking purpose.
The characteristic features of flat plate collector are:
 It absorbs both beam and diffuse radiation
 It can function without the need for sun tracking. Therefore, it can be properly
secured on a rigid platform and thus, becomes mechanically than those requiring
flexibility for tracking purpose. As a collector is installed outdoor it should be
mechanically strong enough to withstand atmospheric disturbances(rain, storm
etc.,)
Working:
 As solar radiation strikes on specially treated metallic absorber plate, it is
absorbed and raises its temperature. This heat is transferred to heat transfer fluid
circulating in the tube beneath the absorber plate and in intimate contact with it.
  Thermal insulation prevents heat loss from the rear surface of the collector.
 The glass cover permits the entry of solar radiation as it is transparent for
incoming short wave lengths. But is largely opaque to the longer infrared radiation
reflected from the absorber.
 As a result , heat remains trapped in the air space between the absorber plate and
glass cover.
 The glass cover also prevents heat loss due to convection by keeping the air
stagnant.
 The glass cover may reflect some 15 % of incoming solar radiation, which can be
reduced by applying anti reflective coating on the outer surface of the glass.
 Transparent plastic also be used in place of glass, but they have dome draw
backs… the life of plastic material is short when exposed to sunrays as it breaks
down and cracks are developed over a span of time. Plastics are not opaque to
reflected radiation as glass. Their transparency for incoming solar radiation as
glass.
Advantages:
 Both beam and diffuse solar radiation are used
 Little maintenance
 The orientation of the sun is not required
 Mechanically simpler than the focusing collectors
Disadvantages:
 Low temperature is achieved
 Heavy in weight
 Large heat loss by conduction due to large area
Application:
 Used in Solar water heating
 Used in Solar heating and cooling
 Used in low temperature power generation

Evacuated Tube Collector:

 This is a type of a vacuum collector .
 Its absorber strip is placed in an evacuated and pressure proof glass tube.
 The heat transfer fluid flows directly the absorber into a U-tube or in a tube in tube
system
 The heat pipe collector integrate a special fluid, which evaporates even at low
temperature, thus the steam rises in the individual heat pipes and warms up the fluid in
the main pipe, generating heat.
 The Thermodynamic panels are also based on such a refrigerant fluid but ae exploiting
the heat in the ambient air, and therefore, are only suitable for hot water.
 The technology is very reliable as it has an estimated lifespan of 25 years. Te vacuum
that surrounds the outside of the tubes greatly reduces the risk of heat loss, therefore
efficiency is great than flat plate collectors.
 Evacuated Tube Collector
Parabolic trough collector:
 It is a line focusing type collector. in this type of collector , the solar radiations falling on
the area of the parabolic reflector are concentrated at the focus of the parabola.
 When the reflector is manufactured in the form of a trough with the parabolic cross
section, the solar radiations gets focused along a line. An absorber pipe is placed along
this line and a working fluid flows through it.
  The receiver tube is blackened at the outside surface to increase absorption. It is rotated
about one axis to track the sun. This type of collector may be oriented in any one of the
three directions, East-West, North-South or polar. The polar configuration intercepts
more solar radiation per unit area as compared to other modes and thus gives best
performance. The concentration ratio in the range of 5-30 may be achieved from these
collectors.
 When the focused solar radiations fall on the absorber pipe. It heats the fluid to a high
temperature. Then the heat absorbed by the working fluid is transformed to water for
producing steam.
 The focus of solar radiations changes with the change in sun’s elevation in order to focus
the solar radiations on the absorber pipe. Either the trough or the collector pipe is rotated
continuously about the axis of the absorber pipe.

Power Tower Receiver:

  In this collector, the receiver is located at top of the tower. It has a large number of
independently moving flat mirrors (heliostats) spread over a large area of ground to focus
the reflected solar radiations on the receiver.
 The heliostats are installed all sround the central tower. Each heliostat is rotated into two
directions so as to track the sun.
 The solar radiations reflected from heliostats are absorbed by the receiver mounted on a
tower of about 500m height. The tower supports a bundle of vertical tubes containing the
working fluid. The working fluid in the abosorber receiver is converted into the high
temperature steam of about 6000C - 7000C.
 This steam is supplied to a conventional steam power plant coupled to an electric
generator to generate the electric power.

