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Design and Fabrication of Transportable Hybrid Solar and Wind Energy

System

Article  in  Advanced Science Engineering and Medicine · March 2015

DOI: 10.1166/asem.2015.1672

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 Article
Advanced Science,
Copyright © 2015 American Scientific Publishers
Engineering and Medicine
All rights reserved Vol. 7, 1–5, 2015
Printed in the United States of America www.aspbs.com/asem

Design and Fabrication of Transportable

Hybrid Solar and Wind Energy System
Kyle D. Rose Sr1
∗ , M. D. Aggarwal1 , A. K. Batra, and Dennis Wingo2
†
1
Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL 35762, USA
2
Skycorp Inc, P.O. Box 375, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA

A 7 KW standalone solar and wind hybrid power system has been designed, fabricated and field
tested. When hydraulically folded, this transportable system is 7 ft, 3 in × 7 ft, 3 in × 34 ft in size.
This system consists of sixteen solar panels (280 watts), a wind turbine (2.4 KW), charge controller,
inverter, remote power management, control and monitoring capabilities and batteries (72 KWh).
This hybrid system can be used at any remote location including space applications without the
need for a grid. A description and details of this system are presented along with photovoltaic data
obtained on 7th day of February, 2015. This system is being used to further improve the efficiency
of solar panel technology.
Keywords:

1. INTRODUCTION and fabricated small transportable hybrid solar and wind

1.1. Technical Background
There is a lot of interest in making smaller stand-alone
solar and wind energy harvesting systems. Investments
are being made by the industrial sector to fabricate solar
panels and price per watt is going down day by day.
The knowledge needed to design smaller stand-alone solar
and wind energy harvesting systems are readily available
through a variety of sources, such as NABCEP (North
American Board of Certified Energy Professionals). Vari-
ous vendors share their know-how in different aspects of
this technology at the NABCEP annual meetings. After
attending a NABCEP meeting in the Spring of 2014
(Denver, CO), the authors were inspired to publish the
prototype design of this fabricated hybrid system and to
increase the efficiency of solar panels in this energy har-
vesting arena. It is worth mentioning that stand-alone pho-
tovoltaic (PV) and wind energy systems are now proven
technologies for electricity supply in isolated locations far
from the distribution network (the grid).
Only limited experience exists with the operation of PV
and wind generators in combination as a part of a hybrid
system.1 Thus, the effort is made to publish this design
∗
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
This system was fabricated by Greentrail Energy, MD, USA. Commu-
nicated by Dr. A. K. Batra, ashok.batra@aamu.edu
energy system as a platform for various research projects.
Furthermore, it is collapsible with military grade construc-
tion and can be shipped in standard Sea container.
2. DESIGN OF THE ENERGY HARVESTING
SYSTEM
Various major component parts of the solar and wind
energy harvesting system are shown in Figure 1. This
energy harvesting system consists of 16 solar panels and
an Outback charge controller providing power manage-
ment ensuring optimal charge and discharge of twenty-four
maintenance free sealed (1,500Ah at 24VDC) absorbent
glass mat (AGM) batteries for maximum life. The batter-
ies are rated for up to 72 KWh of power. A Schneider
6 KW inverter/charge controller is used for converting DC
to pure sine wave AC (60 cycles per second). The inverter
can be grid tied for connection to local power grids for
continuous back up and sale of surplus energy. The inverter
output is capable of providing up to 6 KW of sustained AC
power (240/120VAC, Single-phase). At 1/3 inverter load,
up to 48 hours of battery backup power is provided for
infrequent times of low sun and wind. The sixteen solar
panels mounted on two arms retract and stow for storage
and transportation. Panel angle can be adjusted in azimuth
and elevation for optimum power generation.

