Sun being an inexhaustible source of energy is used to produce clean energy through solar photovoltaic panels. Solar cells absorb solar radiations emitted by sun and convert them into useful solar energy through solar photovoltaic power plant. Bio-gas is a fuel which is obtained after decomposition of waste organic material. A bio-gas power plant utilizes waste organic material to produce bio-gas which is used to obtain electricity using eco-friendly bio-gas generator.
In this article the power obtained by hybrid solar photovoltaic and bio-gas power plant is studied. The study clarifies the scope of solar photovoltaic and bio-gas power generation at one platform.
Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic & Bio-gas Power Plant
Solar photovoltaic generation is based on the phenomenon of photovoltaic effect. The main components of a solar photovoltaic power plant are:
Solar Photovoltaic Array: It consists of solar modules arranged in series and/or parallel combination to produce solar energy from solar radiations.
Solar Batteries: Generally, lead acid type batteries are used to store solar energy obtained by solar array.
Solar Charge Controller: MPPT charge controller is used to track the maximum power. It regulates charging between solar array and solar batteries.
Solar Inverter: solar inverter is used to convert DC supply obtained from solar batteries to AC supply and fed an AC load.
Bio-gas is an output produced by anaerobic digestion of organic material by microorganisms in bio-gas anaerobic digestor in absence of oxygen. It mainly consists of CH4, CO2, H2S, H2, N2 and other gases. Bio-gas power plant mainly consists of following components:
Mixer: It is a tank in which organic material is decomposed with the help of mixing water in it.
Anaerobic Bio-digester: It is the place where bio-gas is produced from organic material through biological processes.
Bio-gas Storage: It is a storage tank for the produced bio-gas. Generally, storage balloon is used to store bio-gas generated by anaerobic bio-digester.
Bio-gas Generator: Bio-gas is used as a fuel in internal combustion engine to produce electricity.
A hybrid power generation plant uses solar photovoltaic power generation system and bio-gas power generation system.
Location of Solar and Bio-gas Power Plant
In this study the location of hybrid solar photovoltaic and bio-gas power plant is selected at DEI, deemed to be university campus, Agra.
Following table 1 shows details of solar photovoltaic power generation plant
The following fig. 1 and fig. 2 show different components of solar photovoltaic power plant and graph of power generated by solar photovoltaic generation system for one month duration respectively.
The details and specifications of bio-gas power system are given in following table 2.
The following fig. 3 shows the main components of bio-gas power plant
The following fig. 4 and fig. 5 show electricity generated from bio-gas power plant and generation of bio-gas from bio-generator obtained for fifteen day and thirty days duration respectively.
Conclusion
The study of solar photovoltaic power generating plant and bio-gas power generating plants show that for a better and reliable operation hybrid power plant is efficient. When there is no power supply from solar power plant due to environmental conditions then a supplementary bio-gas act as a fuel for hybrid power plant from bio-gas power plant.
Dr. Akash Singh Chaudhary obtained his BSc Engineering (Electrical Engineering) in 2005 and M. Tech (Engineering Systems) in 2007 and PhD (Electrical Engineering) in the area of Solar Photovoltaics in 2023 from Faculty of Engineering, D.E.I. Deemed University, Dayalbagh Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. He has total seven years of teaching experience as Guest Lecturer, Lecturer, Sr. Lecturer and Assistant. Professor in Electrical Engineering Department of various institutions. He is actively involved in teaching and currently working as Junior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering on a Project running under Department of Science & Technology.
Prof. D. K. Chaturvedi did his B.E. from Govt. Engineering College Ujjain, M.P. then he did his M.Tech. (gold medallist) and Ph.D. from D.E.I. Dayalbagh. He has received Young Scientists Fellowship from DST, Government of India. He is a Fellow IE(I), ASI and IETE. ADRDE lab of DRDO conferred him life time achievement award for his valuable contributions in field of aeronautics. Presently Prof. Chaturvedi is working in Elect. Engineering. and having additional load of HOD, Department. of Footwear Technology, Training and Placement officer, D.E.I. and Advisor, IEI Students’ Chapter (Elect. Engineering).
Dr. Ravindra Bhardwaj completed his B.Tech. in Electronics & Communication from Institute of Engineering &Technology, Alwar, Rajasthan and M. Tech in Engineering Systems in 2014 and Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering) in the area of Bio-gas generation in 2023 from D.E.I. Dayalbagh, Agra, UP. Currently he is working as Lecturer in B. Voc. (Internet of Thing) in Dept. of Physics and Computer Science, Faculty of Science, D.E.I., Dayalbagh, Agra since 2019.