Paraboloidal Dish Collector::

 In these collectors, the receiver is placed at the focal point of the concentrator. The solar
beam radiations are focused at a point where the receiver (absorber) is placed. The solar
radiations are collected in the receiver.
 A small volume of fluid is heated in the receiver to a high temperature. This heat is used
to run a prime mover coupled with a generator.
 A typical parabolic dish collector has a dish of 6 m diameter. This collector requires two
axis tracking. It can yield temperature up to 30000C.
 Beam radiation is focused at a point in the paraboloid. This requires two axis tracking.
 It can have concentration ration ranging from10.
 Paraboloidal dish collectors of 6 – 7 m in diameter are manufactured.
 Due to the limitations of size and the small quantity of fluid, dish type solar collectors
are suitable for small power generation.
Equivalent circuit of a solar cell

The equivalent circuit of a solar cell

The schematic symbol of a solar cell

To understand the electronic behavior of a solar cell, it is useful to create a model which is
electrically equivalent, and is based on discrete electrical components whose behavior is
well known.
An ideal solar cell may be modelled by a current source in parallel with a diode; in
practice no solar cell is ideal, so a shunt resistance and a series resistance component are
added to the model. T
Characteristic equation
From the equivalent circuit it is evident that the current produced by the solar cell is equal
to that produced by the current source, minus that which flows through the diode, minus
that which flows through the shunt resistor:
I = IL − ID − ISH
where
 I = output current (amperes)

 IL = photogenerated current (amperes)

 ID = diode current (amperes)

 ISH = shunt current (amperes).

The current through these elements is governed by the voltage across them:

where
 Vj = voltage across both diode and resistor RSH (volts)

 V = voltage across the output terminals (volts)

 I = output current (amperes)

 RS = series resistance (Ω).

By the Shockley diode equation, the current diverted through the diode is:

where
 I0 = reverse saturation current (amperes)

 n = diode ideality factor (1 for an ideal diode)

 q = elementary charge
 k = Boltzmann's constant

 T = absolute temperature

By Ohm's law, the current diverted through the shunt resistor is:

where
 RSH = shunt resistance (Ω).

Substituting these into the first equation produces the characteristic equation of a solar
cell, which relates solar cell parameters to the output current and voltage:

An alternative derivation produces an equation similar in appearance, but with V on the

left-hand side. The two alternatives are identities; that is, they yield precisely the same
results.
In principle, given a particular operating voltage V the equation may be solved to
determine the operating current I at that voltage. However, because the equation
involves I on both sides in a transcendental function the equation has no general analytical
solution. However, even without a solution it is physically instructive. Furthermore, it is
easily solved using numerical methods. (A general analytical solution to the equation is
possible using Lambert's W function, but since Lambert's W generally itself must be solved
numerically
this is a technicality.)

Since the parameters I0, n, RS, and RSH cannot be measured directly, the most common
application of the characteristic equation is nonlinear regression to extract the values of
these parameters on the basis of their combined effect on solar cell behavior.
Open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current

When the cell is operated at open circuit, I = 0 and the voltage across the output terminals
is defined as the open-circuit voltage. Assuming the shunt resistance is high enough to
neglect the final term of the characteristic equation, the open-circuit voltage VOC is:

Similarly, when the cell is operated at short circuit, V = 0 and the current I through the
terminals is defined as the short-circuit current. It can be shown that for a high-quality solar
cell (low RS and I0, and high RSH) the short-circuit current ISC is:

Effect of physical size

The values of I0, RS, and RSH are dependent upon the physical size of the solar cell. In
comparing otherwise identical cells, a cell with twice the surface area of another will, in
principle, have double the I0 because it has twice the junction area across which current can
leak. It will also have half the RS and RSH because it has twice the cross-sectional area
through which current can flow. For this reason, the characteristic equation is frequently
written in terms of current density, or current produced per unit cell area:

where
 J = current density (amperes/cm2)

 JL = photogenerated current density (amperes/cm2)

 J0 = reverse saturation current density (amperes/cm2)

 rS = specific series resistance (Ω-cm2)

 rSH = specific shunt resistance (Ω-cm2).

