alternative energy: a closer look at hybrid energy systems using wind and solar sources. egr466: winter 2008

1. Alternative Energy: A Closer look at Hybrid Energy Systems using wind and solar sources.EGR466: Winter 2008 Keon Atkins Jacob Henderson Shanda Stanley Faculty Advisor: Dr. Quamrul Mazumder

3. Introduction The demand for alternative energy sources is increasing each year due to need for clean and renewable sources of energy. Hybrid energy systems are ideal for outdoor and/or remote area applications.

4. Background The power of the wind has been harnessed for a least a thousand years. Earliest uses were to sail the seas, pump water, and grind grain. The use of wind turbines to produce power is not a new idea but the large scale use is. Solar power can also be traced back thousands of years. Earliest uses were for cooking.

5. Background (cont.) A hybrid energy system is a system that consist of two or more alternative energy sources (ex: solar and wind). Hybrid energy systems are growing in popularity due to the reliability of stand alone solar or wind power sources. Thermoelectric refrigeration is useful because it is ideal for outdoor/remote area applications. Since refrigeration is need worldwide it is important that areas that are off the grid or underdeveloped have access to refrigeration for storage of food and medicines.

6. Objective Asked to design a device using an alternative energy source (ex: wind, water, solar) The system must be designed, manufactured, and tested by April 21st, 2008. The budget for the project is $500. Which includes designing, testing, parts/supplies, and manufacturing.

7. Project Description A hybrid energy system using wind and solar sources to produce power to a thermoelectric refrigerator and radio is designed, manufactured, and tested. This system is ideal for outdoor/remote are applications.

8. Current Work Determining if a hybrid system made up of solar and wind sources it more efficient that stand alone solar and wind sources. Is thermoelectric refrigeration viable for outdoor/remote area applications?

9. Project Schedule

10. Cost

11. Component Drawings

12. Assembly Drawings

13. Analysis (Hand Calculations)

14. Analysis (FEA)

15. Analysis (FEA)

16. Results With direct light the solar panels produce an average of 19.26 V. The average current is 5.86 mA. After twenty four hours the average voltage is 13.4. The average current is 0.9mA. The current output for the turbine was 0.003mA. The wind turbine did not perform as desired and will be discussed in the future improvements section. Overall the performance was great and this system could be a viable alternative energy option.

17. Summary and Conclusion The overall performance of the hybrid renewable energy system was as expected. We were able to determine that this system would be a viable source of power production for outdoor and remote area applications. Due to time constraints some additional alterations could not be made to the wind turbine in order to get optimal performance. If time were available for further alterations the size of the stepper motor used should have been increased. Further improvements that should be made are in the portability of the entire system and materials used to construct the thermoelectric refrigerator.

18. Future Improvements Increase the size of the stepper motor used for the wind turbine. Select a different plastic for the thermoelectric refrigerator. Make the entire system more portable. This could be accomplished by using a durable lightweight plastic and decreasing the size of the base. For the thermoelectric refrigerator the use of more CPU coolers would increase the refrigerators cooling ability.

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