The Future Power Plants

An Exclusive Informative Document About The Future Power Plants To Come

Mende Suresh, Assistant Engineer-TSGENCO-2017

You Have Two Hands

One To Help Yourself
The Second To Help Others
 Author's Note

1. This document is written and shared under the fundamental right to freedom of speech and
expression mentioned in Art.19(a) of the Indian Constitution.
2. The objective of this document is merely and merely to give an idea to the readers about the
anticipated future power plants to come. Besides, it has no other intension.
3. The information written herein is meant to give a vague and general/typical basic idea, which
must be appropriately adapted to individual circumstances from case to case.
4. The information in this document is believed to be written to the best of the knowledge and
belief of the author. This document is merely the result of self reading and understanding of the
author. None, including the author does held any responsibility for any type of mistakes either
for author's understanding errors or typing errors.
5. Some part(s) of this document is merely a fabrication of many free materials available in the
internet. References is not made due to the huge number of random materials perused.
6. This document, in no way, provides legal advice or establishes legal standards of reasonable
behavior. It to be considered neither as standard information nor accurate.
7. None, including the author, a) makes any written or oral warranty, expressed or implied, about
the information herein; b) assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy or
completeness of any information, statistics, figures or pictures contained herein; or
c) represents that use of this document would not infringe any privately owned rights of
anybody, whatsoever, including, but not limited to, patents, trademarks, or copyrights.
8. None, including the author, does held any responsibility for any type of misunderstanding of
this document. Trust on this document is merely left to the readers.

Any type of feedback-opinions-suggestions-comments-compliments-corrections are welcome

Wishing You All The Best

 Contents

1. Cop-21/Paris Pact-Its Implications on Thermal Power Plants of India.......................05

1. Introduction....................................................................................................05
2. Existing Emission Norms for TPS................................................................06
3. New Emission Norms Notified on 07.12.2015..............................................06
4. New Water Norms Notified on 07.12.2015...................................................06
5. Major Technical Issues for Thermal Power Plants.....................................07
2. Super Critical Thermal Power Plants-Salient Features.................................................08
1. Critical Point..................................................................................................08
2. Rankine Cycle-Subcritical Unit....................................................................09
3. Rankine Cycle-Supercritical Unit.................................................................09
4. Variation of Latent Heat with Pressure & Temperature............................09
5. Nucleate Boiling & Film Boiling...................................................................10
6. Natural Circulation Vs Once Through System...........................................10
7. Super Critical Boiler Layout.........................................................................11
8. Feed Water Control........................................................................................11
9. Difference Between Subcritical & Supercritical Thermal Power Plants..12
10. Water Wall Arrangement..............................................................................13
11. Spiral Vs Vertical Wall...................................................................................13
12. Furnace Arrangement....................................................................................13
13. Comparison of Vertical Wall & Spiral Wall ................................................14
14. Advanced Super Critical Boiler Material.....................................................14
15. Material Comparison.....................................................................................15
16. Chemistry Comparison..................................................................................15
17. Advantages & Challenges..............................................................................16
3. Hydel Power Plants.............................................................................................................17
1. Introduction.....................................................................................................17
2. History..............................................................................................................18
3. Hydrologic Cycle..............................................................................................19
4. Basic Principle of Hydel Power Plants...........................................................20
5. Types of Hydel Power Plants..........................................................................21
6. Major Equipments/Structures in Hydel Power Plants................................32
7. Advantages & Disadvantages.........................................................................39
8. Miscellaneous Points........................................................................................40
4. Solar Power Plants...............................................................................................................41
1. Introduction......................................................................................................41
2. History...............................................................................................................43
3. Why Solar?.......................................................................................................43
4. How Solar Energy is Captured?.....................................................................44
5. Basic Principle of Photovoltaic Solar Power Plants......................................50
6. Physics...............................................................................................................52
7. Generations of PV Cells...................................................................................55
8. Major Equipments in Photovoltaic Solar Power Plants...............................56
9. Advantages & Disadvantages..........................................................................59
10. Miscellaneous Points.........................................................................................60
5. Wind Power Plants................................................................................................................63
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................63
2. History................................................................................................................63
3. Types of Winds...................................................................................................65
4. Why Wind Flows?..............................................................................................65
5. Characteristics of Wind.....................................................................................67
6. Wind Speed Distribution...................................................................................68
7. Wind Speed Effects.............................................................................................68
8. What is a Wind Turbine.....................................................................................68
9. Types of Wind Turbines......................................................................................69
10. Basic Principle of Wind Turbines......................................................................70
11. Major Equipments in Wind Power Plants........................................................71
12. Physics..................................................................................................................73
13. Advantages & Disadvantages.............................................................................76
14. Future Technology Developments......................................................................77
15. Miscellaneous Points............................................................................................77
6. Other Power Plants..................................................................................................................82
1. Biomass Power Plants..........................................................................................82
2. Geothermal Power Plants....................................................................................84
3. Tidal Power Plants...............................................................................................85
4. Wave Power Plants...............................................................................................86
5. OTEC Power Plants.............................................................................................87
1. Cop-21/Paris Pact-Its Implications on Thermal Power Plants of India

The earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed--Mahatma Gandhi

1. Introduction
In continuing efforts to safeguard the environment and reduce emissions from power sector,
India has made the following commitments in COP 21 at Paris in December, 2015;
1. India intends to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35 % by 2030 from 2005 level.
2. To achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil
fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low cost
international finance.
3. Introducing new, more efficient and cleaner technologies in thermal power generation.

Further, to reduce emissions from Thermal Power Stations, Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change has also issued new environmental norms in December 2015 regarding
Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), SOx, NOx and Mercury. Norms for specific water consumption
by Thermal Power Stations have also been notified to conserve water.

The present installed capacity of coal based thermal power plants is 1,85,172 MW as on
31.03.2016 and 72,355 MW is under construction which is likely to be affected by the new
norms. The total installed capacity of power and unit wise break up (coal based) is as follows;
***To be implemented within 2 years by existing stations and w.e.f 01.01.2017 for plants under
construction and new plants to come.
5. Major Technical Issues for Thermal Power Plants
1. Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM)
-->Retro-fitting of additional fields in ESP/ replacement of ESP etc. required to achieve the
proposed norms in existing plants.
-->There may be space constraints in modification in ESP area in the existing plants. A capacity of
around 60 GW (302 Units) may have such space problems while retrofitting equipment to meet
revised environmental norms.
2. Sulphur Dioxide (SOx)
-->FGD system would need to be installed to meet the amended norms regarding SOx control for
all categories of existing plants as well as plants under construction.
-->Units of less than 500 MW size and some older 500 MW units face layout problems for
installation of FGD system due to non-availability of space. A capacity of around 90 GW (430
units) is facing problem due to non-availability of space for FGD.
-->A capacity of around 90 GW (151 units) of existing plants and 72 GW (73 units) of plants
under construction would require installation of FGD plant.
3. Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)
-->The proposed standards of 600 mg/Nm3 (302 existing units) would require modification of the
combustion process using low NOx burners.
-->The proposed standards of 300 mg/Nm3 and 100 mg/Nm3 would require installation of
de-nitrification systems like Selective Catalytic Reduction(SCR) systems.
-->Layout issues for installation of DeNOx system in the existing units.
-->The globally available SCR system for NOx control are not proven for Indian coal having high
ash contents.
-->A pilot project for demo at 500 MW unit with SCR system would have to be installed to
ascertain its efficacy in removal of NOx emissions with domestic coal having high ash content
of the order of 40%.
-->A capacity of around 120 GW (279 units) of existing plants and 72 GW (73 units) of under
construction plants may require installation of SCR systems to meet new norms.
 2. Super Critical Thermal Power Plants-Salient Features

1. Critical Point
Critical point in water vapour cycle is a thermodynamic state where there is no clear distinction
between liquid and gaseous state of water. Water reaches to this state at a critical
pressure above 22.1 MPa and 374o C.

Supercritical (SC) and ultrasupercritical (USC) power plants operate at temperatures and
pressures above the critical point of water, i.e. above the temperature and pressure at which the liquid
and gas phases of water coexist in equilibrium. The major difference between super critical power
plant and subcritical power plant is in its boiler design and usage of higher grade coal.

A supercritical steam generator is a type of boiler that operates at/above supercritical pressure
and temperature. In contrast to a subcritical boiler in which bubbles can form, a supercritical steam
generator converts liquid water immediately into steam. Water passes below the critical point as it
does work in a high pressure turbine resulting in slightly less fuel use and therefore less greenhouse
gas production. Technically, the term "boiler" should not be used for a supercritical pressure steam
generator as no "boiling" actually occurs in the device.

The header drums were intended to be partially filled with water and above the water there was
a baffle filled space where the boiler's steam and water vapour is collected. The entrained water
droplets were collected by the baffles and returned to the water pan. The mostly dry steam was piped
out of the drum as the separated steam output of the boiler. These drums were often the source of
boiler explosions, usually with catastrophic consequences. However, this drum could be completely
eliminated if the evaporation separation process was avoided altogether. This would happen if water
entered the boiler at a pressure above the critical pressure (3,206 pounds/inch2, 22.10 MPa); was
heated to a temperature above the critical temperature (706 F, 374 C) and then expanded (through a
simple nozzle) to dry steam at some lower subcritical pressure. This could be obtained at a throttle
valve located downstream of the evaporator section of the boiler.

