RE Merge

Renewable Energy Sources
Topic: Energy scenario in India, Classification of

Energy sources.
Lecture 1
• CONVENTIONAL POWER PLANTS:
Thermal power plant- Generates electric power by burning fossil
fuels like coal, natural gas or diesel.
Hydroelectric Power Plant- Electricity is produced by building dams
on suitable rivers.
Nuclear Power Plant- Controlled nuclear reaction is maintained to
generate electricity.
• NON CONVENTIONAL POWER PLANT:

Solar Cell (PV Cell)- Generates power by collecting solar radiation.
Wind Turbine -The kinetic energy of wind is used to create power.
Biomass power plants- Natural organic matter is burnt to produce
electricity.
Geothermal power plants- Uses the natural heat found in the deep
levels of the earth to generate electricity.
Basic concept in any Power Plant
Mechanical Energy Electrical Energy
• The necessary things:

– A rotating machine
– Fuel
Solar Energy
Solar Thermal Solar Photovoltaics
Wind
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Biomass
Hydro Energy
Geothermal Energy
Ocean Energy (Ocean Thermal)
Tidal Energy
Wave Energy
Fuel Cell
Energy scenario in India
• Total installed capacity: 409.161 GW as of 30 Nov 2022
• Gross electricity generated: 1,491 BU (2021-22)
Fuel MW % of Total
Total Thermal 2,36,019 57.9%
Coal 203,985 49.9%
Lignite 6,620 1.6%
Gas 24,824 6.1%
Diesel 589 0.1%
Nuclear 6,780 1.7%
Total Non-Renewable 2,42,799 59.6%
Energy scenario in India
• Total installed capacity: 409.161 GW as of 30 Nov 2022
• Gross electricity generated: 1,491 BU (2021-22)
RES (Incl. Hydro) 166,362 40.7%
Hydro 46,850 11.5 %
Wind, Solar & Other RE 119,512 29.2 %
Wind 41,895 10.2 %
Solar 61,966 15.1 %
BM Power/Cogen 10,206 2.5 %
Waste to Energy 520 0.1 %
Small Hydro Power 4,925 1.2 %
• Till last year RES (Renewable Energy Sources) include Small Hydro Project, Biomass
Gasifier, Biomass Power, Urban & Industrial Waste Power, Solar and Wind Energy.
• Recently, large hydro power plants are included in the RES.
https://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-hydropower-
renewable-energy.html
Which state is called power house of India?
Which among the following is known as ‘power house of India’?
[A] Rajasthan
[B] Maharastra
[C] North East India Collectively
[D] Uttar Pradesh and Uttranchal Collectively
Which country is world’s largest producer of
electricity?
China, the world's second-fastest growing major
economy after India, produced a gigantic 6,015
terrawatt hour (TWh) of power.It is the world’s
largest producer of electricity.
The United States is the world's second-largest
producer of electricity.
India is the world's third largest producer and
third largest consumer of electricity.
Power Crises in India:
• Faulty Planning
• Sharp increase in demand
• Delay in Power Projects
• Inter state disputes
• Erratic Monsoons
• Plant Outages
• Transmission line Losses
• Shortage of coal
• Poor utilization of generating equipment
* Refer books for details

Renewable Energy Sources
-Importance of Non-Conventional Energy Sources
-Advantages and Disadvantages of Conventional and Non-Conventional
Energy Sources
-Salient Features of Non-Conventional Energy Sources
Reasons to go for Non-conventional sources
• (i) The growing consumption of energy has resulted in the
country becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuels
such as coal, oil and gas.
• (ii) Rising prices of oil and gas and their potential shortages
have raised uncertainties about the security of energy
supply in future, which has serious repercussions on the
growth of the national economy.
• (iii) Increasing use of fossil fuels also causes serious
environmental problems.
• Hence, there is a primary need to use renewable energy
sources like solar, wind, tidal, biomass and energy from
waste material. They are called non-conventional sources
of energy.
Reasons to go for Non-conventional sources
• Those sources of energy which are being produced
continuously in nature and will never be exhausted, are
called non-conventional sources of energy.
• Some research has shown that fuels such as oil and gas,
and even nuclear, have a remaining lifespan of as little as 70
years.
• Non-conventional energy also called Renewable energy
sources, are sources that are continuously replenished by
natural processes.
• Though non-conventional energy sources, such as solar and
wind power, make up a small part of the overall market,
they offer benefits not found in traditional sources.
Advantages of Conventional Energy
• Cost/Unit
• Security/ Reliability
• Convenience
Disadvantages
• Pollution: not environmentally friendly
• When used on a longer run, can deplete soon:
Conservation of fuel is desirable(for example,
coal)
• Health hazards
• Safety issues (nuclear)
• Limited availability (Uranium)
Home assignment: Search for “coal in pharmaceutical uses” in google
(no need to submit)
Advantages of Non-Conventional
• Available in nature free of cost
• Eco friendly
• Inexhaustible
• Can be renewed with minimum effort and
money.
• Low gestation period
Disadavantages
• Availability in dilute form
• Cost of harnessing is high.
• Uncertainty of availability
• Difficulty in transportation
• Difficulty in storage.
Environmental aspects of energy
• Trade off between energy and environment
• Ecology
• Green house effect
• Global warming
IMPORTANCE OF NON-
CONVENTIONAL RESOURCES
• The non-conventional sources of energy such
as energy from sun, wind, biomass, tidal
energy, geothermal energy and even energy
from waste material are gaining importance.
• This energy is abundant, renewable, pollution
free and Eco-friendly.
• It can be more conveniently supplied to urban,
rural and even remote areas.
IMPORTANCE OF NON-
• The demand of energy is growing owing to the
development.
• Due to the problems associated with the development of
conventional sources of energy, the focus is now being
shifted to renewable energy sources.
• India has potential of renewable energy source in
abundance, which if developed properly can augment the
growing demand of the energy.
• There is a need to make full use of renewable energy
technologies to harness the untapped potential in cost
effective manner and fulfil the energy demand.
IMPORTANCE OF NON-
• Agricultural residues, kitchen waste, cow
dung, are excellent for use in anaerobic
fermentation, which complements biogas
production as it returns the necessary
nutrients to the land in form of slurry.
Thank you
Solar Radiation
Dr. Srikanth Allamsetty
1
Basics of Solar Energy: Extra-terrestrial and
Terrestrial Radiations
 Solar Energy:
It is the energy received by the earth from the sun. This
energy is in the form of Solar radiation, which makes the
production of solar electricity possible.
 Radiation:
• Any surface which has a temperature above absolute zero
radiates energy in the form of electromagnetic waves.
• This does not mean, however, that the amount of thermal
radiation emitted is always significant.
• The process in which electromagnetic energy is emitted in
the form of particles is said to be the radiation.
• The intensity and wavelength of the radiation emanating
from a surface are functions of both the temperature and
the surface properties.
2
 Solar Energy:
It is the energy received by the earth from the sun. This
energy is in the form of Solar radiation, which makes the
production of solar electricity possible.
 Solar Radiation:
• “Solar Radiation” is the electromagnetic radiation which is
emitted by the sun.
• Depending upon the nature of the surface, the radiation will
be absorbed, reflected or transmitted through the object.
• These effects take place when solar radiation strikes any
object.
3
 Figure below schematically shows the geometry of the sun-
earth relationship.
 The eccentricity of the earth’s orbit is such that the distance
between the sun and the earth varies by 1.7%.
4
 The solar constant Gsc is the energy from the sun per unit time
received on a unit area of surface perpendicular to the
direction of propagation of the radiation at mean earth-sun
distance outside the atmosphere.
5
Extra-terrestrial Radiation:
 The extra-terrestrial radiation is the radiation which is incident outside the
earth’s surface.
 Due to the change in distance between earth and sun, there is a seasonal
variation in the extraterrestrial rate.
Terrestrial Solar Radiation:
 It is the electromagnetic radiation which originates from earth and its
atmosphere.
 When the solar radiation reaches the earth’s surface, it is broken into two
components, i.e., diffuse radiation and beam radiation.
 Beam Radiation is the solar radiation which moves through the atmosphere
in a straight line without being scattered, reflected or absorbed by particles
in the air.
 Diffuse Radiation is the solar radiation which is being scattered, reflected or
absorbed by the particles while passing through the atmosphere but
ultimately reaches the earth’s surface.
6
In other words, the terrestrial radiation is the solar radiation that
reaches the surface of the earth after passing through the earth’s
atmosphere.
7
 Variations in the earth–sun distance, however, lead to variations in
extraterrestrial radiation flux in the range of ±3.3%.
 The dependence of extraterrestrial radiation on the time of year is shown in
figure below.
8
 A simple equation with adequate accuracy for most engineering calculations
is given in equation below.
 where Gon is the extraterrestrial radiation incident
on the plane normal to the radiation on the nth day
of the year
9
Terrestrial Radiation:
 While the solar radiation incident on the Earth's atmosphere is relatively
constant, the radiation at the Earth's surface varies widely due to:
 atmospheric effects, including absorption and scattering;
 local variations in the atmosphere, such as water vapour, clouds, and pollution;
 latitude of the location; and
 the season of the year and the time of day.
 The above effects have several impacts on the solar radiation received at the
Earth's surface.
 These changes include variations in the overall power received, the spectral
content of the light and the angle from which light is incident on a surface.
 In addition, a key change is that the variability of the solar radiation at a
particular location increases dramatically.
 The variability is due to both local effects such as clouds and seasonal
variations, as well as other effects such as the length of the day at a
particular latitude.
10
Terrestrial Radiation:
 Desert regions tend to have lower variations due to local atmospheric
phenomena such as clouds.
 Equatorial regions have low variability between seasons.
 The amount of energy reaching the surface of the Earth every
hour is greater than the amount of energy used by the Earth's
population over an entire year.
11
Solar Radiations Measurement
 47% of the incident solar energy reaches the Earth’s surface