Adv. Sci. Eng. Med. 2015, Vol. 7, No. xx 2164-6627/2015/7/001/005 doi:10.1166/asem.2015.1672 1

Design and Fabrication of Transportable Hybrid Solar and Wind Energy System
Figure 1. Components of the hybrid solar and wind energy system.
The unit fits into a standard shipping container for safe,
secure storage and transportation and can be towed by a
standard duty pickup truck. Eight jack outriggers provide
stability in high winds in excess of 110 mph (177 kmph).
Between the two arms is a National Electrical Manu-
facturers Association (NEMA)-4× stainless steel instru-
ment panel enclosure box that can be sealed and locked
for security and safe transportation. This box houses the
charge controller, Schneider inverter, a full Windows PC
computer, power distribution, circuit breaker, and other
ancillary wiring needed for system functionality. A wind
turbine is mounted on a hydraulically extendable tele-
scoping tower truss (max. height 106 ft.) made from
high grade, specially designed and fabricated drawn-over
mandrel (DOM) carbon steel, providing mounting points
for lighting, surveillance and antennas suitable for many
communication systems including WiMAX, Wi-Fi, satel-
lite, Cellular, and Microwave. The maximum payload of
775 lbs. (352 kg) includes the wind turbine. This sys-
tem has been successfully designed, assembled, fabri-
cated, installed on the special purpose trailer and made
operational.2 This hybrid system is being developed as
a research platform for the integration and testing of
advanced alternative energy system elements.3–5 Figure 2
depicts the photograph of an installed system.
2.1. Typical Solar Power System
Basic solar stand-alone energy harvesting system consists
of 4 components: solar panels, charge controller, charge
storage batteries, and the inverter system supplying energy
to a load for operation. A typical way to interconnect these
elements is shown in the Figure 3.
Well known techniques have been used to safely connect
and secure wiring, grounding, hardware, and equipment
for this system to withstand various weather conditions
and everyday temperature cycles. An Outback FX-80 Max-
imum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) is used to optimize
2 Adv. Sci. Eng. Med. 7, 1–5, 2015
Sr et al.
Figure 2. Photograph of an installed hybrid solar and wind energy
system.
available solar power and charge the batteries directly from
the solar arrays. Solar panel module and various system
parameters are given in Table I.
2.2. Basic Wind Turbine
A windmill is a machine that converts the energy of
wind into rotational energy by means of vanes also called
blades. The reason for the name “windmill” is that the
devices originally were developed for milling grain for
food production. The name stuck when, through the course
of history, windmill machinery was adapted to supply
power for many industrial and agricultural needs other than
milling. A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic
energy from the wind into electrical power. The majority
of modern windmills took the form of wind turbines used
to generate electricity, or wind pumps used to pump water
either for land drainage or to extract groundwater. Electri-
cal energy can be generated from the wind energy. This
generation is accomplished by using wind energy to run
a windmill, which in turn drives an electricity producing
generator. The windmill is usually called a wind turbine.
This turbine transforms wind energy to mechanical energy,
which the generator converts to electric power. An inte-
gration of wind generator with turbine, aero generators is
known as a wind energy conversion system (WECS).6
The wind turbine utilized for this system is a Skystream
3.7, which produces up to 2.4 KW. This is a reversed
wind flow type turbine with supporting software for remote
monitoring of wind speed, power production, blade speed
in rotations per minute (rpm), and historical data archive.
The wind turbine outputs 120VAC after passing through an
internal converter unit. The primary function is for provid-
ing AC power through the Schneider hybrid inverter and
for battery recharge. The blades are made of reinforced
composite material with a twenty-five year life expectancy.
For high wind protection the wind turbine shuts down via
a magnetic braking system when maximum rpm’s (360)
Sr et al. Design and Fabrication of Transportable Hybrid Solar and Wind Energy System

Figure 3. Typical configuration of a solar power system.