Contemporary supercritical steam generators are called as Benson boilers. These have no drum.
Supercritical (SC) and ultra supercritical (USC) power plants require less coal per megawatthour,
leading to lower emissions (including carbon dioxide and mercury), higher efficiency and lower fuel
costs per megawatt. Conventional coal fired efficiency is over 32%, SC and USC is over 45%.
2. Rankine Cycle-Subcritical Unit
1 - 2 > CEP work
2 - 3 > LP Heating
3 - 4 > BFP work
4 - 5 > HP Heating
5 6 > Eco, WW
6 7 > Superheating
7 8 > HPT Work
8 9 > Reheating
9 10 > IPT Work
1011 > LPT Work
11 1 > Condensing

3. Rankine Cycle-Supercritical Unit

1 - 2 > CEP work

2 2s > Regeneration
2s - 3 > Boiler Superheating
3 4 > HPT expansion
4 5 > Reheating
5 6 > IPT & LPT Expansion
6 1 > Condenser Heat Rejection

4. Variation of Latent Heat with Pressure & Temperature

5. Nucleate Boiling & Film Boiling
Nucleate boiling is a type of boiling that takes place when the boiling surface temperature is
hotter than the saturated fluid temperature by a certain amount but where heat flux is below the critical
heat flux. Nucleate boiling occurs when the surface temperature is higher than the saturation
temperature by between 40C to 300C. Supercritical technology uses film boiling.

6. Natural Circulation Vs Once Through System

7. Super Critical Boiler Layout

8. Feed Water Control

Drum type boiler feed water flow control is by controlling three elements;
1. Drum Level
2. MS Flow
3. Feed Water Flow
Drum less boiler feed water control is by;
1.Load Demand
2.Water/Fuel Ratio(7:1)
3.OHD(Over Heat Degree)
9. Difference Between Subcritical and Supercritical Thermal Power Plants
10. Water Wall Arrangement
Bottom spiral & top vertical tube furnace arrangement
Once through design feature is used for boiler water wall design
The supercritical water wall is exposed to the higher heat flux
Higher mass flow improves heat transfer between the WW tube and the fluid at high heat flux
Spiral tube wall design (wrapped around the unit) with high mass flow & velocity of steam/water
mixture through each spiral

11. Spiral Vs Vertical Wall

Vertical Wall Spiral Wall
Less ash deposition on wall More ash deposition
Less mass flow More fluid mass flow
More number of tubes Less number of tubes
More boiler height for same capacity Less boiler height
No uniform heat transfer to tubes Uniform heat transfer of tubes
No uniform heat transfer of WW Uniform heat transfer of WW

12. Furnace Arrangement

13. Comparison of Vertical Wall and Spiral Wall

14. Advanced Super Critical Boiler Material

15. Material Comparison

16. Chemistry Comparison

17. Advantages & Challenges
1. Advantages
-->Higher cycle efficiency (Sub Critical 34-37%, SC 37-41%) means primarily
less fuel consumption hence, low capacity fuel handling system
less per MW infrastructure investments
less emissions and low capacity ash handling system
less auxiliary power consumption
less water consumption
approximate improvement in cycle efficiency;
Pressure increase : 0.005 % per bar
Temp increase : 0.011 % per deg K
-->Operational flexibility
Better temperature control and load change flexibility
Shorter start-up time
More suitable for widely variable pressure operation

2. Challenges
Water chemistry is more stringent in super critical once through boiler
Metallurgical challenges
More complex in erection due to spiral water walls
More feed pump power is required due to more friction losses in spiral water walls
Maintenance of tube leakage is difficult due to complex design of water walls
Ash sticking tendency is more in spiral water wall in comparison of vertical walls
 3. Hydel Power Plants

The harness of waterfalls is the most economical method for drawing the energy from the sun
------Nikola Tesla

1. Introduction
Hydroelectric power comes from water at work, water in motion. It can be seen as a form of
solar energy, as the sun powers the Hydrologic cycle which gives the earth its water. Hydro power
(Hydel Power) means water power, it is derived from greek word Hudor means water. Hydro power
is motive(force) energy contained in the water, it can be converted into electricity through power plant.
Hydro power is believed to be invented by man during 1st century in the form of water wheel, as an
alternative to human and animal power. Generation of power said to have been started during 1880s,
by converting the water to generate power. Hydro-electric power is generated by the flow of water
through turbine, turning the blades of the turbine. A generator shaft connected to this turbine also turns
and hence generates electricity. Hydropower is called a renewable energy source because the water on
the earth is continuously replenished by precipitation. As long as the water cycle continues, we wont
run out of this energy source.

The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low (fuel cost is less than half the cost of fossil fuel
derived electricity), making it a competitive source of renewable electricity. The hydro station
consumes no water, unlike coal or gas plants. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project
produces no direct waste, and has a considerably lower output level of greenhouse gases than fossil
fuel powered energy plants. Hydro power is resurgent, renewable and environmental friendly and
clean power when compared with power produced by fossil fuels, which is diminishing day by day.
Ideal ingredient for grid stabilization, given its instant switch on and switch off capability for large
storage system, and storage of energy by pumping operation during non peak hours and generating
during peak hours when the cost of power is high.
 Every day, our planet loses a small amount of water through the atmosphere as ultraviolet rays
break water molecules apart. But at the same time, new water is emitted from the inner part of the
Earth through volcanic activity. The amount of water created and the amount of water lost is about the
same. At any one time, the world's total volume of water is in many different forms. At present the
share of hydro power in our country is 20-30% only. The ideal share is 40-50%.

2. History
1st c.BC- Greeks used waterwheels for driving sawmill, grinding wheat into flour, pumping
and lifting water from a lower to a higher elevation for irrigation (The water wheel is
simple machine, located below a source of flowing water. It captures the water in buckets
attached to the wheel and the weight of the water causes the wheel to turn. Water wheels
convert the potential energy (gravitational potential energy) of the water into motion. That
energy can then be used for various purposes)
1770s - French engineer Bernard Forest de Blidor published Architecture Hydraulique which
described vertical and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines
1800s-American and European factories used the water wheel to power machines
19th c.-The electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with hydraulics
1849-James B Francis develops a radial-flow turbine ( first modern turbine) whereby water flows
from the outer circumference towards the center of runner, improving on the design of the
existing inward-flow reaction turbine. It had an efficiency of over 90%
1878-The world's first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland,
England by William George Armstrong to power a single arc lamp in his art gallery
1879-Lester Pelton develops a turbine based on double bucket design, which exhausted the water to
the side. In the same year, Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lamp in New Jersey.
1880s -Invention of dynamo or generators
1881-Construction of Niagara Falls hydroelectric power site-First hydropower facility developed
for major generation. Direct current station built to power arc and incandescent lighting.
1882-Construction of Vulcan Street hydroelectric power plant, in Appleton, Wisconsin, with an
output of about 12.5kW of alternating current. Coupling of electric generator to the turbine.
1888-Multi-phase motor proposed by Tesla, opened the practical use in industry
1891-Long distance transmission line was tested (177 km from Lauffen to Frankfurt, Germany)
1913-Viktor Kaplan develops a propeller-type machine. It is an evolution of the Francis turbine that
allows the development of low-head hydro sites.
20thc.-Many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in
mountains near metropolitan areas
3. Hydrologic Cycle
Water flows into the ocean and comes back onto the land through a cyclic process called
Hydrologic Cycle/Water Cycle. In the Hydrologic Cycle, The sun heats water (about 97% from the
oceans), water evaporates, rising air currents transport water vapour to the upper atmosphere where
lower temperatures condense vapour into clouds. Air currents move the clouds around the globe and
eventually, water falls as precipitation. Water from rain and melting snow eventually reaches ponds,
lakes, reservoirs, or oceans where evaporation is constantly occurring. Some of this water evaporates,
but much of it either percolates into the soil or becomes surface runoff. Gravity causes water to
descend from higher elevations creating opportunities to harness water energygravitational energy
from falling water and kinetic energy from flowing water. The amount of kinetic energy available from
water flow depends on the height from which the water drops, the angle of the slope, and the volume
of water per unit of time, i.e., the discharge. Moisture percolating into the soil may become ground
water (subsurface water), some of which also enters water bodies through springs or underground
streams. Ground water may move upward through soil during dry periods and may return to the
atmosphere by evaporation. Water in water bodies again gets heated up by the sun and water vapor
passes into the atmosphere by evaporation then circulates, condenses into clouds, and some returns to
earth as precipitation. Thus, the water cycle is complete.Through this process, water can reach
altitudes higher than sea level.
4. Basic Principle of Hydel Power Plants
Hydro-electric power is based on the simple principle of using falling water to spin a shaft
connected to an electric generator. The greater the Fall of water, the more power it has to spin a
shaft. The greater the Quantity of water, the greater the number and size of the shafts that may be
spun and the greater the electricity output. The amount of power that can be produced depends on two
factors; the Flow (quantity of water passing), the Head available (vertical distance of water can be
made to fall). The flow is measured in terms of cubic metres a second. The head is
expressed in metres. It may be natural, or it may be artificially created by building a dam to raise the
level of a lake or river. Every hydro-electric generating unit consists of a hydraulic or water turbine to
convert the energy of falling water to mechanical energy, connected by a shaft to an electric generator
to convert mechanical energy into electric energy.