 31% do so directly
 and the other 16% after being diffused by dust, water vapor, and air
molecules.
 The rest of the solar energy, 53%, does not reach the surface of the Earth,
 because 15% is absorbed by the troposphere (water, ozone, and clouds),
 23% is reflected by clouds,
 7% is reflected by the soil,
 2% is absorbed by the stratosphere, mainly by ozone,
 and the remaining 6% is the energy diffused by the atmosphere that is
directed toward the sky
12
Insolation
 It is the 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.
 The insolation received at the surface of Earth depends upon the solar
constant (the rate at which solar radiation is received outside Earth’s atmosphere),
the distance from the Sun, inclination of the Sun’s rays, and
the amount of insolation depleted while passing through the atmosphere.
Depletion of Solar Radiation
 If the Sun’s radiation was not filtered or depleted in some manner, our planet
would soon be too hot for life to exist.
 We must now consider how the Sun’s heat energy is both dispersed and
depleted. This is accomplished through dispersion, scattering, reflection, and
absorption.
13
 Two atmospheric processes can significantly affect the incident irradiation:

scattering and absorption.
 Due to these processes, out of the whole spectrum of solar radiation, only a small
portion reaches the earth surface.
Wavelength range:
from 0.3 to 3 µm
Wavelength:
3 µm or longer
Different types of radiation at the earth surface: orange - short wave; blue - long wave.14
Overview of different types of solar radiation data. 15

 The amount of solar radiation on the earth surface can be instrumentally

measured, and precise measurements are important for providing background
solar data for solar energy conversion applications.
 Pyrheliometer
 Pyranometer
 Photoelectric sunshine recorder.
16
 Pyrheliometer
 Pyrheliometer is used to measure direct beam radiation at normal incidence.
 Measures the beam radiation coming from the sun and a small portion of the
sky around the sun.
 Based on the experimental studies involving various pyrheliometer designs,
the contribution of the circumsolar sky to the beam is relatively negligible on
a sunny day with clear skies.
 However, a hazy sky or a uniform thin cloud cover redistributes the radiation
so that contribution of the circumsolar sky to the measurement may become
more significant.
17
 Pyrheliometer
18
 Pyranometer
 Pyranometer is used to measure total hemispherical radiation - beam plus
diffuse - on a horizontal surface.
 If shaded, a pyranometer measures diffuse radiation. Most of solar resource
data come from pyranometers.
 The total irradiance (W/m2) measured on a horizontal surface by a
pyranometer is expressed as follows:
 I total = I beam cosθ + I diffuse
 where θ is the zenith angle (i.e., angle between the incident ray and the
normal to the horizontal instrument plane).
 Pyranometers are also used to measure solar radiation on inclined surfaces,
which is important for estimating input to collectors.
19
 Pyranometer
20
 Photoelectric sunshine recorder

 The most potent radiation that creates the highest potential for concentration
and conversion is the bright sunshine, which has a large beam component.
 The duration of the bright sunshine at a locale is measured by a photoelectric
sunshine recorder.
 The device has two selenium photovoltaic cells, one of which is shaded, and
the other is exposed to the available solar radiation.
 When there is no beam radiation, the signal output from both cells is similar,
while in bright sunshine, signal difference between the two cells is
maximized.
 This technique can be used to monitor the bright sunshine hours.
21
(a) Pyranometer (b) Pyrheliometer
(c)
22
Solar Collectors
 Energy is recovered by solar collectors, which are mechanical devices that

capture radiant solar energy and convert it to useful thermal energy.
 This energy can be stored (if appropriate or required) and converted to satisfy
electricity, thermal, or mechanical energy demands.
 Different types of solar collectors can be applied, depending on the application.
Types of collectors
 Stationary Collectors (Non-Concentrating)
 Stationary Collectors (Concentrating)
 Sun Tracking
Molten salt??
23
Out of syllabus
Solar Collectors
Types of collectors
Indicative
Absorber Concentration
Motion Collector type temperature
type ratio
range (°C)
Flat plate collector (FPC) Flat 1 30-80
Stationary Evacuated tube collector (ETC) Flat 1 50-200
1-5 60-240
Compound parabolic collector (CPC) Tubular
5-15 60-300
Single- Linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) Tubular 10-40 60-250
axis
tracking Parabolic trough collector (PTC) Tubular 15-45 60-300
Cylindrical trough collector (CTC) Tubular 10-50 60-300
Two-axes Parabolic dish reflector (PDR) Point 100-1000 100-500
tracking Heliostat field collector (HFC) Point 100-1500 150-2000
Note: Concentration ratio is defined as the aperture area divided by the receiver/absorber area
of the collector.
24
Out of syllabus
Solar Collectors
 This figure represents the concept involved in the solar concentrator and
important types of solar collectors.
Solar collectors: (A) parabolic troughs; (B) parabolic dishes; (C) tower; and (D) linear Fresnel reflectors.25
Courtesy R. Guerrero-Lemus, J.M.M. Martı´nez-Duart, Concentrated solar power, in: Renewable Energies and CO2, Springer-Verlag, London, 2013, pp. 135e151.
Out of syllabus
Solar Collectors
 Integration of energy storage systems with CSP technologies enables the
prolongation of the operation hours of solar power plants and could
mitigate the dependence and direct relationship between CSP technologies
and climatic conditions, such as clouds or low solar irradiation.
A generic concentrating solar power plant. 26

Courtesy L. Witmer, Overview of Solar Thermal Power Systems j EME 811: Solar Thermal Energy for Utilities and Industry [WWW Document], Pennsylvania State Univ., 2017.
Out of syllabus
Solar Collectors
 Tower type solar collectors
27
Out of syllabus
Solar Collectors
Solar thermal tower power plant with steam turbine cycle.

Courtesy V. Quaschning, Solar thermal power plants: technology fundamentals, Renew. Energy World (2003) 109e113.
28
Out of syllabus
Solar Collectors
Solar thermal tower power plant with pressurized receiver using combined gas and steam turbine cycle.
Courtesy V. Quaschning, Solar thermal power plants: technology fundamentals, Renew. Energy World (2003) 109e113.
29
Low Temperature collectors
 Classified as:
A. Flat Plate Collector
B. Evacuated Tube Collector
 The temperature range is 5 to 30 oC.
 Generally used to heat swimming pools.
 Sometimes, to heat up domestic or commercial water supplies.
30
Types of Solar Water Heater
A. Passive / Flat Plate Collector type Since warm water is less dense
than colder water, it stays on top.
B. Active / Evacuated Tube Collector type
31
Passive Solar Water Heater
32
 Using solar energy to heat water can be extremely cost-effective.
 One of the reasons it can work cheaply is that it doesn’t require pumps.
 The water can be circulated while it is being heated using the principle of
the thermosyphon.
Thermosyphon is a method of passive heat

exchange, based on natural convection, which
circulates a fluid without the necessity of a
mechanical pump.
33
 The reason the thermosyphon works is because a cold fluid is denser
than a warm fluid.
 As a result, you get a pressure difference in the two legs of the system.
 This pressure difference works to constantly circulate the water.
 The water sinks on the cold, denser side, and rises on the warm, less
dense side.
 Thermosyphon water systems are great in the developing world because
they can be built very cheaply, using plastic pipe and 55-gallon drums.
 It needs a one-way valve.
 At night, the solar collector reverses function, and it becomes a thermal
radiator.
 It radiates away the heat towards outer space during night time.
34
 This makes the “Return” leg of the circuit (shown in red) colder and
therefore denser than the “Advance” leg of the circuit (shown in blue).
 Absence of a one-way valve reverses the circulation entirely.
35
 As a result, during the night-time, the circuit as shown takes warm water
from the top of the tank and circulates it to the thermal radiator.
 There it is cooled by radiation to space and returned to the bottom of the
tank.
 It is a reverse thermosyphon system,