This formulation has several advantages. One is that since cell characteristics are
referenced to a common cross-sectional area they may be compared for cells of different
physical dimensions. While this is of limited benefit in a manufacturing setting, where all
cells tend to be the same size, it is useful in research and in comparing cells between
manufacturers. Another advantage is that the density equation naturally scales the
parameter values to similar orders of magnitude, which can make numerical extraction of
them simpler and more accurate even with naive solution methods.
There are practical limitations of this formulation. For instance, certain parasitic effects
grow in importance as cell sizes shrink and can affect the extracted parameter values.
Recombination and contamination of the junction tend to be greatest at the perimeter of
the cell, so very small cells may exhibit higher values of J0 or lower values of RSH than larger
cells that are otherwise identical. In such cases, comparisons between cells must be made
Cautiously and with these effects in mind.

This approach should only be used for comparing solar cells with comparable layout. For
instance, a comparison between primarily quadratical solar cells like typical crystalline
silicon solar cells and narrow but long solar cells like typical thin film solar cells can lead to
wrong assumptions caused by the different kinds of current paths and therefore the
influence of for instance a distributed series resistance rS.

EFFICIENCY OF SOLAR CELLS

Electrical characteristics of a solar cell are expressed by the current–voltage curves plotted under
a given illumination and temperature conditions as shown in Figure 6.4.The significant points of the
curve are short-circuit current Isc and open circuit voltage Voc.Maximum useful power of the cell is
represented by the rectangle with the largest area. When the cell yields maximum power, the current
and voltage are represented by the symbols Im and Vm respectively. Leakage across the cell increases
with temperature which reduces voltage and maximum power. Cell quality is maximum when the
value of ‘fill factor’ approaches unity where the Fill Factor (FF) is expressed as
 Maximum efficiency of a solar cell is defined as the ratio of maximum electric power output to
the incident solar radiation. So,

WIND ENERGY

SITE SELECTION CONSIDERATION FOR WECS

The power available in the wind increases rapidly with the speed, hence wind energy
conversion machines should be located preferable in areas where the winds are strong and
persistent. Daily winds at a given site may be highly variable, the monthly and especially
annual average are remarkably constant from year to year.
• The major contribution to the wind power available at a given site is actually made
by winds with speeds above the average. Nevertheless, the most suitable sites for
wind turbines would be found in areas where the annual average wind speeds are
known to be moderately high or high.
• The site choice for a single or a spatial array of WECS is an important matter when
wind electrics is looked at from the systems point of view of aero turbine generators
feeding power into a conventional electric grid.
• If the WECS sites are wrongly or poorly chosen the net wind electrics generated
energy per year may be sub optimal with resulting high capital cost for the WECS
apparatus, high costs for wind generated electric energy, and low Returns on
Investment.
• Even if the WECS is to be a small generator not tied to the electric grid, the sitting
must be carefully chosen if inordinately long break even times are to be avoided.
Technical, Economic, Environmental, Social and Other actors are examined before
a decision is made to raise a generating plant on a specific site.
Some of the main site selection consideration are given below
1. High annual average wind speed:
 2. Availability of anemometry data: a measurement of the force, speed, and
direction of wind or airflow. It is the science of measuring wind speed and direction.
3. Availability of wind V(t) Curve at the proposed site:
4. Wind structure at the proposed site:
5. Altitude of the proposed site:
6. land and its aerodynamic(smooth)
7. Local Ecology (environmenalism)
8. Distance to road or railways:
9. Nearness of site to local centre/users(load)
10. Nature of ground:
11. Favorable land cost:
High annual average wind speed:

The speed generated by the wind mill depends on cubic values of velocity of wind,
the small increases in velocity markedly affect the power in the wind. For example,
Doubling the velocity, increases power.
It is obviously desirable to select a site for WECS with high wind velocity. Thus a high
average wind velocity is the principle fundamental parameter of concern in initially judge
WESCS site. For more detailed estimate value, one would like to have the average of the
velocity cube. (chop)
Availability of anemometry data:
It is another improvement sitting factor. The aenometry data should be available
over some time period at the precise spot where any proposed WECS is to be built and that
this should be expect before a sitting decision is made .