Water for a hydro-electric power station is conveyed under pressure (the head) through tunnels
or pipes to the turbine where it hits the turbine runner. The runner starts spinning when water hits it,
and this spins the generator shaft. When the water has given up its energy to the turbine runner, it is
discharged through the tailrace of the power station to join the main stream of the river.
5. Types of Hydel Power Plants
1. Water Flow
1. Run-off-the-River
Run-off-the-River hydroelectric stations are those with small or no reservoir capacity, so that
only the water coming from upstream is available for generation at that moment, and any oversupply
must pass unused. A barrage or weir may be built to divert water to the turbine from the river. A
constant supply of water from a lake or existing reservoir upstream is a significant advantage in
choosing sites for Run-off-the-River. Its energy output is subject to the instantaneous flow of the river
and little control of the flow through the plant due to small amounts of the water flow. None or very
little regulation and storage of water are available in this type of power plants. These plants are
suitable for small energy demands around the area of the plant.
Examples; Jurala HES, Pulichintala HES

2. Diversion
A diversion structure such as dam, barrage, weir across the river/stream is built. The natural
flow of water is diverted to the turbine through open canal/free flow tunnel/pressure tunnel and
penstock. The former two are usually called the Open-Flow Diversion System and the latter Pressure
Diversion System. In fact, the combination of open channel and pressure conduit and penstock may be
done in a variety of ways. The slope of headrace is flatter than that of river/stream in case of open
canal or free flow tunnel. Thus the difference in elevation between headrace and natural river/stream
increases.
Example; Peddapally Mini Hydel Schemes
3. Storage
An artificial basin (created by a dam on a river course) allows to store water and thus control
the flow through the plant on a daily or seasonal basis. Constructing a dam across the river/stream
creates storage, increasing the water depth, decreasing the hydraulic gradient and creating head. The
storage can be daily, weekly, seasonal, annual, multi-annual and full-time. The reservoir helps in the
regulation of discharges by storing water during high flow period and augmenting it during low flow
period. These types of plants are very efficient to meet the energy demand and hence, when large-scale
projects are constructed, these plants are recommended.
Examples; Srisailam Left Bank HES, Nagarjuna Sagar HES

4. Pumped Storage
In a conventional hydropower plant, the water from the reservoir (only one reservoir) flows
through the plant, exits and is carried down stream. But a pumped- storage plant has two reservoirs;
Upper reservoir-like a conventional hydropower plant, a dam creates a reservoir. The water in this
reservoir flows through the hydropower plant to create electricity, Lower reservoir-water exiting the
hydropower plant flows into a lower reservoir rather than re-entering the river and flowing
downstream. Using a reversible turbine or a dedicated pump, the plant can pump water back to the
upper reservoir, during the periods when surplus and cheap energy is available. The pumped water
then flows down through the turbines to produce power during the period of peak demand. Essentially,
the second reservoir (normally fed by a lake, river, or stream) refills the upper reservoir. By pumping
water back to the upper reservoir, the plant has more water to generate electricity during periods of
peak consumption.
 Pumped storage plants can be divided into two; Ternary Systems-made up of one electric
machine and two distinct hydraulic machines (pump and turbine) which are more suitable for very
high heads, with a Pelton turbine and a centrifugal pump, Reversible Machine Sets-made up of one
electric machine and only one, reversible, hydraulic machine (pump-turbine).

The pumped storage power plant turbine normally resembles the Francis turbine, runs in both
forward and backward directions as pump or generator. Outer diameter of impeller runner is 30-40%
larger than the Francis turbine. Runner shape of the runner blades is similar to pump runner blades
with number of blades are less. Profile of runner blades is less curvy.

These plants are useful for smoothing out the difference between energy demand and supply;
they can favorably store energy produced by base-load plants during off-peak hours while making this
energy available to the grid for peaking supply needs and system regulation. The powerhouse of this
type of plants is equipped with high capacity pump-turbines. Pump turbines are used in a wide range
of situations, with heads from less than 50 m to over 800 m, and unit power from 10MW to over 500
MW. The overall system efficiency is usually around 70-80%. Pumped-storage schemes currently
provide the most commercially important means of large-scale grid energy storage and improve the
daily capacity factor of the generation system.
2. Head
Classification according to head is the most logical basis especially from the point of view of
the designer and the construction engineer. Though there is no specific definition fixed hitherto for
head based plants, according to A. Ludin, E. Mosonyi and other authors, the following general limits
can be given (These suggested limits are not rigid and need not to be strictly followed);
Low-Head Plants <15m
Medium-Head Plants 15-50m
High-Head Plants >50m
Comparison of the above three types of head plants in various aspects is as follows;
3. Physical Features
1. Surface Type
Surface type hydel power plants are built on the surface of the land either at the flow of the
water (flow section) or just beside the barriage/wier/dam (non-flow section) or at a place out of the
river area (diversion) but on the surface of the earth. Construction of surface type plants is easy
compared to underground type but the head utilisation is not optimised. This type of power plant is
preferred when there is reliability of high flow of water (specified amount of flow) is guaranteed.
Example; Nagarjuna Sagar HES

2. Under Ground Type

An undterground hydel power plant is constructed so as to avail the maximum head possible
and it is generally used at large facilities and makes use of a large natural height difference between
two waterways, such as a waterfall or mountain lake. This type of power plant allows to utilise the
available water in the reservoir to its best level. An underground tunnel is constructed to take water
from the high reservoir to the generating hall built in an underground cavern near the lowest point of
the water tunnel and a horizontal tailrace taking water away to the lower outlet waterway.
Example; Srisailam Left Bank HES

4. Type of Turbine
1. Impulse Type
An impulse turbine is a horizontal or vertical wheel that uses the kinetic energy of water
striking its buckets or blades to cause rotation. The wheel is covered by a housing and the buckets or
blades are shaped so they turn the flow of water about 170 degrees inside the housing. After turning
the blades or buckets, the water falls to the bottom of the wheel housing and flows out.

In impulse type turbine, the water is supplied to the runner at atmospheric pressure passing
kinetic energy only. The flow through the runner is entirely at atmospheric pressure. The hydraulic
head is converted to kinetic energy before water enters the runner. The pressure exerted by the water
being due to the impulse of the Jet-Pelton Wheel. A typical Impulse turbine, guiding nozzles and a
single bucket are shown in figures below.
Examples; Pelton Wheel; Flow Rate~ 0.5-20 m3/s
Head~ 300-1500 m
Net Power up to~ 200 MW
Turgo Wheel, Cross-Flow Wheel, Bunki or Cinki Turbine.
2. Reaction Type
A reaction turbine is a horizontal or vertical wheel that operates with the wheel completely
submerged, a feature which reduces turbulence. The runner is completely submerged and both
pressure and velocity decrease from runner inlet to outlet. In theory, the reaction turbine works like a
rotating lawn sprinkler where water at a central point is under pressure and escapes from the ends of
the blades, causing rotation. Reaction turbines are the types most widely used.

In reaction turbine the water is supplied to the runner passes energy which is partial kinetic and
partial pressure. Both type of energies are converted into work done in the runner resulting a drop of
pressure and absolute velocity of water.
Examples; Francis Turbines (Radial or Mixed Flow); Flow Rate ~ 2-800 m3/s
Head~ 50-400 m
Net Power up to~ 800 MW
Axial Turbines(Axial Flow); Kaplan (Adjustable Blade Pitch); Flow Rate up to~1000 m3/s
Head up to~ 40 m
Net Power up to~ 200 MW,
Propeller (Fixed Blade Pitch).
3. Bulb Turbine
Being a reaction turbine, bulb turbine takes full advantage of the axial flow configuration;
immersed in the water channel, the flow enters and exits the turbine with minor changes in direction.
Bulb turbines may have Fixed Pitch or Variable Pitch (Kaplan) blades, and different configurations are
possible; Bulb (tubular) turbine-the bulb holds electric generator, wicket gates and runner, Pit Turbine-
A gear box is used in order to reduce generator and bulb size and the generator is not enclosed in the
bulb, Straflo (Straight Flow) Turbine-The rotor of the electric generator is directly connected to the
runner, thus avoiding the need of a drive shaft, reducing the bulb size and increasing the flow area, S-
Turbine-The generator is placed outside the water channel by means of an S-shaped channel and a
drive shaft connecting runner and generator.
S.No. Impulse Turbine Reaction Turbine
1 High water heads Medium & low water heads
2 Low discharge High discharge
3 More hydraulic efficiency Less hydraulic efficiency
The pressure of the flowing water does not The pressure of the flowing water is reduced
4 change and is equal to the atmospheric after gliding over the vanes
pressure
5 The water impinges on the bucket with The water glides over the moving vanes with
Kinetic Energy Potential Energy
6 Entire available energy of the water is first Only a portion of the available energy of the
converted to Kinetic Energy water is converted to Kinetic Energy
7 Nozzles & moving blades Guiding vanes & moving blades
All happens at atmospheric pressure from Water enters the runner with excess pressure, and
8 the staring of water inlet to the end of then both velocity and pressure change as water
water outlet passes through the runner
9 Blades are in action only when they are Blades are in action all the time
infront of the nozzle
10 Water allowed to enter only a part or Water is admitted over the circumference of the
whole of the wheel circumference total wheel
11 The wheel does not run full and air has Water completely fills the vane passage
free access to the buckets throughout the operation of the turbine
Casing has no hydraulic function to Casing is essential so as to protect the pressures
12 perform. It serves to prevent splashing and from the atomosphere as the pressure at inlet to
guide the water to the tail race the turbine is much higher than that of outlet
13 Unit is installed above the tail race Unit is kept entirely submerged in water below
the tail race.
14 Flow regulation is possible without loss Flow regulation is always accompanied by loss
5. Power Capacity
Classification of plants according to capacity is frequently adopted. However, it is very
difficult to find a definite limit because the valuation of the capacity is different in almost every
country. However, following are the main types being used;

Pico hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power generation of under 5 kW. It is useful in
small, remote communities that require only a small amount of electricity. For example, to power one
or two fluorescent light bulbs and a TV or radio for a few homes. Even smaller turbines of 200 to
300W may power a single home in a developing country with a drop of only 1 m (3 ft). A Pico
hydro setup is typically Run-off-the-River, meaning that dams are not used, but rather pipes divert
some of the flow, drop this down a gradient, and through the turbine before returning it to the
stream.