which will run as long as the water in
the tank is warmer than the thermal
radiator.
36
37
The tempering valve is used to regulate the set

temperature of mixed hot and cold water.
38
Active Solar Water Heater
 They use evacuated tube solar collectors.
39
Evacuated tube solar collectors
40
41
 In active solar water-heating systems, pumps circulate water from the
storage tank to the collector.
 In a direct system, the water to be used by the building occupants runs
directly through the solar collectors.
 In an indirect system, either water or another heat-conducting liquid runs
through the collectors and then passes through a heat exchanger to heat
the water used by building occupants.
 A heat exchanger requires more piping than shown in the diagram above.
 Excessive heat buildup also can harm a system.
 Controllers are usually solid-state devices that direct the pumps in a solar
water-heating system to operate in a manner that optimizes the transfer of
heat from the collector to storage to avoid dangerous levels of heat
buildup in the collector.
Home assignment: Why heat exchangers need to be used? (Not what is its purpose)
42
• The Evacuated or Vacuum tubes collector, also referred as Vacuum Tube Solar
Water Heater, consists of a number of rows of parallel transparent glass tubes
connected to a header pipe and where the heat transfer fluid (usually 50% Propylene
Glycol) circulates and absorb heat generated by tubes.
• Flat plate collectors are one of the oldest types of collectors. They consist of an
absorber plate to collect the diffused sunlight and an insulated metal box to retain
the heat. The heat absorbed form the environment is transferred to a liquid that
circulates within the copper pipes.
43
44
45
, efficiently.
 Idle fluid in the collector can freeze, because it radiates heat

up to a cold, dark sky.
 Freezing can be prevented by using antifreeze instead
of water as the heat transfer fluid.
 Antifreeze also contains liquid alcohols like ethylene glycol,
propylene glycol, and methanol
46
Optical characteristics of
absorber and cover
 The functions of the transparent cover plates are
 1) to transmit as much solar radiation as possible to the absorber plate,
 2) to reduce heat loss from the absorber plate, and
 3) to shield the absorber plate from direct exposure to weathering.
 The most critical factors for the cover plate materials are strength, durability,
non-degradability and solar energy transmission.
 Sunlight is transmitted through the glass and absorbed by the blackened
surface beneath.
47
absorber and cover
 The cover tends to be opaque to infrared radiation from the plate and also
retards convective heat transfer from the plate, so the black plate heats up
and in turn heats a fluid flowing through tubes attached to the plate.
 Tempered glass is the most common cover material for collectors.
 The use of plastics also offers considerable promise for weight reduction but
experiences problem of melting due to high temperatures.
 Thermal insulation of 5 to 10cm thickness is usually placed behind the
absorber plate to prevent the heat losses from the rear surface.
 Insulation materials is generally mineral wool or glass wool or fiber glass.
48
absorber and cover
 Most glass and plastic materials have refractive indices of about 1.5
 unless special coatings or surface treatments are applied this results in
approximately 8 percent of the normal incident solar radiation reflecting
from the glass away from the absorber plate
 and a greater fraction is reflected at higher angle of incidence.
 This means that the maximum transmittance is 92 percent for a single
perfectly clear, non-absorptive sheet of glazing material.
 In multi-glazed panels, the reduction in transmission is about 8 percent more
for each additional sheet of glazing.
 In addition, there is a transmission reduction due to the absorption of
sunlight within the glazing material.
49
Heat transfer and
transmission losses
 Spectrally selective coatings applied to solar collector absorber plates
enhance the absorption of sunlight while reducing the emission of infrared
radiation, thus causing a higher equilibrium temperature to be reached.
 Solar selective absorbing coatings collect solar radiation and convert it to
heat.
 The most widely used coating for solar energy absorbers is black paint.
 Nano-crystalline oxides as alternative materials for spectrally selective solar
absorber coatings.
 The most important properties of collector absorber plate materials
are thermal conductivity, tensile and compressive strength, and corrosion
resistance.
 For this reason, copper is generally preferred because of its high thermal
conductivity and resistance to corrosion.
 Collectors are also being manufactured using aluminum and steel absorber
plates with a corrosion-inhibited heat transfer fluid.
50
Heat transfer and
transmission losses
 The glass covers act as a convection shield to reduce the losses from the
absorber plate beneath.
 The glass thickness of 3 and 4 mm are commonly used.
 The usual practice is to have 2 covers with specific ranging from 1.5 to
3cm.
 Advantages of second glass which is added above the first one are
 (i) Losses due to air convection are further reduced. This is important
in windy areas.
 (ii) Radiation losses in the infra-red spectrum are reduced by a
further 25%, because half of the 50% which is emitted out wards
from the first glass plate is back radiated.
51
Collector model and
collector equations
(1)
Sometimes mentioned as
incident solar flux (GT)
52
Collector model and
collector equations
 S is equal to GT (τα) and represents the absorbed solar energy per unit
time per unit area of the collector.
 Thus, FR can be expressed as in Equation (2)
 In Equation (2), the working fluid’s mass flow rate is expressed by m.

 Cp and To denote the fluid specific heat and the outlet temperature.
 If FR and UL values are computed appropriately, it is possible to calculate
the useful energy gain of the FPSCs (Equation (1)).
 FR determines the effectiveness of a solar thermal collector design, and all
factors that contribute to FPSC efficiency are combined into it.
 It is explained as the ratio of actual Qu to the maximum possible Qu of a
collector.
 The highest possible Qu (heat transfer) is achieved when the collector
temperature is the same as the working fluid’s inlet temperature and the
collector’s heat loss is minimum. 53
Out of syllabus
Collector model and

collector equations
 Hottel-Whillier (H-V) model:
54
Out of syllabus
Collector model and

collector equations
 The Differential Equation model (Farkas, 1999):
55
Applications of Solar
Energy
1
Solar Drying
Solar Dryer
2
Solar Drying
Direct Solar Dryer

 Direct solar dryers have the material to be dried placed in an
enclosure, with a transparent cover on it.
 Heat is generated by absorption of solar radiation on the product
itself as well as on the internal surfaces of the drying chamber.
3
Solar Drying
Indirect Solar Dryer

 solar radiation is not directly incident on the material to be dried.
 Air is heated in a solar collector and then ducted to the drying
chamber to dry the product
4
Solar Drying
.
Reverse absorber cabinet dryer
 (a): when we wish to avoid
discoloration
 (b): when we wish to utilize
more solar radiation
(As per our requirement/
application)
5
Solar Drying
is the force exerted on an object that is wholly or

Solar Dryers partly immersed in a fluid.
 Passive: In a passive solar dryer, air is heated and circulated naturally by
buoyancy force or as a result of wind pressure or in combination of both.
 Normal and reverse absorber cabinet dryer and greenhouse dryer
operates in passive mode.
 Active: The active solar dryers are motorized and equipped with
fans/pumps for air circulation.
 All active solar dryer are, thus, by their application, forced convection
dryer.
 Integral type active dryers: the solar collector forms an integral part of
the roof/wall of the drying/storage chamber.
 Distributed type active solar dryer: it is one in which the solar collector
and drying chamber are separate units.
 Mixed-mode type dryers: they are rather uncommon designs and it
combines some features of the integral and distributed type.
6
Solar Distillation
Solar Distillation
 Solar distillation is the use of solar energy to evaporate water and collect
its condensate within the same closed system.
 Unlike other forms of water purification it can turn salt or brackish water
into fresh drinking water
7
Solar Distillation
Solar Distillation
 When it comes to freshwater production, distillation is the process of
purifying dirty water by boiling it, leaving any contaminates behind and then
condensing the steam vapour back into freshwater.
 It can be done using a solar still.
 A solar still can be a very simple piece of equipment, which converts the suns
solar radiation into thermal energy by providing a storage area for the heat.
 Basically a greenhouse solar still consists of a square, round or rectangular
basin or trough to hold the dirty water with a transparent cover over the top.
 This cover acts as the main condenser and is sloped steep enough to allow
water forming on it to flow down to the bottom into a collecting trough.
 The cover also reduces heat losses and keeps the wind away.
 The suns radiation warms and heats the water which evaporates and the
resulting vapour condenses on the inside surface of the glass cover.
 Collection troughs are placed at the bottom of the cover to collect the
purified distillate water. 8
Solar Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Systems
Solar Refrigeration
 Solar energy is proved to be an ideal source for low temperature
heating applications.
 Three known approaches that use solar energy to provide
refrigeration at temperature below 0 degrees include
 photovoltaic (PV) operated,
 solar mechanical, and
 absorption refrigeration.
 Both PV operated and solar mechanical cycles rely on vapor
compression refrigeration cycle whereas absorption refrigeration
uses thermal energy as the primary input to the cycle.
 Among these three approaches, the photovoltaic system is the most
viable and appropriate means for small capacity portable systems
located in areas not near conventional energy resources.
9
Systems
Photovoltaic Operated Refrigeration
A condenser is a device or unit used to condense a gaseous substance into a liquid state
through cooling. In so doing, the latent heat is released by the substance and transferred to the
surrounding environment. 10
Systems
High P high T vapour High P low T liquid
Low P low T liquid