is reached. The entire system is protected from light- The total solar radiation thus depends upon position of
ning strikes redundantly by surge arresters and an earth the Sun in the sky, which varies month to month. Hourly
ground rod. power output from PV system with the area APV on the
average day of the month, when total solar radiation of IT
2.3. Modeling of Energy Harvesting System (kWh/m2  is incident on PV surface and is given by
2.3.1. Modeling of Photovoltaic System Psj = IT j ·  · Apv (4)
Solar energy conversion systems depend largely upon the
solar cells and the photovoltaic modules. Mathematical where  is PV -system efficiency and is given by the fol-
modeling of a solar photovoltaic system can be described lowing relation
as follows.  = m · pc · Pf (5)
The ideal equivalent circuit of a solar cell consists of a The modular efficiency m is given by
current source in parallel with a diode. The output termi-
nals of the circuit are connected to the load. Ideally, the m = r 1 − Tc − Tr  (6)
voltage–current equation of the solar cell7
8 is given by
where r is the module reference efficiency, pc is the
Ipv = Iph − Io e qVpv/kT
− 1 (1) power conditioning efficiency, Pf is the packing factor, 
is the array efficiency temperature coefficient, Tr is the
where Iph is the photo current, Io the diode reverse satu- reference temperature for the cell efficiency and Tc is the
ration current, q the electron charge, k the Boltzman con- monthly average cell temperature.
stant; T the cell temperature
2.3.2. Modeling of Wind Energy System
Ppv = Vpv · Ipv (2)
For mathematical modeling of a wind energy conversion
where Ipv is the output current of the solar cell, Vpv the system, wind turbine dynamics and generator modeling
solar cell operating voltage, Ppv the output power of the will be considered. The electric generator converts wind
solar cell. The input energy to a PV system is solar radi- energy into electrical energy through mechanical means.
ation and total solar radiation7 on an inclined surface is The wind power generation from the turbine can be pre-
estimated as dicted from the wind power Eq. (7) described below.
The wind turbine is characterized by non-dimension per-
IT = Ib Rb + Id Rd + Id + Ib Rr (3) formance as a function of tip speed radio. The output of
the mechanical power captured from the wind by wind
where Ib and Id are direct normal and diffuse solar radia- turbine9
10 can be formulated as
tions, R, Rb , Rd and Rr are the tilt factors for the beam,
diffuse and reflected part of the solar radiation. Pt = −Cp  AV 3 /2 (7)
And torque developed by a wind turbine can be
Table I. Solar panel module and various system parameters.
expressed as
Module System parameters Tt = Pt /
m (8)
Polycrystalline/72 Cells 240/120 VAC Single phase where Pt is the output power, Tt the torque developed by
Max. Power 280 Watts/24 V 6,000 Watts Continuous wind turbine, Cp the power coefficient,  the tip speed
Volts (Vmp : 35.2 volts 4,400 Total Watts/Solar
ratio, the air density, A the frontal sweep area of wind
Current (Imp : 7.95 A 2,400 Total Watts/Wind
Open Ckt V (Voc : 44.8 V 72 KWh/Battery turbine, V the wind speed
Short Ckt I (Isc  8.33A 775 lbs. Max Payload
 = 
R/v (9)