Micro hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to
100 kW of power. These installations can provide power to an isolated home or small community, or
are sometimes connected to electric power networks. There are many of these installations around the
world, particularly in developing nations as they can provide an economical source of energy without
purchase of fuel. Micro hydro systems complement photovoltaic solar energy systems because in
many areas, water flow, and thus available hydro power, is highest in the winter when solar energy is
at a minimum.

Mini capacity plants serve the same purpose more or less like the micro hydro plants. In some
of the countries, this category is included in micro or small hydro power plants. Power supply to a less
populated towns may be served by mini capacity power plants.
 The definition of a small hydro project varies but a generating capacity of up to 10 MegaWatts
(MW) is generally accepted as the upper limit of what can be termed small hydro. Small hydro stations
may be connected to conventional electrical distribution networks as a source of low cost renewable
energy. Alternatively, small hydro projects may be built in isolated areas that would be uneconomic to
serve from a network, or in areas where there is no national electrical distribution network. Since small
hydro projects usually have minimal reservoirs and civil construction work, they are seen as having a
relatively low environmental impact compared to large hydro. This decreased environmental impact
depends strongly on the balance between stream flow and power
production.

Large-scale hydroelectric power stations are more commonly seen as the largest power
producing facilities in the world, with some hydroelectric facilities capable of generating more than
double the installed capacities of the current largest nuclear power stations. Although no official
definition exists for the capacity range of large hydroelectric power stations, facilities from over a few
hundred MegaWatts are generally considered large hydroelectric facilities. These large capacity hydel
power plants compete with the coal fired thermal power plants in production of the elctricity.
Currently, major share of the hydel power is occupied by this category of power plants. There are as
large as over 10 GW (10,000 MW) large scale hydroelectric power plants are in operation worldwide,
and presently some more are under construction to serve the heavy need of the power.

6. Purpose
1. Single Purpose
In this type of plants water is only used for production of electricity. The other uses such as
irrigation, storage, etc. are not considered during economic life calculation.

2. Multipurpose
Production of electricity is just one purpose out of other purposes of the plants for which its
economical life has been worked out. Other purposes are irrigation, drinking water supply, navigation,
flood control, recreation, industrial and municipal water supply, etc.

3. Subsidiary
Comprises the plants in which irrigation and other uses have the highest priority while
production of electricity has lower priority. Water is diverted to the power plant only when the other
uses of the dam/reservoir are fulfilled, making the electricity production a secondary.
7. Load Dispatch
1. Isolated
Includes the plants supplying electricity to a network independently, without co-operating with
other generating plants. The plants are supplying electricity to isolated systems, which may
include various villages, mines, sawmills, factories, etc. Almost all plants of the Northern Areas
of Pakistan are working as isolated plants

2. Co-operating (Interconnected)
Comprise plants providing energy to consumers through an inter-connected network, which is
fed by thermal, nuclear and other hydropower plants and supplying energy to all types of
consumers. Now a days, mainly due to economic considerations, most of the developments are
of co-operating type. Almost all medium and large hydropower plants in Pakistan are feeding
the inter-connected system. Small plants are feeding isolated systems.

8. Load
1. Base Load Plants
Base load plants are those, which are meeting the firm demand of the network. Energy
available at all times (low flow) is called firm power.

2. Peak-Load Plants
Peak load plants are those, which due to water availability produce their maximum capacity
during the peaking hours. Peak demand occurs daily but may have weekly and seasonal
cycles. Hydropower plants, especially high-head, are suitable for peaking duty because they
are more flexible to operate, can more easily follow load fluctuations and can be started and
shut-down more rapidly than thermal and nuclear plants. The demand for Peak-Load plants is
increasing day by day due to heavy demand for electricity.

9. Topography
The following three types of topographic set-ups may be considered;
Low land plants (Low head)
Hilly Area plants (Medium head)
Mountainous region plants (High head)
6. Major Equipments/Structures in Hydel Power Plants
1. River Basin
A river basin is the portion of the land drained by a river and its tributaries . It encompasses all
of the land surface dissected and drained by many streams and creeks that flow downhill into one
another, and eventually into the Milwaukee River. The final destination is than an estuary which
eventually carries it to Lake Michigan. As a bathtub catches all the water that falls within its sides, a
river basin sends all the water falling on the surrounding land into the Milwaukee River, then to Lake
Michigan and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. Both river basins and watersheds are areas of land that
drain to a particular water body, such as a lake, stream, river or estuary. In a river basin, all the water
drains to a large river. The term watershed is used to describe a smaller area of land that drains to a
smaller stream, lake or wetland. There are many smaller watersheds within a river basin. A river
basin/watershed is the pre-requisite for the river and in result to a reservoir.

2. Reservoir
The function or purpose of reservoir is to store the water during rainy season and supply the
same during dry season. This is in simple, water storage area. It is an artificial lake into which water
flows and is stored for future use. The water reservoir is the place behind the dam. The water in the
reservoir is located higher than the natural height of water flowing in the river. The height of water in
the reservoir decides how much potential energy the water possesses. The higher the height of water,
the more its potential energy and hence more possibility of the electricity generation. The high
position of water in the reservoir also enables it to move downwards effortlessly. Some people name
reservoir as White Battery as it acts like a battery for the water storage and usage as and when
required and White Coal as it is the input fuel for the hydel power plants.

3. Dam
The function of dam is to increase the height of the water level (increase in the potential
energy) behind it which ultimately increases the reservoir capacity. The dam also helps in increasing
the working head of the power plant. Dams are generally built to provide necessary head to the power
plant.The dam is built on a large river that has abundant quantity of water throughout the year. It
should be built at a location where the height of the river is sufficient to get the maximum possible
potential energy from water. Most hydropower plants rely on a dam that holds back water, creating a
large reservoir. Often, this reservoir is used as a recreational lake. A dam also controls the flow of the
water. Dams release water when it is needed for electricity production.
4. Weir/Barrage
A weir is a low height dam across the horizontal width of the river that alters the flow
characteristics of the water and usually results in a change in the vertical height of the river level or
regulate its flow. There are many designs of weir, but commonly water flows freely over the top of
the weir crest before cascading down to a lower level. It also acts as a trap for fish.

A barrage is an artificial barrier across a river or estuary to prevent flooding, aid irrigation or
navigation, or to generate electricity. A barrage is a type of low head, diversion dam which consists of
a number of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing through
the structure, and thus regulate and stabilize river water elevation upstream. The gates are set between
flanking piers which are responsible for supporting the water load of the pool created.

5. Forebay
The function of forebay is to act as regulating reservoir temporarily storing water when the
load on the plant is reduced and to provide water for initial increment of an increasing load while
water in the canal is being accelerated. It is an artificial pool of water in front of a larger body of water.
In many cases, the canal itself is large enough to absorb the flow variations. In short, forebay is
naturally provided for storage of water to absorb any flow variations if exist. This can be considered as
naturally provided surge tank as it does the function of the surge tank. The forebay is always provided
with some type of outlet structure to direct water to penstock depending upon the local conditions.
Other uses are; they are used in flood control to act as a buffer during flooding or storm surges,
impounding water and releasing in a controlled way into the larger waterbody. They may be used
upstream of reservoirs to trap sediment and debris (sometimes called a sediment forebay) in order to
keep the reservoir clean. This may entail the use of a pre-dam. They may also be used upstream of
lakes to prevent siltation. Some forebays are used simply to create a natural habitat for flora and fauna,
to counterbalance the environmental impact of a dam or reservoir. Forebays vary greatly in size
depending on their situation and purpose.

6. Spillway
The function of spillway is to provide safety of the dam. Spillway should have the capacity to
discharge major floods without damage to the dam and at the same time keeps the reservoir levels
below some predetermined maximum level. Other uses of the term "spillway" include bypasses of
dams or outlets of channels used during high water, and outlet channels carved through natural dams.
Water normally flows over a spillway only during flood periods when the reservoir cannot hold the
excess of water entering the reservoir over the amount used.
7. Head & Flow Measurement Set-Up
Head & Flow are the two factors that decides how much electricity can be produced at a hydel
power plant. Three popular methods for head measurement are; Water Filled Plastic Tube, Altimeter &
Abney level. Three simple methods of Flow measurements are; Bucket Method, Float Method, Salt
Gulp Analysis. The flow should be measured during the worst case condition.