(boiling point
reduces)
Low P medium T vapour
An evaporator is a device used to turn the liquid form of a chemical substance such as water
into its gaseous-form/vapor. The liquid is evaporated, or vaporized, into a gas form of the
targeted substance in that process. 11
Systems
 Photovoltaic (PV) involve the direct conversion of solar radiation to

direct current (DC) electricity using semi conducting materials.
 That power can be used to operate a dc motor, which is coupled to
the compressor of a vapor compression refrigeration system.
 The major considerations in designing a PV-refrigeration cycle involve
appropriately matching the electrical characteristics of the motor
driving the compressor with the available current and voltage being
produced by the PV array.
 PV modules will operate over a wide range of conditions that are
rarely as favorable as the rating condition.
 In addition, the power produced by a PV array is as variable as the
solar resource from which it is derived.
12
Systems
Solar Mechanical Refrigeration
13
Systems
High P high T vapour

High P low T liquid
Low P Low P low T liquid

medium T (boiling point
vapour reduces)
14
Systems
 Solar mechanical refrigeration uses a conventional vapour compression
system driven by mechanical power that is produced with a solar-driven
heat power cycle.
 The heat power cycle usually considered for this application is a Rankine
cycle in which a fluid is vaporized at an elevated pressure by heat
exchange with a fluid heated by solar collectors.
 A storage tank can be included to provide some high temperature
thermal storage.
 The vapour flows through a turbine or piston expander to produce
mechanical power.
 The fluid exiting the expander is condensed and pumped back to the
boiler pressure where it is again vaporized.
 The overall efficiency of solar mechanical refrigeration, defined as the
ratio of mechanical energy produced to the incident solar radiation, is the
product of the efficiencies of the solar collector and the power cycle. 15
Systems
Absorption Refrigeration
High P medium T vapour

High P low T liquid
High P low T
mixture
Low P low T liquid

(boiling point
Low P medium T vapour reduces)
16
Systems
 Absorption refrigeration is the least intuitive of the solar refrigeration
alternatives.
 Unlike the PV and solar mechanical refrigeration options, the absorption
refrigeration system is considered a “heat driven” system that requires
minimal mechanical power for the compression process.
 It replaces the energy-intensive compression in a vapor compression
system with a heat activated “thermal compression system.”
 Ammonia is working fluid.
 Minimal mechanical power input (pump instead of compressor).
 Absorption into water solution allows it to be pumped.
 Desorbed in generator (rectifier required to separate out water).
17
Systems
 Heat into generator provided by solar collector.
 The pressurization is achieved by dissolving the refrigerant in the
absorbent, in the absorber section.
 Subsequently, the solution is pumped to a high pressure with an ordinary
liquid pump.
 In this way the refrigerant vapour is compressed without the need of
large amounts of mechanical energy that the vapour-compression air
conditioning systems demand.
 This system greatly increases complexity.
18
Systems
Solar Refrigeration
 Advantages:
 less pollution (Conventional refrigeration systems emit significant
amount of gas which pollute the environment)
 Additional power from the solar collector can also be used for the
other domestic purposes
 Disadvantages:
 solar radiation is not uniform and not available throughout the day
 Even in the hottest regions on earth, the average solar radiation flux
rarely exceeds 1 kWh/m2 and the maximum radiation flux over a day
is about 6 kWh/m2.
 It needs bigger collector.
 Initial investment to develop such set up is also large.
19
Systems
Solar Air Conditioning Systems
20
Systems
21
Systems
 Solar absorption systems
22
Systems
Solar absorption systems (same as absorption refrigeration):
 It uses an absorber and a generator instead of the compressor.
 Therefore, no electrical power is needed to pressurize the refrigerant
(water or ammonia).
 In fact, the refrigerant is first absorbed in an absorbing material and then
pressurized in the absorbed liquid phase.
 The pressurized absorption mixture is then reheated in a solar-powered
generator to regenerate the pressurized refrigerant vapor.
 After that, it is deliquesced in the condenser in order to become liquid,
which is then expanded through an expansion valve.
 The chilled refrigerant causes the cooling effect in the evaporator.
 Finally, the refrigerant is transferred to the absorber and a new cycle is
beginning.
23
Systems
 Solar adsorption systems
24
Systems
Solar adsorption systems:
 An adsorption cooling system is a heat-activated cooling system.
 The basic adsorption cycle relies on the adsorption of a refrigerant vapor
(adsorbate) into an adsorbent bed at low pressure and subsequent
desorption at a high pressure by heating the adsorbent bed.
 They use natural refrigerants such as the water and can be driven by a
low-temperature heat source
25
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cookers
 The use of solar energy for cooking eliminates the air pollution, use of
scarce firewood, its cost, and burden.
 Conventional solar cookers are thermal.
 This means that the sun rays are impacting on an absorbing surface where
they are instantly dissipated as heat that is transferred to the food.
 The heat transfer to the food can be direct or can be diverted to an
additional body that stores it for a delayed use, constituting the indirect
solar cookers.
 Another possibility is to transform the sun’s energy into electricity by
means of a PV solar panel.
 This electricity can be easily transported using cables to a remote (indoor)
ohmic resistance put in contact with the food or even submerged in it.
 This makes a PV solar cooker.
26
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cookers (Thermal)
(A) Section of a generic solar box oven

containing a single pot.
(B) A Cookit type solar thermal cooker
made of cardboard and aluminum foil.
27
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cookers (PV)
Photovoltaic (PV) solar cooker indicating thermal

losses
Layout of a stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) solar cooker with no batteries, using an electronic
controller including a charging port for externals.
28
Out of Syllabus
Solar Furnaces
 Details of sun:
 diameter: 1,390,000 km.
 mass: 1.989e30 kg
 temperature: 5800 K (surface) 15,600,000 K (core)
 The sun’s energy output (3.86 x1026 Watts)
 Solar furnace is a device that uses an array of mirrors to redirect and
concentrate the sun’s rays onto a small surface area thus producing
extremely high temperature.
 The temperature can go as high as 3773 K
29
Out of Syllabus
Solar Furnaces
30
Out of Syllabus
Solar Furnaces
 A spherical mirror is a mirror which has the shape of a piece cut out of a
spherical surface.
 There are two types of spherical mirrors: concave, and convex.
reflection or refraction?
31
Out of Syllabus
Solar Furnaces
32
Out of Syllabus
Solar Furnaces
 The operation principle of a solar furnace is quite simple.
 It entails the use of two mirrors, plane mirror and parabolic mirror.
 The plane mirror is known as Heliostat and is angled such that it directs
parallel beam of light to the parabolic mirror.
 The parabolic mirror then brings the light beam to focus at the focal point.
 When the number of mirrors is increased, then it is possible to achieve
energy and heat levels where one can actually boil water, cook food or
even melt metals.
 The amount of energy and efficiency of the solar furnace relay completely
on how accurate the mirrors are focused on one point.
33
Out of Syllabus
Solar Furnaces
Applications:
 Domestic uses
− Cooking
− Heating of water
 Agricultural uses
− Drying of farm produce
− Incubation of chicken
 Industrial uses
− Recycling of waste
− Welding of machine parts
− Produce Hydrogen Fuel
− Perform Scientific Experiments Which Require Extreme Temperatures
− Running Steam Turbines for Solar Power Plants
34
Out of Syllabus
Solar Green House

 Incoming UV radiation easily
passes through the glass walls
of a greenhouse and is
absorbed by the plants and
hard surfaces inside.
 Weaker IR radiation, however,
has difficulty passing through
the glass walls and is trapped
inside, thus warming the
greenhouse.
 This effect lets tropical plants
thrive inside a greenhouse,
even during a cold winter.
35
Photo voltaic energy conversion
Solar Cell Fundamentals

 A solar cell, is a large-area semiconductor diode, made from silicon.
 It consists of a p-n junction created by an impurity addition (doping) into
the semiconductor crystal.
 If impurities are phosphorus-atoms, which have five outer electrons, only
four electrons are required to fit the atom into the silicon crystal
structure, the fifth electron is mobile and free.
36

 By doping the crystal with boron atoms, which have only three outer
electrons, one electron is always missing for a complete binding into the
crystal structure.
 This electron could be “borrowed“ from neighboring atoms, so the place
of the missing electron is shifted.
 This missing electron could also be seen as a “hole“ with a positive charge
that is mobile and wandering.
 There are much more free holes than free electrons in the p-regions, so
the electrons are called minority charge carriers there.
37
38
39

 Due to the differences in concentration at the “frontier“ between the two
regions, electrons diffuse into the p-regions and “holes“ into n-regions,
therefore an electrical field in the formerly electrical neutral junction
comes into existence as shown in figure below.
 It is nothing but the
buildup of the space-
charge-region.
 It increases until a
further practical
diffusion of carriers
is avoided by it.
40
41
42
43