Adv. Sci. Eng. Med. 7, 1–5, 2015 3

Design and Fabrication of Transportable Hybrid Solar and Wind Energy System
(a) 1100
1000
Power per unit area (W/m2)
900
800
700
600
500
07:00:00 09:00:00 11:00:00 13:00:00 15:00:00 17:00:00
Time
Figure 4. (a) Hourly solar radiation data of Feb 7, 2015 (b) (IN) PV input voltage supplying power to charge controller, (OUT) supervised charge
controller voltage for battery charging and AC load operation from system inverter.
where
is turbine speed in rotor speed in rad/s, R the
radius of the turbine blade in meters (m), and v the wind
speed in m/sec.
2.4. Hybrid System Integration
The Schneider Electric (Formerly Xantrex) hybrid inverter
is ideal for this mixed energy application when coupled
with the Outback MPPT charge controller. In operation,
the solar arrays are decoupled from the inverter, with the
MPPT handling all solar arrays charging and DC input
to the inverter. The AC output of the 2.4 KW Skystream
3.7 wind turbine comes into the inverter as an AC input.
This is routed by the inverter directly to the output of the
AC system and effectively diverts the demand from the
batteries to the inverter when the wind turbine is opera-
tional. When the output of the wind turbine exceeds the
AC demand, the inverter then runs in battery charge mode
to supplement the MPPT’s role in battery charging. When
the batteries are fully charged and current is no longer
required from the turbine, the inverter provides a feedback
to the turbine that effectuates the electronic brake on the
turbine in order to provide a complete energy balance for
the system’s operation. No other inverter has this capabil-
ity in the marketplace and thus is an ideal solution for our
application.
The system also can substitute other energy sources as
inputs to the inverter. We have connected liquefied natural
gas (LNG) generators as an extra AC input as a hydro-
carbon backup to the solar and wind capability, and the
AC inverter seamlessly supports this. The inverter can also
handle the output of fuel cells as a replacement for the
battery system. This capability would save thousands of
pounds of battery mass and expand the energy storage
capability.
Through the Windows PC, the entire system can be
remotely monitored and controlled either through a cellular
4 Adv. Sci. Eng. Med. 7, 1–5, 2015
Sr et al.
(b) 85
IN
80 OUT
75
Voltage (V)
70
65
60
55
50
07:00:00 09:00:00 11:00:00 13:00:00 15:00:00 17:00:00
Time
telephone, Wi-Fi, or satellite Internet. The Outback MPPT
and the Schneider inverter have CAN bus outputs that are
converted and routed to the Windows PC USB ports.
2.5. Multiple Unit Operation
The Schneider Electric 6 KW inverter can be daisy chained
to as many as three other units to provide a micro grid for
off grid or grid tied operation. The inverter can provide as
much as 14 KW in 20 sec. bursts to handle rapid demand
changes. We have built a solar only transportable unit for
the National Park Service that provides up to 18 KW sus-
tained power. The unit can also work in 240 V single-
phased mode, or, when three units are coupled together, a
120 V three-phase output can be provided.
3. RESULTS
To test the installed Solar-PV-Wind-Battery Hybrid Power
System, solar and photovoltaic output voltage data were
collected on February 7, 2015, a typical clear day. Figure 4
shows the hourly solar radiation data collected utilizing an
Ambient Weather using TM-206 solar power meter. Volt-
ages and currents were obtained from photovoltaic mod-
ules via the Outback Power data logger. As per the primary
single day data, our system worked as per design specifi-
cations. Further work is in progress to collect wind data
to determine the performance of the wind turbine in this
application.
4. CONCLUSION
Based on the primary usage, this solar and wind sys-
tem can be used by any domestic user at a place where
wind speeds are not that good. There is lots of space
for improvement in this system. Maximum Power Point
Tracking (MPPT) or other power enhancement methods.
 Sr et al. Design and Fabrication of Transportable Hybrid Solar and Wind Energy System
Presently, phase change materials11 are being attached on
the backside of the panels to mitigate heat, and hence
increase the photovoltaic efficiency.12 Research data for
backup energy storage option such as hydrogen from split-
ting water with renewable energy sources13 and thermo-
electric technologies can be obtained and presented via
this platform. The salient features and applications of the
system can be utilized for, but not limited to both military
and civilian purposes, disaster relief power, information
communication technology, remote hospitals and banking,
camping parks, and other places where the grid is not
available.
Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank our
machinist Mr. Garland Sharp, mechanical technician Ellery
Curtis for their support in fabricating parts. Thanks to
graphic designer Ms. Sheral Roberson and Dr. Lydia
Davenport for editorial support. Keen interest and encour-
agement of our Dean Dr. Chance Glenn is gratefully
acknowledged. Some work was accomplished with the par-
tial support of NSF APEX project DUE 1238192.
Adv. Sci. Eng. Med. 7, 1–5, 2015
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Received: 16 January 2015. Accepted: 17 February 2015.
5