8. Intake/Control Gates
The intake is the entrance to the system for the water. These are the gates built on the inside of
the dam. The water from reservoir is released and controlled through these gates. When the control
gates are opened the water flows due to gravity through the penstock and towards the turbines. The
water flowing through the gates possesses potential as well as kinetic energy. The inlet valves and
control gate control how much water is going to enter the system.

9. Trash Rack
The water intake from the dam or from the forebay are provided with trash rack. The main
function of trash rack is to prevent the entry of any debris which may damage the wicket gates and
turbine runners or choke-up the nozzles of impulse turbine. During winter season when water forms
ice, to prevent the ice from clinging to the trash racks, they are often heated electrically. Sometimes air
bubbling system is provided in the vicinity of the trash racks which brings warmer water to the surface
of the trash racks.

10. Penstock
Penstock is a long pipe between the surge tank and the prime-mover, that carries the water
flowing from the reservoir intake towards the power generation unit. The water in the penstock
possesses kinetic energy due to its motion and potential energy due to its height. The total amount of
power generated in the hydroelectric power plant depends on the height of the water reservoir and the
amount of water flowing through the penstock. The amount of water flowing through the penstock is
controlled by the control gates. The structural design of the penstock is same as for any other pipe
except it has to bear high pressure on the inside surface during sudden decease in the load and increase
in the load. Penstocks are made of steel through reinforced concrete. Penstocks are usually equipped
with the head gates at the inlet which can be closed during the repair of the penstocks. A sufficient
water head should be provided above the penstock entrance in the forebay or surge tank to avoid the
formation of vortices which may carry air in to the penstock and resulting in lower turbine blade
efficiency. Economically speaking, the penstock can account for up to 40% of total cost of the plant.
11. Surge Tank
The main function of surge tank is to reduce the water hammering effect. When there is sudden
decrease in the load, the turbine gates admitting water to the turbine closes suddenly owing to the
action of the governor. This sudden rise in the pressure in the penstock will cause the positive water
hammering effect. This may lead to burst of the penstock because of high pressures. When there is
sudden increase in the load, governor valves opens and accepts more water to the turbine. This results
in creation of vacuum in the penstock resulting into the negative water hammering effect. Therefore
the penstock should have to withstand both positive water hammering effect created due to close of
governor valve and negative water hammering effect due to opening of governor valve. In order to
protect the penstock from these water hammering effects, surge tank is used in hydroelectric power
station. Surge tank water levels fluctuate up and down absorbing the surges. It is introduced in the
system between dam and the power house nearest.

12. Power House

A power house consists of two main parts, a sub-structure to support the hydraulic and
electrical equipment and a superstructure to house and protect this equipment. The superstructure of
most power plants is the buildings that house all the operating equipment. The generating unit and the
exciter is located in the ground floor. The turbines which rotate on vertical axis are placed below the
floor level while those rotating on a horizontal axis are placed on the ground floor alongside of the
generator.

13. Prime Movers/Water Turbines

The main function of prime movers or water turbines is to convert the kinetic energy of the
water into the mechanical energy to produce the electric power. The water strikes and turns the large
blades of a turbine, which is attached to a generator above it by way of a shaft. When water falls on
the blades of the turbine the kinetic and potential energy of water is converted into the rotational
motion of the blades of the turbine. The rotating blades causes the shaft of the turbine to also rotate.
The turbine shaft is enclosed inside the generator, generating the electricity. In most hydroelectric
power plants there is more than one power generation unit. There is large difference in height between
the level of turbine and level of water in the reservoir. This difference in height, also known as the
head of water, decides the total amount of power that can be generated in the hydroelectric power
plant. There are several turbines that have been developed for specific purposes. The prime movers
which are in common use are Pelton Wheel, Francis Turbine and Kaplan Turbines.
14. Guide/Stay Vanes
The primary function of the guide or stay vanes is to convert the pressure energy of the fluid
into the momentum energy. It also serves to direct the flow at design angles to the runner blades.

15. Wicket Gates

The wicket gate in hydroelectric dams is used to control the amount of water flowing from the
penstock (essentially an intake tunnel) through the turbine. Essentially the more open the gate is the
faster the turbine will spin and thus more electricity is being generated. It also means a fully closed
wicket gate can be used to shut down turbines for maintenance. At a standard hydroelectric plant,
series of gates surround the entire turbine. These gates can be closed completely to prevent any water
from reaching the blades of the turbine. When a wicket gate is opened, water passes through to reach
these blades, causing them to rotate. This rotation spins the entire turbine, which powers a large
generator.

16. Spiral Casing

In a typical Francis Turbine, water enters horizontally in a spiral shaped pipe (spiral case)
wrapped around the outside of the turbine's rotating runner and exits vertically down through the
center of the turbine. The spiral casing around the runner of the turbine is known as the volute
casing/scroll casing. Throughout its length, it has numerous openings at regular intervals to allow the
working fluid to impinge on the blades of the runner. These openings convert the pressure energy of
the fluid into momentum energy just before the fluid impinges on the blades. This maintains a constant
flow rate despite the fact that numerous openings have been provided for the fluid to enter the blades,
as the cross-sectional area of this casing decreases uniformly along the circumference.

17. Generator
It is in the generator where the electricity is produced. The shaft of the water turbine rotates in
the generator, which produces alternating current in the coils of the generator. It is the rotation of the
shaft inside the generator that produces magnetic field which is converted into electricity by
electromagnetic field induction. Hence the rotation of the shaft of the turbine is crucial for the
production of electricity and this is achieved by the kinetic and potential energy of water. Thus in
hydroelectricity power plants potential energy of water is converted into electricity.
18. Draft tube
The draft tube is a part of the reaction turbine. The draft tube is a diverging discharge passage
connecting the running with tailrace. It is shaped to decelerate the flow with a minimum loss so that
the remaining kinetic energy of the water coming out of the runner is efficiently regained by
converting into suction head, thereby increasing the total pressure difference on the runner. This regain
of kinetic energy of the water coming out from the reaction turbine is the primary function of the draft
tube (to reduce the velocity of discharged water to minimize the loss of kinetic energy at the outlet).
The regain of static suction head in case where the runner is located above the tail water level is the
secondary purpose of the draft tube. This permits the turbine to be set above the tail water without
appreciable drop of available head. In order to avoid cavitation it is necessary to place the runner exit
below the tailrace level (under head). In such situations the draft tube must have a curved geometry.

19. Tail Race

The last component to the system is the tailrace. The tailrace with tail water is simply the
pipelines/channels that carries water away from a hydroelectric plant back out to the river. The water
in this channel has already been used to rotate turbine blades, served its purpose, and leaves the power
generation unit. In hydroelectric dams, the tail race is at a much lower level than the height of the
reservoir. This difference in height corresponds to the amount of hydropower that can be obtained
from the water, and the height difference is known as the hydraulic head. This change in height
corresponds to a change in gravitational potential energy, some of which is used to spin the turbines
and generate electricity. Water flowing from a hydroelectric plant in the tail race eventually joins the
natural flow of water.

20. Transformer & Transmission Lines

Out of every power plant comes four wires; the three phases of power being produced
simultaneously plus a neutral or ground common to all three. The transformer sitting in the Power
House converts the incoming current and voltage (generated in power plant) to the required level and
then sends it to the switchyard for distribution. While the water movement in the hydel power plants
ends with the tail race, the produced power movement ends with the switchyard. At switchyard, starts
the different points for the distribution of the power generated. The generated power is sent to different
transmission networks for transmission. A part of the power generated may be used by its own hydel
power plant called captive power for running its auxaliaries. Pumped-Storage power plant may
require higher power consumption than other hydel power plants.
7. Advantages & Disadvantages
1. Advantages
-->Renewable
-->Pollution free
-->High efficiency
-->Reliable & Robust
-->Life span >75 years
-->Flexibility
-->Quick start/stop
-->Quick loading/unloading
-->Multiple uses of reservoirs
-->Draught reduction in area around
-->Flood control
-->Reversible Turbine possible
-->Low failure rates
-->Environmental impacts well known & manageable
-->Cheap in long run operation
-->Can be easily rehabilitated or upgraded
-->Price stability by avoiding market fluctuations

2. Disadvantages
-->Expensive planning and construction
-->Longer lead time
-->Ecosystem damage and loss of land
-->Damaging river flora and fauna
-->Displacement of population
-->Disrupting river flow & interrupting flood cycles
-->Increased evaporative losses
-->Methane emissions (from reservoirs)
-->Siltation and flow shortage
-->Catastrophic failures are possible
-->Affect of prolonged draughts
-->Affect on downstream area
-->Geographical affects
--> Aesthetics issues
9. Miscellaneous Points
1. India is the 7th largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world ranking 3rd worldwide in the
total number of dams.
2. As of 31 March 2016, India's installed utility scale hydroelectric capacity was 42,783 MW, which
accounts for 14.35% of its total utility power generation capacity.
2. India aims at adding an additional 50,000 MW from hydel power plants by 2022.
3. The hydroelectric power plants at Darjeeling and Shivanasamudram were established in 1898
and 1902, respectively are among the first hydroelectric power plants in Asia & India.
4. The public sector accounts for 92.5% of India's hydroelectric power production.
5. India's economically exploitable and viable hydroelectric potential is said to be 1,48,701 MW.
6. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest capacity hydroelectric power station located in
China with 34 generators: 32 main generators, each with a capacity of 700 MW, and two plant
power generators, each with capacity of 50 MW, making a total capacity of 22,500 MW.
7. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been vested with the responsibility of developing
Small Hydro Power (SHP) projects up to 25 MW station capacities. The estimated potential for
power generation in the country from such plants is about 20,000 MW.
 4. Solar Power Plants

Yo ho, it's hot, the Sun is not

A place where we could live
But here on Earth there'd be no life
Without the light it gives
We need its light
We need its heat
We need its energy
Without the sun, without a doubt
There'd be no you and me?