 Light falling into the semiconductor generates electron-hole-pairs,
causing an increase in the concentration of the minority charge carriers
by several orders of magnitude.
 These charge carriers diffuse to the space charge zone and are divided by
the electric field there.
 Between the contacts
of the n-side and p-side
a tension V could be
detected.
 When a load resistor R
is applied, a current I
flows through it, and
electrical power is
dissipated.
44

 In other words: in a solar cell, when a photon of energy greater than the
band gap strikes the material, electron–hole pairs are created.
 Under the influence of electric field, they are separated and transported
to their respective contacts from which they are extracted as current.
 Layer thickness, material type, defects, and device architecture directly
affect the fill factor (FF), power conversion efficiency (PCE), losses, and
absorption capacity of the solar cell.
 The limiting parameters such as layer thickness, its properties, and
defects can be controlled depending upon the type of the manufacturing
technique used.
 Hence, depending upon the designing approaches, solar cell technology
may be classified into two categories, i.e., crystalline Si-based technology
and thin film-based technology.
45
Solar Cell
Manufacturing of Solar Cell

 Silicon is the second most abundant element of the Earth’s crust and
therefore almost unlimited.
 Silicon has a stable crystalline structure, so cells have a very high lifetime
(> 25 years).
 The band gap of silicon is relatively well suited to convert the Sun’s
spectrum to electrical energy.
 The disposal of silicon is similar to that of glass and, thus, without serious
problems.
 The main challenge for production is the purifying process which should
result in quite pure silicon to allow efficient solar cells, but should require
as little energy as possible.
46
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cell

Production of Technical Silicon (MG-Si):
 Technical silicon or metallurgical silicon (MG-Si) is produced in large scale
for the demands of the aluminum and steel industry.
 The raw material silicon oxide (SiO2) in form of quartz or sand is reduced
by carbon to silicon, while emitting CO or CO2.
 The reduction is carried out in large arc furnaces by carbon (in the form
of a mixture of wood chips, coke and coal) to produce silicon.
 The liquid silicon at a temperature of 1,500oC is periodically poured from
the furnace (at purity of 98–99%) and blown with oxygen or
oxygen/chlorine mixtures to further purify it (up to 99.5%).
 It is then poured into shallow troughs, where it solidifies and is
subsequently broken into chunks.
 Using a novel way of feeding (mixing of pieces of quartz and sand
briquettes) the electrical power consumption could be reduced to 13
kWh/kg.
47
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cell

Production of Semiconductor-Grade Poly-Silicon (EG-Si): Electronic Grade Silicon
 For the use in solar cells (as well as for other semiconductor devices)
silicon has to be much purer than metallurgical grade silicon.
 The standard approach for purification is known as the “Siemens C-
process.”
 After grinding (grain size < 0.5 mm) the metallurgical silicon is fluidized in
a reactor at 300°C to 400°C with HCl in the presence of a Cu catalyst
generating SiHCl3 and H2.
 The gases are passed through a condenser.
 The resulting liquid is subjected to multiple fractional distillation to
produce trichlorosilane, SiHCl3 .
 To extract the pure silicon the SiHCl3 is reduced by hydrogen in a reactor
where the silicon deposits itself at electrically heated silicon rods of
1,000oC in a fine-grained polycrystalline form.
 The latter step not only requires a lot of energy (114.3 kWh/kg), but also
48
formerly had a low yield
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cell

Production of Single-Crystalline Silicon:
 For the semiconductor electronics industry, silicon must not only be very
pure, but it must also be in single-crystal form with zero defects in the
crystal structure.
 The major method used to produce such material commercially is the so
called “Czochralski” process. (pronouncekiwi.com/Czochralski)
 The semiconductor-grade silicon is melted in a crucible with trace levels
of a dopant.
 For solar cells, boron, a ptype dopant, is normally used.
 Beside the Czochralski process, the floating zone (FZ) process exists,
which allows for the production of highly efficient solar cells
Production of Multi-Crystalline Silicon:
 Rather than being a large single crystal, the ingot is made up of many
smaller crystals, or “grains”.
 The ingots are cut to columns with a square base, and are sliced later.
49
Solar Cell
Production of Solar Cells:

 First solar cell Wafers (Single- and Multi-Crystalline) would be made.
 For photovoltaic purposes, silicon solar cells need to be only 0.1 mm or
so thick to absorb most of the appropriate wavelengths the sun’s
radiation.
 Therefore the large single crystal column (ingot) can be cut up into slices
(wafers) of the same thickness.
 From these wafers, Single- and Multi-Crystalline solar cells would be
made.
 Distribution of Cell Production by Technology:
• Multi-crystalline Silicon: 58%
• Single-crystalline Silicon: 32%
• Thin film technology: 7%
• Others: 3%
50
Solar Cell
Solar Cell Classification
based on technology
 Conventional, traditional, or first generation

solar cells
 Because they are produced from 160–190 μm
thick solar wafers, they are sometimes called
 In the thin film-based technology, the thickness
wafer-based solar cells.
is from few nanometers to few micrometers,
 more efficient than the second-generation
which results in faster charge collection.
technologies
 Inorganic thin film-based solar cells require high
vacuum and higher processing temperature
51
which limits their large-scale production
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cell
Solar Cell Classification
based on the primary active material
52
Solar Cell
Solar Cell Characteristics

 The characteristic of a solar cell without any irradiance (dark
characteristic) corresponds to a diode characteristic as shown below.
 When the solar cell is
illuminated, this
characteristic shifts by
the amount of the photo
current Iphot in blocking
direction (light
characteristic).
 This solar cell
characteristic is
determined by plotting
the resulting currents
and voltages at different
loads. 53
Solar Cell

 The short-circuit current ISC is one of the most essential
characteristics of a solar cell.
 It occurs in an
illuminated, short-
circuited solar cell.
 Open-circuit voltage VOC :
One describes the
tension between the
contacts if no current is
taken (open circuit).
 The theoretically
attainable (optimal)
power which can be
taken from the terminal,
Popt =Isc x Voc 54
Solar Cell
 The attainable power Pmax is defined by the greatest possible product
of V and I at an operating point: Pmax=Pmp=Imp x Vmp
 The so called “Maximum

Power Point“ (MPP) is given
by Imp and Vmp.
 The ratio of Pmax to Popt is
called the fill factor FF.
 It describes the
“rectangularness” of the trace
of the characteristic.
 Figure shows the power P as
a function of the tension V and
the corresponding I-V
characteristics
Current-Voltage characteristics and Power-

Voltage characteristics of a silicon solar cell. 55
Solar cell, equivalent circuit diagram
 To understand the electronic behavior of a solar cell, it is useful to create a
model which is electrically equivalent.
 It 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.
 The resulting equivalent circuit of a solar cell is shown below on the left.
The schematic symbol of a solar cell

56
 The diode in the model is telling you that the output voltage of the cell is
limited.
 Letting current pass through, the diode actively limits the available voltage
to its forward voltage and that indicates that you cannot draw arbitrarily
great voltages out of the PV cell.
 A diode in series wouldn't serve this purpose.
 The current source does not allow current to flow through it in reverse
direction: The diode models this aspect of the solar cell performance.
 From the equivalent circuit it is evident that
57
 The current through these elements is governed by the voltage across them:
+
Vj
-
58
59
60
Out of Syllabus
Solar Cell, Module, Panel and Array Construction

Solar Module
 A photovoltaic module consists of multiple PV cells connected in series
to provide a higher voltage output.
 Six to twelve solar cells are connected in series to give a so called
“string”.
 The cell connecting tabs consist traditionally of flat silver wires.
 Contacting is then carried out by point or infrared welding.
 Three to twelve such strings are the base for a solar module (or PV
module), which protects the PV generator against weather and the
environment.
 For that the cell matrix is laminated together with a front sheet of glass,
transparent plastic and a backside glass or foil.
 The most common plastic used for this purpose is a copolymer: Ethylene-
vinyl-acetate (EVA).
 A frame made of aluminum, stainless steel or plastic and a terminal box
complete the module. 61
Out of Syllabus

Solar Module
 The aluminum frame increases the
energy requirement for the module
production by 215 kWh per m2 of
module area.
 For this purpose (and to reduce
costs) frameless PV modules are
getting more common.
 Mounting and fixing to the support
structure is then usually done by
clamping bolts, sometimes a glue
fixture is used.
 Energy requirement and CO
emissions are reduced significantly by
the use of frameless modules.
62
Out of Syllabus

Solar Panel
 The term solar panel is
sometimes used
interchangeably with
solar module.
 The main difference is
that some solar panel
models are composed of
multiple modules
mounted together.
 A panel can be described
as the collection of
modules mechanically
fastened together, wired,
and designed to provide a
field-installable unit. 63
Out of Syllabus

