Control of a hybrid solar energy village system utilizing a combined photovoltaic/thermal collector

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6065484

Salim, A H

The mathematical modeling, simulation, and the control of a proposed hybrid energy system is discussed. The energy system which utilizes a combined photovoltaic/thermal collector has been designed to supply electrical and thermal energy requirements of a rural village. The main objective of this work, however, is concerned with the development of a controller that maximizes the system's useful energy collection and delivery to the end user. The control method is based on a new concept which deals with the regulation of the solar cell temperature for the array's maximum power output. The control objective has been realized by simulating three control models in which their respective performance and control energy expenditure has been tested with varying operating conditions. The control systems incorporate a conventional on-off controller, a suboptimal controller of the linear regulator type which solves the system dynamics for the control variables while minimizing a linear quadratic performance index, and a proportional controller that utilizes the natural behavior of the solar insolation for the production of the control energy. Results of the simulation studies indicate that the design objective has been achieved. The suboptimal controller has shown considerable performance improvement over the conventional controller in all simulated conditions, especially when cloud conditions prevail where as much as 42.21% improvement in system's useful electrical energy has been obtained.

• OSTI ID: 6065484
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANTS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
PERFORMANCE
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
HYBRID SYSTEMS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RURAL AREAS
SIMULATION
SOLAR COLLECTORS
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
CONTROL
EQUIPMENT
POWER PLANTS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
140700* - Solar Thermal Power Systems
140600 - Solar Energy- Photovoltaic Power Systems