1. Introduction
Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics
(PV), or indirectly using Concentrated Solar Power. Concentrated Solar Power systems use lenses or
mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaic cells
convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Apart from these two, heat energy is
also extracted from the sun rays and is used for different applications. The amount of solar energy that
reaches the Earths surface every hour is greater than humankinds total demand for energy in one
year. Isolation is the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth. Also called Incident Solar Radiation.

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace where hydrogen is built into
helium at a temperature of millions of degrees. The suns energy is created from the fusion of
hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei. The huge energy released due to this nucleous fusion, is released
in the form of light radiation as electromagnetic waves (needs no medium to travel), carrying energy
and heat in the packets called photons and travelling in all the directions. Very little amount of
energy of the sun reaches the earth. The sunrays reaching the earth may either reflect back, or be
directly/diffusively fall on earth or be absorbed by the earth. The reflected rays goes back, abosrbed
rays turns into internal heat of the earth (later geothermal energy) and the left
over rays are used by the living and the non-livings for their life and other purposes.
 The energy is carried through space as electromagnetic radiation travels like waves in water.
Like water waves, it is a series of ups and downs. One way various types of electromagnetic waves
differ is in their wavelength. This is the distance between two ups (or two downs) in a row. Depending
on the wavelength, the electromagnetic waves are like Radio, Infrared, Visible Light, UV rays, X-rays,
Microwaves, etc...The wavelengths of radio waves are longer than those of light. Among types of
light, red has a longer wavelength than blue. Only part of the energy sent towards the earth by the sun
actually makes it to earths surface. Some solar energy gets bounced back into space by the clouds and
ozone layer. Some gets absorbed by the air. Most of the solar energy that does make it to earths
surface is in the form of visible light.

The sun is responsible for nearly all of the energy available on the earth one way or the other.
The exceptions are attributable to moon tides, radioactive material, and the earth's residual internal
heat. Everything else is a converted form of the sun's energy; hydropower is made possible by
evaporation-transpiration due to solar radiant heat the winds are caused by the sun's uneven heating of
the earth's atmosphere; fossil fuels are remnants of organic life previously nourished by the sun; and
photovoltaic electricity is produced directly from sunlight by Photovoltaic Effect; photosynthesis by
all the plants and hence the food is due to sun's energy.
2. History
1839-Edmond Becquerel of France first noticed that light can cause materials to make electricity.
1883: Charles Fritz solar cell with efficiency of 1-2%.
1905-Albert Einstein explained how atoms take in electromagnetic radiation (such as light) and then
give off electrons. This process is called the photoelectric effect (Won Nobel Prize in 1921)
1941-Russell Ohl was the first person to come up and get a patent with a solar cell like the ones
used today, made of silicon.
1954-Bell Labs 1st practical solar cell with efficiency of 6%.
1955-Production of commercial PV cells started.
1958-Small-scale scientific applications with solar power started
Space program
Sensing and measuring light (cameras)
1970s-Terrestrial PV development began in response to the oil crises.
1982-The first power station able to make 1 MW of electricity with solar panels opened in
Hesperia, California.
2011-Indias first solar power project (with a capacity of 5 MW) was registered in Tamil Nadu.

3. Why Solar?
--> Demand for more energy and preferably less polluting;
Projected 28 TW global energy demand in 2050. To stabilize CO2 requires 20 TW of carbon
free power. Twice as much carbon free power by 2050 than all power produced today.
Nuclear? 10 TW require construction of 10,000 new plants over the next 50 years, i.e., one
every other day.
Feasible hydropower? Only 1.5 TW.
Wind? 2 TW on land; Offshore is large but very costly.
Biomass? 20 TW requires 31% of the total land on earth.
--->The only renewable resource with terrestrial energy potential to satisfy a 10-20 TW carbon-free
supply constraint in 2050 is solar! A practical solar power potential of ~600 TW estimates from 50 TW
to 1500 TW For a 10% efficient solar farm, at least 60 TW of power could be supplied from terrestrial
solar energy resources---->Solar power is inevitable.
--->Long-term forecasts proved repeatedly wrong with the exhaustable sources of power supply.
Substitution of wood by coal took most of the 19th century. Replacement of coal by oil and gas took
most of 20th century. And now replacement of oil and gas likely to be taken with renewable energy
sources.---->Solar power as the best renewable energy, is inevitable.
4. How Solar Energy is Captured?
1. Concentrated Solar Power
Unlike Solar (Photovoltaic) Cells, which use light to produce electricity, Concentrating
Solar Power systems generate electricity with heat. Concentrated or Concentrating Solar Power
(CSP) refers to the general technology of redirecting sunlight via mirrors/lenses and
concentrating it to a focal point, where it is used to form thermal energy. Mirrors used in CSP
have specified reflectivity and are set in strategic shapes/placements. They serve as the
collector of sunlight, and reflect it to a central receiver. The receiver (similar to boiler
tube) absorbs the focused solar thermal energy, becoming a heat source. This heat source may
boil water or other fluids to form steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity. Turbine-
generated electricity from CSP works in a similar manner as coal, nuclear, oil and natural gas
turbine generators with the only significant difference being the heat source.

CSP Systems require direct sunlight and cannot reflect diffuse sunlight, making them
ineffective in cloudy conditions. But they can be integrated into conventional thermal power
plants to provide firm capacity (thermal storage, fossil backup) and serve different markets
(bulk power, remote power, heat, water), with the lowest costs for solar electricity of energy
payback time of only 6-12 months. There are three main types of centrating solar power
systems; Central Receiver Systems/Power Towers, Parabolic Troughs/Linear Concentrators,
and Dish/Engine Systems/Point Concentrators.

1. Materials Used for Concentrated Solar Power Cells

Crystalline Silicon
--Single, Multi, Ribbon Silicon
Thin Film solar cells
--Silicon, a-Si, m-Si, CdTe, CIGS
Integrated Thin Film Technology
--Copper Indium Diselenide (CuInSe2) or CIS
--Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)
Concentrating solar cells
--Si, GaAs
Dye, Organic, nano materials & other emerging solar cells
--Light/Hybrid Solar Cells
Light sent from rooftops to inside buildings (fiber optics and solar tube)
2. Types of Concentrated Solar Power Systems
1. Central Receiver Systems/Power Towers
Central Receivers/Power Towers, use thousands of individual sun-tracking mirrors called
heliostats' to reflect solar energy onto a receiver located on top of a tall tower (hundreds of
feet tall). The receiver collects the sun's heat in a heat-transfer fluid (e.g. air, liquid salt,
water/steam) that flows through the receiver. The heat transfer fluid's heat energy is then used
to make steam to generate electricity in a conventional steam generator, located at the foot of
the tower. To ensure constant parameters and a constant flow of the working medium and also
at times of varying solar radiation, either a heat storage can be incorporated into the system or
additional firing using e.g. fossil fuels (like natural gas) or renewable energy (like biofuels) can
be used.Generally, the fluid storage system retains heat efficiently, so it can be stored for hours
or even days before being used to generate electricity. Therefore, a Central Receiver System is
composed of five main components; Heliostats, Receiver, Heat Transport and Exchange,
Thermal Storage, and Controls.
2. Parabolic Trough Systems/Linear Concentrators
Sunlight focused on Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF), which then runs steam turbine. These
solar collectors use mirrored parabolic troughs to focus the sun's energy to a fluid-carrying
receiver tube located at the focal point of a parabolically curved trough reflector. The energy
from the sun sent to the tube heats oil flowing through the tube, and the heat energy is then
used to generate electricity in a conventional steam generator. Many troughs placed in parallel
rows are called a "collector field." The troughs in the field are all aligned along a north-south
axis so they can track the sun from east to west during the day, ensuring that the sun is
continuously focused on the receiver pipes. Trough designs can incorporate thermal storage
setting aside the heat transfer fluid in its hot phaseallowing for electricity generation several
hours into the evening. Currently, all parabolic trough plants are "hybrids," meaning they use
fossil fuels to supplement the solar output during periods of low solar radiation. Typically, a
natural gas-fired heat or a gas steam boiler/reheater is used.

There are two types of linear concentrator systems. The most common and proven is the
parabolic trough system. It consists of parabolic, or near u-shaped, mirrors placed in rows that
run north-south and make use of single axis tracking to maximize sun exposure. A linear
receiver tube is placed parallel to each row of mirrors. The curvature of the u-shaped mirrors
collects sunlight and reflects it onto the dedicated receiver tube. The second, newer type is
called the linear Fresnel. In general, linear Fresnel systems operate similarly to parabolic
trough systems; however, this system uses a shared receiver placed higher above multiple rows
of mirrors, which use tracking and are flat or nearly flat. The equipment setup of the linear
Fresnel reflector system is simpler than the parabolic trough system.
3. Dish/Engine Systems/Point Concentrators
Dish systems use dish-shaped parabolic mirrors as reflectors to concentrate and focus the
sun's rays onto a receiver, which is mounted above the dish at the dish center. A Dish/Engine
system is a stand alone unit composed primarily of a collector, a receiver and an engine. It
works by collecting and concentrating the sun's energy with a dish-shaped surface onto a
receiver that absorbs the energy and transfers it to the engine. The engine absorbs the thermal
energy of the concentrated sunlight through its receiver, where a heat-transfer medium is
heated. The heat is then converted to mechanical power, in a manner similar to conventional
engines, by compressing the working fluid when it is cold, heating the compressed fluid and
then expanding it through a turbine or with a piston to produce mechanical power into
electrical power. Dish/Engine system use dual-axis collectors to track the sun. The ideal
concentrator shape is parabolic, created either by a single reflective surface or multiple
reflectors, or facets. Dish/Engine systems are commercially not available yet. These systems
can be combined with natural gas and the resulting hybrid can generate continuous power.
4. Others
1. Solar Water Heating
Indirect system: Heat transfer fluid moves heat from solar collector to tank.
Direct solar system: Heats water directly. Water in direct system circulated in two ways:
1. Active system: Pumps heated water from collector to solar storage tank.
2. Passive system: No pump thermosiphon.

2. Solar Pond Power Plants

Solar ponds are power plants that utilize the effect of water stratification as a basis for
the collector. A basin filled with brine (i.e. a water/salt mixture) functions as collector and heat
storage. The water at the bottom of the solar pond serves as primary heat storage from which
heat is withdrawn. The deeper water layers and the bottom of the solar pond itself serve as
absorber for the impinging direct and diffuse solar radiation. Due to the distribution of the salt
concentration within the basin, which increases towards the bottom of the basin, natural
convection and the ensuing heat loss at the surface due to evaporation, convection and
radiation is minimized. This is why heat of an approximate temperature between 80 oC-90 oC
(approximate stagnation temperature 100 oC) can be extracted from the bottom. Heat can then
be used for power generation. The water absorbs the incident direct and diffuse radiation,
similar to the absorber of a conventional solar collector, and is heated up. The technically
adjusted salt concentration prevents natural convection and the resulting heat loss at the surface
due to evaporation, convection and radiation. Water can thus be withdrawn from the storage
zone at the bottom at an approximate temperature of 80 90 oC. This heat can subsequently be
used for power generation by an ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) process.
3. Hydrogen Gas Production Plant
Ample hydrogen is available in water & can be seperated from water by the method
called Electrolysis which takes energy. Many people think that hydrogen fuel cells might
someday be very good sources of power for many purposes. They use hydrogen to make
electricity. If solar panels get cheap enough and efficient enough, they might become a way of
providing this energy by producing hydrogen.

4. On Space Rovers
To run and operate the rovers sent to the space or other planet after leaving the earth
solar energy is the source. A system is installed in them which captures the solar energy and
produces electricity for the rover's use.

5. Power From The Space

In space there are no clouds & can get lots of sunshine. Using huge solar arrays on
satellites power can be made & be beamed down to the earth for our use. A big question is
whether long-distance beams are practical or not. An experiment in 2008, in Hawaii, used radio
waves to carry the energy, sent a small amount of energy about 150 kilometers. If in near
future, it becomes possible, then power from the space is not away.

6. Photocapacitor
Scientists have come up with a device called Photocapacitor, that both makes
electricity and stores it for later use. If the device can be improved, it might someday eliminate
the need to have batteries to store solar electricity, at least in some cases.

7. Domestic Solar Energy Capturing

Apart from rooftop solar panels, thin-film solar cells can be put into home things such
as in curtains, on windows etc.. It involves putting special dyes into glass or plastic. Solar cells
are put at the edges of the sheet of glass or plastic. The dyes let some light through the window.
They also capture some light energy, which flows to the cells.

8. Others
Apart from the above mentioned uses of solar energy, many other applications such as
vehicles, street light systems, water pumping stations, calculators, radios, music players,
pagers, toys etc., also uses solar energy as its input energy.
2. Photovoltaic Solar Power Plants
When compared to CSP, PV technology generally needs less sunlight to produce an equivalent
amount of solar power. This is because CSP requires prolonged collection of direct, concentrated
sunlight to produce the intense heat necessary for the system to produce electricity, while PV power
production is instantaneous, and does not necessarily require direct sunlight to produce power. Despite
being able to generate electricity from both diffuse and direct sunlight, PV production can dramatically
decrease with temporary fluctuations in sunlight (e.g. due to passing clouds). CSP systems are
typically not impacted by brief fluctuations in sunlight; once the system has built up enough thermal
mass to produce steam, it takes prolonged periods without sunlight to slowly dissipate the systems
heat Solar cells can use the energy of this light to make electricity. But they dont work equally well
with all forms of light.

Different types of solar cells use different wavelengths. This means a cell can use only some of
the solar energy that it receives. Another name for solar cell is photovoltaic (solar electricity). Solar
cells come in various sizes. Some are tinier than a stamp. Some are 5 inches (12 centimeters) across.
The cells are made of a type of material known as a semiconductor. Often, they are made of silicon.
Semiconductors can conduct, or carry, electricity. They dont do this as well as metals, however. That
is why they are called semi. Because they only semi conduct electricity, they can be used to
control electric current. On their top and bottom they typically have metal contacts through which
current can flow. A typical simple cell has two layers of silicon. One is known as n-type. The other is
p-type. The layers are different from each other. Some solar cells are made from very, very thin layers
of material. The layers are thinner than four ten-thousandths of an inch (10 micrometers, or a
thousandth of a centimeter). Some of these thin-film cells have, like ordinary solar cells, a rigid
backing. Others have a flexible backing. Thin-film cells are good for making lightweight or flexible
panels. They also are good for covering a large area, such as the walls of a building.

5. Basic Principle of Photovoltaic Solar Power Plants

When an incident light falls on any conductor/semiconductor, it ejects some electrons (by
giving photon's energy) which can freely move in the layers. The flow can make an electric current.
This is called Photovoltaic Effect-the basic principle of the photovoltaic solar power plants. In PV
cells, the process of making electricity begins when the silicon atoms absorb some light. The current
can leave the cell through the metal contacts and be used. Only light with the right
wavelengths, or colors, is absorbed and then turned into electricity.
 A single simple solar cell makes only a little electricity. For most purposes more is needed. For
this reason, cells are often linked together in groups known as solar modules. A solar module has a
frame that holds the cells. Some modules are several feet long and wide. They usually can produce up
to a few hundred watts of electricity. If more power is needed, modules can be joined together to form
a large solar array. Modules are sometimes called solar Panels. Arrays are also sometimes called solar
Panels. Whatever you call a group of solar cells, the fact remains; the more cells you link together, the
more electricity you make. With enough modules, huge amounts of power are possible.
6. Physics
The physics of solar cells and conversion of sun light into electricity is linked to the physics of
silicon atom. Silicon is the 8th most common element in the universe by mass, and the 2nd most
abundant element in the Earth's crust (about 28% by mass) after the Oxygen. Over 90% of the Earth's
crust is composed of silicate minerals. But very rarely it occurs as pure element. Mostly available in
dust, sand, planetoids and planets as silicon dioxide (silica) or silicates. It is a hard and brittle
crystalline solid and is a semiconductor. It is used in wide range of applications including solar cells
making.