Panel Construction
 Solar panel technology is advancing rapidly
with greater efficiency and lower prices
resulting in a huge increase in demand.
 However, despite the massive advancements
in technology, basic solar panel construction
hasn’t changed much over the years.
 Most solar panels are still made up of a series
of silicon crystalline cells sandwiched
between a front glass plate and a rear
polymer plastic back-sheet supported within
an aluminium frame.
 Once installed, solar panels are
subjected to severe conditions over the
course of their 25+ year life.
64
Out of Syllabus

Panel Construction
 Solar panels are made using the 6

main components described below
and assembled in advanced
manufacturing facilities with
extreme accuracy.
 Solar photovoltaic cells
 Toughened Glass: 3 to 4mm thick
 Extruded Aluminium frame
 Encapsulation - ethylene vinyl
acetate (EVA) film layers
 Polymer rear backsheet
 Junction box: diodes & connectors
65
Out of Syllabus

Solar Array
 A solar array can be
defined as a mechanically
integrated assembly of
modules or panels
together with support
structure as required to
form a DC power
producing unit.
 The foundation, tracking,
thermal control and other
components would be
considered inclusive in
some books and exclusive
in other.
66
Out of Syllabus

Solar Array: Series Circuit
 Connect the positive terminal of the first solar panel to the negative
terminal of the next one.
 Eg.: If you had 4 solar panels in a series and each was rated at 12 volts
and 5 amps, the entire array would be 48 volts at 5 amps.
67
Out of Syllabus

Solar Array: Parallel Circuit
 Connect all the positive terminals of all the solar panels together, and all
the negative terminals of all the panels together.
 Eg.: If you had 4 solar panels in parallel and each was rated at 12 volts
and 5 amps, the entire array would be 12 volts at 20 amps.
68
Out of Syllabus

Solar Array: different topologies
 Honey-Comb (H-C)
PV array
configuration is the
most appropriate PV
configuration for the
generation of
maximum power
compared to Series
and Series-Parallel
PV array
configurations.
 PV array topology connections (a) series connection (b) parallel connection (c) series-parallel
connection (d) total cross tide connection (e) bridge connection (f) honey comb connection69
Bioconversion

What is Biomass
• Biomass is a key renewable energy
resource that includes plant and
animal material, such as wood from
forests, material left over from
agricultural and forestry processes,
and organic industrial, human and
animal wastes.
• The energy contained in biomass
originally came from the sun.
Through photosynthesis carbon
dioxide in the air is transformed into
other carbon containing molecules
(e.g. sugars, starches and cellulose)
in plants.
• The chemical energy that is stored
in plants and animals (animals eat
plants or other animals) or in their
waste is called biomass energy or
bioenergy.
What is Biomass
• Biomass is a renewable energy
source because we can always
grow more trees and crops, and
waste will always exist.
• Some examples of biomass fuels
are wood, crops, manure, and
some garbage. When burned, the
chemical energy in biomass is
released as heat. If you have a
fireplace, the wood you burn in it
is a biomass fuel.
• Wood waste or garbage can be
burned to produce steam for
making electricity, or to provide
heat to industries and homes.
What is Biomass
• In past 10 years or so, considerable practical experience has
accumulated in India as well as in other developing and
industrialized countries, on biomass energy production and
conversion.
• The availability of biomass such as wood, cow-dung, leaf litter
in rural areas is more.
• Hence a choice of biomass energy especially in rural areas is
more reasonable but at the same time the technology is
being developed to meet the large-scale requirements using
biomass.
• One of the major advantages of biomass energy is that it can
be used in different forms.
• For e.g., Gas generated from the biomass can be directly used
for cooking or it can be used for running an internal
combustion Engine for developing stationary shaft power or
otherwise coupled to generator for generating electric power.
Bioconversion
Advantages and disadvantages
• Biomass is renewable fuel used in nearly every corner of the
developing countries as a source of heat, particularly in the
domestic sector.
• Advantages of biomass gasify energy over other renewable energy
options:
a)Suitable in most locations.
b)Varying capacity can be installed; any capacity can be operated,
even at lower loads; no seasonality.
c)Need for storage of energy is not required.
• Drawbacks of biogas energy over other renewable energy options:
a)It can be used directly for cooking, or heating water from the
abundantly available dung and dried plant leaves in rural areas.
b)Capacity determined by availability of dung/bio-waste: Not
suitable for varying loads.
c)Not feasible to locate at all the locations.
Site Selection for Biomass Plants
• There should be minimum distance from gas
production plant to gas consumers.
– Methane forms explosive mixtures with air
• For operation and maintenance, sufficient land shall be
available.
• For formation of biomass, slurry water is required.
Therefore, sufficient water shall be available near site.
• To avoid seepage of fermented slurry, the site should
be at least 10 to 15 meters away from water supply
tanks, storage or wells.
• Sun radiations are required, the space shall be open to
receive sun rays.
– biogas production is high above 25oC temperature
Top 10 nations in Biomass Electricity
(GWh)
May be old data