Availability of wind V(t) Curve at the proposed site:

• This important curve determines the maximum energy in the wind and hence
is the principal initially controlling factor in predicting the electrical output and
hence revenue return to the WECS machines.

• It is desirable to have average wind speed ‘V’ such that V>=12-16 km/hr (3.5 – 4.5
m/sec) which is about the lower limit at which present large scale WECS generators
‘cut in’ i.e., start turning.

• The V(t) Curve also determines the reliability of the delivered WECS generator
power, for if the V(t) curve goes to zero there be no generated power during that
time.

• If there are long periods of serene (calm) the WECS reliability will be lower than if
the calm periods are short.

• In making such reliability estimates it is desirable to have measured V(t) Curve over
about a 5 year period for the highest confidence level in the reliability estimate.
 Wind structure at the proposed site:
• The ideal case for the WECS would be a site such that the V(t) Curve was
flat, i.e., a smooth steady wind that blows all the time; but a typical site is always less
than ideal. Wind specially near the ground is unstable and blowing hard, and
changes rapidly in direction and in velocity. This different approach from
homogeneous flow is collectively referred to as “the structure of the wind”.

Altitude of the proposed site:

• It affects the air density and thus the power in the wind and hence the useful
WECS electric power output. Also, as is well known, the wind tend to have higher
velocities at higher altitudes.

• One must be carefully to distinguish altitude from height above ground. They are
not the same with the exception of a sea level WECS site.

Terrain and its aerodynamic:

One should know about terrain(land or ground) of the site to be chosen.

• If the WECS is to be placed near the top but not on the top of a not too blunt hill
facing the established (prevailing) wind, then it may be possible to obtain a ‘speed-
up’ of the wind velocity over what it would otherwise be. Also the wind here may
not flow horizontal making it necessary to tip the axis of the rotor so that the
aeroturbine is always perpendicular to the actual wind flow.

• It may be possible to make use of hills or mountains which channel the prevailing wind into
a pass region, thereby obtaining higher wind power.
WORKING PRINCIPLE OF WIND TURBINE

As the free wind stream interacts with turbine rotor, it transfers a part of the
kinetic energy to the rotor due to which its speed decreases. This difference in
kinetic energy is converted into mechanical power. This is the basic wind turbine
working principle.
The total wind power is equal to the incoming kinetic energy of the wind
stream. It can be expressed as:
Total wind power, Pt = (ρAVi3)/2
Where, ρ = density of air (in kg/m3)
 A = rotor swept area = πr2 (r = radius of blades in meters)
Ci = incoming wind velocity (in m/s).

The density of air (ρ) is somewhat complicated since it depends on the

definition of “ideal” air, the temperature, the altitude, and the water vapor content.
It is approximately 1.2 kg/m3 at sea level and room temperature, a value which is
sufficiently accurate for our purposes.

From the above equation, it is clear that total power of a wind stream is
proportional to the cube of incoming wind velocity, the density of air and the rotor
swept area. Hence, any small increase in wind speed can produce a significant rise
in developed wind power.
Advantages of Wind Energy:
1. It is a renewable source of energy.
2. Wind power systems are non-polluting and has no adverse effects of
the
environment.
3. Wind energy systems avoids fuel provision and transport.
4. On small scale of upto few kilowatts, it is less costly. On large scale
the
costs are comparable with the costs of conventional energy sources, but low
cost can be achieved by mass production.

Disadvantages of with Wind Energy:

1. Availability of wind is fluctuating or irregular in nature.
2. Unlike water energy, it requires storage means because of irregular nature.
3. Wind energy systems are noisy in operation; a large unit can be heard
many
 km away.
4. Large area is needed for installation of Wind Farms, for Electricity
generation.
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine: