Designing Solar Power Plant Due to Consumer Load Schedule, Solar Energy Potential, and Electricity Prime Cost

The object of research in the chapter is the solar power plant as the source of additional economically expedient power supply of the electrical energy consumer. The purpose of this research is to analyze the options for the layout of solar power plant, taking into account the solar energy potential of the district, the design features of the proposed location, the load curve of the consumer, and the cost of the generated electrical energy. The chapter presents the results of calculation and selection of the parameters of solar power plant elements on the roof of the consumer's production building. The chapter presents the results of research of the dependence of the cost of the electricity generated by the solar power plant on the number of installed panels, which in order to increase the realized solar energy potential of the district also allows adding photoelectric modules and accumulating devices in the layout of the operating station at tariff growth. The chapter presents the results of researching these areas, that are conducted by the authors and which are completely original.

Renewable Energy Sources Development in Rural Areas of African Countries

The prospects of increasing access to electricity for the population of rural areas of Africa are considered. The main international funds and organizations aimed at sustainable energy development in Africa are described. An analysis of the state and possible options for using renewable energy sources for this purpose in decentralized energy supply through the creation of mini-grids or stand-alone systems is given. The risks by developing renewable energy sources in rural areas and modern mechanisms for financing in solar energy are presented.

Solar Concentrators

Looking at the history of solar energy and renewable energy in general, the authorities and scientists have been paying much attention to the recent period, due to the depletion of fossil energy resources and the growing difficulties in solving environmental problems. The development of solar energy has led to the use of solar energy concentrators. Concentrators are used to concentrate sunlight onto PV cells. This allows for a reduction in the cell area required for producing a given amount of power. The goal is to significantly reduce the cost of electricity generated by replacing expensive PV converter area with less expensive optical material. In this chapter, the authors talk about concentrators in solar energy, especially about modules based on holographic films. Holographic solar panels (HSP) in recent decades have appeared in large-scale production and been actively used in solar energy. Evaluations of other types of existing concentrators are presented.

Factors Affecting the Power-Efficient Operation of Wind-Diesel Complexes

The purpose of this chapter is to compare the design and operational parameters of energy efficiency (power generation, capacity utilization factor) of a wind power plant (WPP) in order to improve the accuracy of the design parameters estimation at the preliminary design stage. Recommendations have been given for accounting different factors influencing on energy efficiency and economic indicators of a WPP. In this chapter, the research is carried out on the example of existing wind-diesel complexes (WDC) in the settlement of Ust-Kamchatsk (Kamchatka Krai), Novikovo (Sakhalin Oblast), and projected WDC on Popova Island (Vladivostok city district).

The Exploitation of Wind Systems in Rural Electrical Network

The activity of farm enterprises is directly connected with the efficient use of resources such as electrical energy and water. Taking such conditions as factors of economic expediency and ecological safety into account, it is more reasonable to use wind stations in order to provide consumers with energy and water. The use of conventional wind and electrical stations is an easy and reliable solution. However, annual wind velocity on most settled territories does not exceed 6 m/s or even 4 m/s. It makes the efficient use of wind electrical stations more complicated. One of the solutions can probably be the use of wind and electrical stations on the basis of slow speed non-transmission arc-shaped-stator inductor-type generators with an integrated radial and ring-shaped rotor. Another efficient solution to provide areas with water and electrical energy is to use a combined wind station with a crank-and-rod mechanism and the rod of the driving mechanism of the back-and-forth motion of the core of a magnetic and electrical linear generator and the piston of a plunger pump.

Creating a Synergy

The chapter focuses on different aspects and challenges of power supply for remote energy consumers in the Russian Arctic. The authors discuss the potential use of renewable energy, some specified technological features and risks related to the broader deployment of decentralized renewable energy systems in the Arctic region. Even though there is limited experience of renewable energy systems installation in the Russian Arctic and greater technological challenges, the authors see it as a potential opportunity to contribute to innovative and sustainable development of the region. The authors underline the potential synergistic effect of broader deployment of renewable energy systems in the Russian Arctic. The key argument is that a sustainable and efficient energy system will open new development opportunities and stimulate future socioeconomic development of the region through the use of local and renewable energy resources and the implementation of new power generation modes and technologies.

Electrical and Heat Power Production Using the Products of Air Conversion of Motor Diesel Fuel and Electrochemical Generator for Agricultural Consumers

At present, the production of electricity for agricultural consumers remote from the centralized electrical power grid is carried out using diesel-generator technology with a limited service life of engines and extremely low efficiency of the expensive fuel used. In this chapter, an innovative technology has been considered for the combined electrical and heat power production using the preliminary conversion of diesel fuel into synthesis gas with its subsequent supply to a high temperature electrochemical generator (ECG). Synthesis gas for the operation of the electrochemical generator was produced by air conversion of motor diesel fuels in a catalytic burner reactor. On the basis of heat balances of the burner, ECG and waste-heat boiler-utilizer, electrical efficiency of the solid oxide fuel cells' (SOFC) battery, chemical efficiency of the burner, the temperature at the SOFC anode, the EMF of the planar cell, a portion of hydrogen oxidized at the SOFC anode, specific consumption of diesel fuel for the production of electrical and heat power were calculated.

Resonant Power System for Electric Transport

Noncontact electric power supply with the use of cable line is an innovative trend in the development of electric transport. Work to develop such systems is carried out in the USA, South Korea, Germany, Israel, the Russian Federation. The VIESH researchers have developed and patented experimental models of a car and a tramway of the future without accumulators, which receive energy from external energy system through air gap from a single wire cable laid under the surface of road pavement. Noncontact systems for electric power supply to transport are developed at VIESH on the basis of resonant methods of electric power supply through a single-wire cable. This is a basic difference of the technology under consideration from similar ones. This technology makes it possible to realize at the new technological level the need for electric roads with minimal costs. Given that all the world's automakers are working on the production of an electric vehicle for mass production, the need for creating a motorway in the city and on inter-urban autobahns is even more topical.

Improving the Power Quality of Rural Consumers by Means of Electricity Cost Adjustment

Improving power quality of agricultural consumers by adjusting the cost of electricity is considered. The chapter lists the reasons for the output of power quality indicators beyond the standard values. There is the assessment of the quality of electricity in the Orel region. Distribution functions for distortion of power quality indicators are constructed. The relevance of the adjustment of the cost of electricity depending on its quality is justified. The mathematical model for determining the cost of consumed electric energy depending on its quality is developed in chapter. The chapter gives the method allowing to adjust the cost of consumed electric energy depending on its quality and source of distortion. In the chapter, there is the mechanism of carrying out calculations for the consumed and transferred electric power considering change of electric power cost depending on its quality. The feasibility study of the proposed methods and means of improving power quality is realized.

Materials and Methods of Thermal Energy Storage in Power Supply Systems

The chapter considers the factors that affect the incomplete use of power. The analysis and systematization of accumulating systems on the types of accumulated energy, on the processes occurring during storage, types of devices and types of generated energy is performed. Each of the possible ways of accumulating energy is analyzed in detail. Various variants of conformity of schedules of change of a consumed load within a year and a total resource of solar radiation are considered. The analysis of the parameters of heat-accumulating materials and their classification depending on the material class, the way of heat accumulation and return, on the cyclicity of work, etc. are provided. It is shown that the level of temperature, the scale of the storage unit, and the necessary duration of heat storage determine the requirements for the construction of batteries and the choice of heat-storage substances. The prospects of research on the search for new ways of accumulating energy and technical means for their implementation are considered.