Top 10 states in Biomass Electricity
(GWh)
May be old data

Usable Forms of Biomass, their
Composition and Fuel Properties
• Burning biomass is not the
only way to release its energy.
• Biomass can be converted to
other usable forms of energy
like methane gas or
transportation fuels like
ethanol and biodiesel.
• Methane gas is the main
ingredient of natural gas.
• Smelly stuff, like rotting
garbage, and agricultural and
human waste, release
methane gas - also called
"landfill gas" or "biogas."
Usable Forms of Biomass, their
Composition and Fuel Properties
• Crops like corn and sugar
cane can be fermented to
produce the transportation
fuel, ethanol.
• Biodiesel, another
transportation fuel, can be
produced from left-over
food products like vegetable
oils and animal fats.
Biomass Resources
• Biomass Resources
sometimes referred to
as biorenewable resources,
are all forms of organic
materials including plant
matter both living and in
waste form, as well as animal
matter and their waste
products.
• As such biomass resources
are generally classified as
being either waste materials
or dedicated energy crops.
• When plants are cultivated,
specially for the purpose of
energy, it is known as energy
Farming.
Forestry Residues
Forestry residues are generated by operations such as thinning of
plantations, clearing for logging roads, extracting stem-wood for pulp
and timber, and natural attrition.
Some fast growing energy intensive trees such as eucalyptus, pine,
poplar are cultivated for the purpose of energy.
Harvesting may occur as thinning in young stands, or cutting in older
stands for timber or pulp that also yields tops and branches usable for
biomass energy.
Harvesting operations usually remove only 25 to 50 percent of the
volume, leaving the residues available as biomass for energy.
Forestry Residues
Stands damaged by insects, disease or fire are additional sources of
biomass.
Forest residues normally have low density and fuel values that keep
transport costs high, and so it is economical to reduce the biomass
density in the forest itself.
Some plants produce seeds to yield vegetable oil on pressing. This
serves as a liquid bio fuel(biodisel).There are two categories of oil
producing plants(a)Wild plants jojoba and karanja (b) agricultural
crops.
Oil Producing plants
The majority of plant-based oils come from the oil-rich seeds and
fruits of a limited number of specialised oil crops, such as canola,
soybean, sunflower, olive, coconut and oil palm.
The benefits to be derived from plant oil fuel industry are
Most of these plants are adaptable and hardy.
Simple technology involve in oil extraction and filtering .
The leftover biomass known as cake can be used in biogas plant.
Most of the plants are of low cost ,require low input.
Aquatic Plants:
Some water plants grow faster than land based plant and provide
raw material for producing biogas or ethanol. Example: Kelp,
seaweed, algae
Urban Waste:
 Urban Waste is of two types municipal solid waste (MSW) or
garbage and sewage or liquid waste. Energy from MSW can be
obtained from direct combustion or as a landfill gas. Sewage can be
used to produce biogas after some processing.
WOOD AND WOOD WASTE
 The most common form of biomass is wood.
 Direct combustion is the simplest way to get heat
energy.
 It’s energy density is 16-20 MJ/kg.
 It can be converted into more usable form like
charcoalor producer gas.
 Charcoal is a clean, dry, solid fuel, black in colour.
 It has 75-80% carbon content and energy density
is 30 MJ/kg.
 For thousands of years people have burned wood
for heating and cooking.
 Wood was the main source of energy in India and
the rest of the world until the mid-1800s.
WOOD AND WOOD WASTE
 In India wood and waste (bark, sawdust, wood
chips, and wood scrap) provide only about 2
percent of the energy we use today.
 About 84 percent of the wood and wood waste
fuel used is consumed by the industry, electric
power producers, and commercial businesses.
The rest, mainly wood, is used in homes for
heating and cooking.
 Many manufacturing plants in the wood and
paper products industry use wood waste to
produce their own steam and electricity.
 This saves these companies money because they
don't have to dispose of their waste products and
they don't have to buy as much electricity.
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, LANDFILL
GAS, AND BIOGAS
 Urban Waste is of two types municipal solid waste (MSW) or
garbage and sewage or liquid waste Trash that comes from plant or
animal products is biomass.
 MSW can be a source of energy by either burning MSW in waste-
to-energy plants, or by capturing biogas. I
 n waste-to-energy plants, trash is burned to produce steam that
can be used either to heat buildings or to generate electricity.
 Sewage can be used to produce bio gas after some processing.
 In landfills, biomass rots and releases methane gas, also called
biogas or landfill gas.
 Some landfills have a system that collects the methane gas so that
it can be used as a fuel source.
 Some dairy farmers collect biogas from tanks called "digesters"
where they put all of the muck and manure from their barns.
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, LANDFILL
GAS, AND BIOGAS
 Biogas, naturally occurring gas that is generated by the breakdown
of organic matter by anaerobic bacteria and is used in energy
production.
 Biogas differs from natural gas in that it is a renewable
energy source produced biologically through anaerobic
digestion rather than a fossil fuel produced by geological processes.
 Biogas is primarily composed of methane gas, carbon dioxide and
trace amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide.
 Nitrogen rich sludge(fertilizer) is also produced as a by product with
improved sanitation as an added bonus.
 The output of biogas (density 23 MJ/m3) contain about 50-60% CH4,
30-40% CO2, 5-10% H2, N2 .5-.7% with trace amount of O2 and H2S.
 It is used for cooking, lighting, heating and opearting small IC
engines.
BIOFUELS -- ETHANOL AND BIODIESEL
 "Biofuels" are transportation fuels like ethanol and
biodiesel that are made from biomass materials.
 These fuels are usually blended with the petroleum fuels -
gasoline and diesel fuel, but they can also be used on their
own.
 Raw vegetable oil upgraded as biodiesel through a chemical
process called trans-esterification where by the glycerine is
separated from animal fat or vegetable oil.
 The process leaves behind two products-Biodiesel and
glycerine.
 Using ethanol or biodiesel (C2H5OH) is a colourless liquid
biofuel.
 Its boiling point is 78°C and energy density 26.9 MJ/kg.
 Ethanol and biodiesel are usually more expensive than the
fossil fuels that they replace but they are also cleaner
burning fuels, producing fewer air pollutants.
BIOFUELS -- ETHANOL AND BIODIESEL
 Ethanol is an alcohol fuel made from the sugars found
in grains, such as corn, sorghum, and wheat, as well as
potato skins, rice, sugar cane, sugar beets, and yard
clippings.
 It can be derived from set biomass containing sugars,
starches or cellulose.
 The main constituents are legnin and cellulose.
 Biodiesel is a fuel made with vegetable oils, fats, or
greases - such as recycled restaurant grease.
 Biodiesel fuels can be used in diesel engines without
changing them.
 It is the fastest growing alternative fuel in the India.
Biodiesel, a renewable fuel, is safe, biodegradable, and
reduces the emissions of most air pollutants.
Biomass Conversion Technologies
vegetable oils
Physical conversion
 The simplest form of physical conversion of biomass is through
compression of combustible material.
 Its density is increased by reducing the volume by compression through
the processes called briquetting and pelletization.
 Pelletization: It is a process where wet wood is pulverized, dried and
forced under pressure through an extrusion device.
 The extracted mass is in the form of pellets 5-10 mm dia and 12 mm long,
facilitating its use in steam power plants and gasification system.
 It reduces the moisture to about 7-10% and increases the heat value of
boimass.
 Briquetting: It is the process to improve the characteristics of biomass as
a renewable energy resource by densification.
 Densification means less volume needed for the same amount of energy
output.
 The energy content of briquettes ranged from 4.48 to 5.95 kilojoule per gram
(kJ/g) depending on composition, whereas the energy content of sawdust,
charcoal and wood pellets ranged from 7.24 to 8.25 kJ/g.
 Biobriquettes molded into a hollow-core cylindrical form exhibited energy
output comparable to that of traditional fuels.
Physical conversion
Chemical conversion
Expelling Agro products:
Concentrated vegetable oils may be obtained from certain agro products and may be
used as fuel in diesel engines.
However difficulties arise with direct use of plant oil due to high viscosity and
combustion deposits.
Therefore these oils are upgraded by a chemical method known as transesterification to
overcome these difficulties.
Examples are seeds (sunflower, soya beans) Nut (oil palm), Fruits (olive), Leaves
Occasionally, liquid or solid fuels may be obtained directly from living or freshly cut
plants.
The materials are called exudates and are obtained by cutting into (tapping) the stems
or trunks of the living plants or by crushing freshly harvested material.
Chemical conversion
Chemical conversion
Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Biological conversion:
 It involves use of bacteria, microorganisms and enzymes to
breakdown biomass into gaseous or liquid fuels, such as biogas or
bioethanol.
 Biomass wastes can also yield liquid fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, which
can be used to replace petroleum-based fuels.
 Alcoholic fermentation. Ethanol is a volatile liquid fuel that may be used in
place of refined petroleum. It is manufactured by the action of micro-
organisms and is therefore a fermentation process. Conventional
fermentation has sugars as feedstock.
 C12H22O11+H2O yeast −→4C2H5OH+4CO2
 Anaerobic digestion. In the absence of free oxygen, certain microorganisms
can obtain their own energy supply by reacting with carbon compounds of
medium reduction level to produce both CO2 and fully reduced carbon as
CH4.
 The process (the oldest biological ‘decay’ mechanism) may also be called
‘fermentation’, but is usually called ‘digestion’ because of the similar process
that occurs in the digestive tracts of ruminant animals.
 The evolved mix of CO2, CH4 and trace gases is called biogas as a general
term, but may be named sewage gas or landfill-gas as appropriate.
Anaerobic digestion
 The methane produced can be utilized for generating electricity –
renewable energy – through a biogas engine thereby making the sewage
treatment plant meet its electricity requirements.
Whilst effectively
treating the sewage,
anaerobic digestion
generates a high
grade of gaseous fuel
– sewage gas.
Sewage to energy
conversion plant
Home assignment:
Search for Deaerator in
thermal power plant
 The methane produced can be utilized for generating electricity –
renewable energy – through a biogas engine thereby making the sewage
treatment plant meet its electricity requirements.
to separate plastics and other

non-decomposable matter
consists of a
layer of
anthracite coal
above a layer
of fine sand
Thermo-Chemical Conversion:
 Energy recovery from
waste is the conversion of
non-recyclable waste
materials into usable
heat, electricity, or fuel
can be done using
Thermo-Chemical
Conversion through a
variety of processes,
including combustion
(incineration), gasification
and pyrolysis.
Thermo-Chemical conversion:
Incineration:
 The burning of organic residue from plants, agricultural, forestry
and municipal waste to produce energy.
 To convert biomass into energy, organic matter is burned in a boiler
to make steam.
 The steam then turns a turbine, which is connected to a generator
that produces electricity or provide the heat for the industrial
process, space heating, cooking.
 This is just one of the more simple methods of converting biomass
from waste into energy.
 The major advantage of incineration is that makes
waste management easier and more efficient, because incineration
can burn up to 90% of the total waste generated and sometimes
even more.
 As a comparison, landfills only allow organic decomposition, so
nonorganic waste keeps accumulating.
 Incinerators produce smoke during the burning process.
Incineration:
Thermo-Chemical conversion: MSW to energy incineration plant
 Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is the burning of waste in a controlled
process within a specific facility that has been built for this purpose.
 The primary goal of MSWI is to reduce MSW volume and mass and also make it
chemically inert in a combustion process without the need of additional fuel
(autothermic combustion).
 As a side effect it also enables recovery of energy, minerals and metals from the
waste stream.
 There are always about 25% residues from incineration in the form of slag (bottom
ash) and fly ash.
 Bottom ash is made up of fine particulates that fall to the bottom of the incinerator
during combustion, whilst fly ash refers to fine particulates in exhaust gases which
must be removed in flue gas treatment.
 These residues need further attention and, in the case of the hazardous fly ash, a
secure place for final disposal.
 The combustible materials in waste burn when they reach the necessary ignition
temperature and come into contact with oxygen, undergoing an oxidation reaction.
Thermo-Chemical conversion: MSW to energy incineration plant
 The reaction temperature is between 850 and 1450ºC, and the combustion process
takes place in the gas and solid phase, simultaneously releasing heat energy.
 A minimum calorific value of the waste is required to enable a thermal chain
reaction and self-supporting combustion (so-called autothermic combustion), i.e.
there is no need for addition of other fuels.
 During incineration, exhaust gases are created which, after cleaning, exit to the
atmosphere via a pipe or channel called a flue.
 These flue-gases contain the majority of the available fuel energy as heat, as well
as dust and gaseous air pollutants which must be removed via a flue-gas
purification process.
 Excess heat from combustion can be used to make steam for electricity generation,
district heating/cooling or steam supply for nearby process industry.
 Plants that utilize cogeneration of thermal power (heating and cooling) together
with electricity generation can reach optimum efficiencies of 80%, whereas
electricity generation alone will only reach maximum efficiencies of about 20%.
 The smoke produced includes acid gases, carcinogen dioxin, particulates,
heavy metals, and nitrogen oxide.
 These gases are poisonous to the environment. Research has shown that
dioxin produced in the plant is a cancer forming chemical.
 Thermochemical processes do not produce useful energy directly but under
controlled temperature and oxygen conditions.
 These processes are more convenient and cost effective than the thermal
processes.
 They convert biomass feedstock into energy carriers, such as producer gas,
oils or methanol.
 Energy carriers are more energy dense and therefore give better fuel
efficiency and reduce transport costs.
 They are used in internal combustion engines and gas turbines.
 Thermochemical conversion is the controlled heating and/or oxidation of
biomass as part of several pathways to produce intermediate energy carriers
or heat.
 Thermochemical conversion processes include three subcategories:
pyrolysis, gasification, and liquefaction.
 Pyrolysis • Thermal conversion (destruction) of organics in
the absence of oxygen
• In the biomass community, this commonly refers to lower
temperature thermal processes producing liquids as the
primary product
• Possibility of chemical and food byproducts
 Gasification • Thermal conversion of organic materials at
elevated temperature and reducing conditions to produce
primarily permanent gases, with char, water, and
condensables as minor products
• Primary categories are partial oxidation and indirect heating
 Carbonization: Process used for the production of charcoal
 Liquification: A liquid product is obtained through catalytic
liquification process.
• Biomass gasification involves burning of biomass in a limited supply of air
to give a combustible gas consisting of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
hydrogen, methane, water, nitrogen, along with contaminants like small
The gas is
char particles, ash and tars. cleaned to make
Biomass gasification plant
it suitable for use
in boilers,
engines and
turbines to
produce heat and
power (CHP).
Biomass Conversion
Technologies
• During combustion, the volatiles and char are partially burned in air or
oxygen to generate heat and carbon dioxide. In the reduction phase, carbon
dioxide absorbs heat and reacts with the remaining char to produce carbon
monoxide (producer gas).
The presence of
Biomass gasification plant water vapour in a
gasifier results in
the production of
hydrogen as a
secondary fuel
component.
• Biomass gasification provides a means of deriving more diverse forms of energy
from the thermochemical conversion of biomass than conventional combustion.
• The basic gasification process involves devolatization, combustion and reduction.
During
devolatization,
Biomass gasification plant
CH4 and other HCs
are produced
from the biomass
by the action of
heat which leaves
a reactive char.
 There are two main types of gasifier that can be used to carry out this conversion,
fixed bed gasifiers and fluidized bed gasifiers.
 The fixed bed gasifiers have been the traditional setup used for gasification,
operated at temperatures around 1000 0C.
 Among the fixed bed gasifiers, there are three major types and these are updraft,
downdraft and cross-draft gasifiers.
 The conversion of biomass into a combustible gas involves a two-stage process.
 The first, which is called pyrolysis, takes place below 600°C, when volatile
components contained within the biomass are released.
 These may include organic compounds, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, tars and
water vapour.
 Pyrolysis leaves a solid residue called char.
 In the second stage of the gasification process, this char is reacted with steam or
burnt in a restricted quantity of air or oxygen to produce further combustible gas.
 Depending on the precise design of gasifier chosen, the product gas may have a
heating value of 6 – 19 MJ/Nm3.
Thermo-Chemical conversion: Downdraft gasifier
 In the downdraft gasifier, the gasification agent (air or O2) is fed into the middle
of the bed (combustion zone) above the stationary grate and the producer gas
flows out of the gasifier from the bottom of the gasifier beneath the stationary
grate.
 In this type of gasifier, the fed solid fuel moves downwards together with the
gases through a drying zone, a pyrolysis zone, an oxidization (combustion) zone
and a reduction zone.
 In the drying zone, moisture is vapourized and the solid fuel is dried.
 With downwards motion, the dry solid fuel is further heated and the dried solid
fuel is decomposed to char and gases (pyrolysis).
 With continuous downwards motion, gasification agent is injected, thus partial
combustion of char and some combustible gases occurs, providing needed heat
to maintain the target gasification temperature.
 Then the gases and the char move to the reduction zone in which the
gasification reactions occur and the producer gas is formed.
 The temperature in each zone is different. In
the drying zone, the temperature is normally
at 200 °C or lower before the solid fuel is
degraded.
 Temperature in the pyrolysis zone is up to
500–600 °C depending on the equivalence
ratio (ER) (the ratio of oxygen provided to the
stoichiometric oxygen demand).
 The oxidation zone has the highest
temperature of up to 1500 °C at which tars
and other heavy hydrocarbons are thermally
cracked into lighter hydrocarbon gas.
 Below the oxidation zone, the remaining
char, ash, the producer gas and water vapour
flow through the reduction zone in which the
vapour can react with char (steam
gasification reaction), CO (water–gas-shift
reaction) and with CH4 (steam–methane-
reforming reaction) to form hydrogen which
is desired.
 Advantage of the downdraft fixed bed
gasifiers is that the tars are cracked down
in the oxidation zone, thus the producer
gas has lower tar content compared to
other types of gasifiers.
 However, the producer is easily
contaminated by ash and other fine
particles, and a separation device (e.g.,
two-stage cyclone and ceramic filter) is
needed to clean the producer gas.
 Another setback with this type of gasifier
is relatively high temperature of the exit
producer gas, resulting in lower
gasification efficiency.
 Due to the large variation of temperature
profile within the gasifier, this type of
gasifier is used at small to medium scale
(100 kWth–5 MWth).
 Updraft gasifiers are one of the simplest and
most common types of gasifier for biomass.
 In these gasifiers, the feed is introduced
from the top, and air is introduced from the
bottom through grate.
 Feed and air move counter currently in the
gasifier.
 The lowest portion of the gasifier is
essentially the “combustion” zone where the
char formed due to drying and
devolatilization of biomass is combusted.
 This helps in raising the temperature of the
lower portion of the gasifier to about 727 °C.
 Hot gases passing upward through the bed
of downflowing biomass are reduced in the
portion immediately above the combustion
zone.
 Further up the gasifier, the hot gases
pyrolyze the biomass and dry it.
 These processes cool the gases to about 200-
300 °C.
 Pyrolysis of biomass results in release of
volatiles and the formation of a sizeable
amount of tar.
 Some of this tar may leave with the
outgoing gases.
 The overall efficiency of the process
could be high due to the low
temperature of the gases leaving the
gasifier.
 In addition, the gas flowing through the
packed bed of biomass undergoes
“filtration” as the particulate matter
entrained with it is captured by the bed
material.
 This helps in lowering of the particulate
content of the outgoing gas.
 The humidity of the gasifying air plays a
major role in controlling the
temperature of the gasification.
 In this design, the biomass feed is introduced
from the top and the air is from the side of the
gasifier.
 The biomass moves down as it gets dried,
devolatilized, pyrolyzed, and finally, gasified
while the air exits from the opposite side of the
unit.
 The exit for the gas is more-or-less at the same
level as that of entrance. The combustion and
gasification zone is located near the entrance of
the air while the devolatilization and pyrolysis
zones are at a higher level than the entrance and
exit.
 The producer gas leaves the gasifier at almost
the same temperature as gasification (~ 800-
900 °C). Thus, the heat loss from this gasifier is
high, which reduces its thermal efficiency.
 Secondly, the overall residence time of the
producer gas in the high temperature zone is
small (as the gas enters and exits from opposite
ends), and hence, tar cracking is limited. This
leaves a significant amount of tar in the outgoing
gas.
 In a typical fluidized bed (bubbling or circulating)

air enters from the bottom, but is fuel fed from
the side or top.
 In either case, the fuel is immediately mixed
throughout the bed owing to its exceptionally
high degree of mixing .
 Thus, the fresh oxygen (in air) entering the grid
comes into immediate contact with fresh
biomass particles undergoing pyrolysis as well as
with spent char particles from the biomass,
which has been in the bed for some time.
 Oxygen's contact with the fresh biomass burns
the tar released, while its contact with the spent
char particles causes the char to burn. Fluidized bed gasifier
 Though the solids are back-mixed, the gases

flow upward in plug-flow mode. This means that
further up in the bed neither older char particles
nor fresh pyrolyzing biomass particles come in
contact with the oxygen.
 Any tar released moves up in the bed and leaves
along with the product gas. For this reason, tar
generation in a fluidized-bed gasifier is between
the two extremes represented by updraft and
downdraft gasifiers, averaging about
10 mg/Nm3.
Fluidized bed gasifier

Thermo-Chemical conversion: Biomass Liquefaction

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Renewable Energy Sources

Topic: Energy scenario in India, Classification of

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* Refer books for details

Dr. Srikanth Allamsetty

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