The lattice structure of the Si atom is shown in the figure. It is an atom with atomic number 14,
and exists as face-centered diamond cubic solid crystalline structure, with tetravalency (having 4
electrons in outer most electron shell available for its covalent chemical bonding). The doping
(introduction & integration of impurity into the lattice structure of the base semiconductor so as to
modify the conductivity to the defined level) of silicon with Phosporous (5-valent) results in free
electron(s) as the 4 electrons of the phosporous takes place in covalent bond with 4 electrons of silicon
and 1 electron is left free. This free electron(s) requires much less energy to be lifted from the valence
bond into the conduction bond and takes part in conductivity when given some small energy. This is
called n-type doping (donor atom) due to excess free-negative charged electrons. he doping of silicon
with Boron (trivalent-3 electrons in outer most electron shell) results in hole(s) generation as it cathes
an additional outer electron, thus leaving a hole in the valence bond of silicon atoms. Therefore, the
electrons in the valence bond become mobile, and when fills a hole, the hole moves in the opposite
direction to the electron movement. This is called p-type doping (acceptor atom) due to free-positive
charged holes. The following figures shows n-type & p-type doped silicon.
 When these n-type & p-type doped semiconductors are joined together, a junction forms in
between from where the electrons and holes start moving. This movement creates the electricity. The
mechanism of this electron-hole movement is explained below. Metal conductor & wire grid provides
path for the current generated. If some energy is given (by photons here), more such electrons & holes
start forming and start moving, creating more electricity to flow.
The major phenomena that limit cell efficiency are;
1. Reflection from the cell's surface.
2. Light that is not energetic enough to separate electrons from their atomic bonds.
3. Light that has extra energy beyond that needed to separate electrons from bonds.
4. Light-generated electrons and holes (empty bonds) that randomly encounter each other and
recombine before they can contribute to cell performance.
5. Light-generated electrons and holes that are brought together by surface and material defects in
the cell.
6. Resistance to curret flow.
7. Self-Shading resulting from top surface electric contacts.
8. Performance degradation at nonoptimal (high or low operating temperatures).
9. Light entering a solar cell can;
a. Go right through it.
b. Become absorbed, generating heat in the form of atomic vibrations.
c. Separate an electron from its atomic bond, producing an electron-hole pair.
d. Produce an electron-hole pair but have an excess of energy, which then becomes heat.
Only (c) is a near-perfect means of transforming the sunlight into the electricity.
7. Generations of PV Cells
1. 1st Generation-Crystalline Silicon
--PV systems (fully commercial) use the wafer-based crystalline silicon (c-Si) technology, either
single crystalline (sc-Si) or multi-crystalline (mc-Si)
--Longest track record, over 50 years
--Most common, over 85% of the market
--Highest efficiencies: average15-22%
--Requires about 100 square feet land per KiloWatt
2. 2nd Generation-Thin Films
--15-30% of the market
--PV systems (early market deployment) are based on thin-film PV technologies and generally
include three main families: 1) amorphous (a-Si) and micromorph silicon (a-Si/c-Si); 2)
Cadmium-Telluride (CdTe); and 3) Copper- Indium-Selenide (CIS) and Copper-Indium- Gallium-
Diselenide (CIGS)
--Amorphous Si, CdTe, CuInGaSe2 (CIGS)
--Can be applied on many different materials
--Longevity still to be proven
--Production growing at high rate
--Lower efficiencies: average 7-15%
--Has potential for big cost reduction
--Requires about 200 square feet land per KiloWatt
--Thin film degrades less than crystalline
3. 3rd Generation-Future Cells
--Technologies, such as concentrating PV (CPV) and organic PV cells that are still under
demonstration or have not yet been widely commercialised, as well as novel concepts under
development
--Concentrated Photovoltaics (CPV): A photovoltaic
technology that generates electricity from sunlight
using lenses and curved mirrors to focus sunlight
onto small, but highly efficient, multi-junction
solar cells
--nanostructures, organic materials, and advanced
concepts
8. Major Equipments in Photovoltaic Solar Power Plants
1. Photovoltaic (PV) Panels
A photovoltaic solar power plant consists of number of photovoltaic panels (PV panels), placed
and spread across a huge area under the direct sunlight in series/parallel strings, which aims at
absorbing sunlight as maximum as possible and convert it into electricity by the principle of
Photovoltaic Effect. These panels are the major equipment of the plant and costs very high
while manufacturing and installation. Types of PV cells, working of PV cells and mechanism
of coversion of heat into electricity is already explained earlier above.
2. Inverter
To convert DC power produced by the PV solar panels to AC power, an inverter is used. With
this primary aim, the inverter is arguably the most critical system component after the PV
panels. There are essentially two options for inverters; centralized or micro. Centralized
inverters are one or several (in the case of utility-scale projects) large appliances that serve
multiple PV panels within a system. Microinverters are small units containing power
electronics that are situated under individual PV panels (one per module).Both have unique
benefits and challenges. Inverters can fail and require replacement(s) within a PV systems
expected overall lifetime. Especially for utility- scale projects, the process of replacing
centralized inverters is simpler than replacing microinverters; thus, replacements are
streamlined by limiting the number of inverters. With a centralized inverter, one bad apple can
spoil the bunch - meaning shading of one or several modules can drag down the energy
production for all of the modules connected to a shared inverter. Microinverters, on the other
hand, prevent this phenomenon and ensure that each module is producing energy at its best
capability at any given point in time. In addition to converting electricity from DC to AC,
inverters include important safety mechanisms that prevent grid-connected PV systems from
feeding electricity onto the grid during power outages-a process known as anti-islanding. Anti-
islanding is an important feature for utilities because it ensures that utility lineworkers can
safely work to restore power without threat of electrocution from PV systems back-feeding
energy onto power lines. Inverters are recommended to be stored in cooler area.
3. Batteries
Batteries are used for the purpose of storing energy produced by the PV array during the day
and to supply it to electrical loads as needed (during the night and periods of cloudy weather),
to operate the PV array near its maximum power point, to power electrical loads at stable
voltages, to supply surge currents to electrical loads & inverters. A battery charge controller is
used in these systems to protect the battery from overcharge and overdischarge.
4. Voltage Regulators
There are several types of voltage regulators, both mechanical and electronic for covering
battery protection from overvoltage. Nominally, a voltage regulator is a variable resistance that
absorbs excess voltage. Depending on the design, it can compensate for changes in voltage
losses in a load or voltage variability of the supply. One electronic (shunt) type increases the
current within the resistance that is a part of the solar array only (and not of the entire system)
to compensate for increased voltage drops across the load. Another design decreases the
current within the resistance of the solar array to compensate for voltage increases in the
photovoltaic system's output.
5. Automatic Lock-Out Switches & Isolation Transformers
These devices ensure the separation of the PV and utility-grid systems in the event of a grid
failure and in case of any maintenance works.
6. Transformers
To step up/down the current/voltage to the level needed and then transmit into the grid.
7. Control Panels
The control panels system is set up to supervise and operate the total power plant from time to
time. It also supervises the power transmission to the grid.
8. Switchgear
A switchgear is constructed to maintain and control the equipment engaged in the total plant
and typically consists of power supply system, breakers, fuses, wires etc..
9. Tracking System
It is an electro-electronic-mechanical system to track the sun, rotate and adjust the PV panels
accordingly so as to face the panels 900 (or so) to the sunlight to grab maximum energy and
produce maximum amount of electricity by absorbing the sunlight. But this arrangement is
recommended only for the large scale commercial solar power plants and for most home
systems, the extra expense and maintenance of tracking motors is not worth the efficiency gain.
This arrangement consumes some of the produced electricity for operation.
10. Racking System
A PV arrays racking system provides structural support for the modules and can also be
integrated with tracking systems for increased power generation. There are a variety of options
for both rooftop systems as well as ground-sited systems. For example, some racking systems
might penetrate the ground or rooftop to ensure structural integrity. Ballasted options also exist
for both system types to avoid penetrations. Strings must be of specific length and number, of
equal size, and on the same plane. Power production is very sensitive to shading.
11. Combiner Box
Combiner box is a box which connects and combines all the PV panels in the same string in
series/parallel and transports the electricity produced to the inverter.
12. Net Metering
In two way grid system, customer can send back to the grid the excess power supply or the
power he produces by his own systems. For that either the power plant or the customer uses a
device called net-metering system. By this way, the shortfall of the power at times can be
adjusted by taking the power from the customer and can be supplied to the needed place.
13. Balance Of Systems
The Balance Of Systems, or BOS, is a term that refers to all ancillary components that make up
a solar project. BOS is not a term that is commonly used for CSP systems. For PV systems,
BOS components typically include Inverters, Wiring, the Racking or Mounting System
(including Tracking Systems), Regulating Systems and in some cases, Monitoring Equipment
and Energy Storage Systems.
9. Advantages & Disadvantages
1. Advantages
-->Renewable-No pollution(zero CO2 emissions)
-->No cost for input fuel (sunlight)
-->Inexhaustible
-->The raw material for pure silicon used for PV cells is abundantly available worldwide. 28% of
the earth's crust consists of silicon (the second most abundant in the earth's crust)
-->They can usually be built more quickly than oil, coal, or nuclear power plants. If more power is
needed, they are easier to expand than other types of power plants
-->Can be used in variety of applications like power calculators, street lights, solar-powered toys,
radios, MP3 players, phones, pagers, water pumping stations and power plants etc.
-->The only energy source (for long run) used on rovers that are sent to other planets/space
-->The only household energy production system available so far (majorly)
-->No moving parts-Less wear & tear
-->Requires less knowledge for operation
-->Requires less manpower for operation
-->Contains no fluids or gases (in PV solar power plants) that can leak out
-->To supply power to remote areas where there is no public power system
-->Has a rapid response, achieving full output instantly
-->Can operate at moderate temperatures
-->Requires little maintenance if properly manufactured and installed
-->Are modular permitting a wide range of solar-electric applications such as small scale for remote
applications and residential use intermediate scale for business and neighborhood supplementary
power large scale for centralized energy farms of square kilometers size
-->Have wide power-handling capabilities, from MicroWatts to MegaWatts
-->Have a high power-to-weight ratio making them suitable for roof application
-->Are amenable to on-site installation i.e., decentralized or dispersed power
-->Can be used to manufacture hydrogen (by using electrolysis) though commercial feasibility of
solar generated hydrogen is far off yet
-->Long life expectancy (25-45 years)
-->Power added as needed, where needed
-->Transportable machinery
-->Solar panels' material can be recycled to produce new panels
-->Panels less affected by air and water
-->No noise pollution at all
2. Disadvantages
-->The process of producing the pure silicon used for PV cells is complex and costly. The
production company itself takes two years to be set up. It takes more energy to make the cells
and panels. This energy usually comes from burning nonrenewable fuels like coal or oil. Burning
them puts gases that cause pollution into the air
-->Requires huge land for the plant
-->So much time to pay back the energy, usually 3-4 years (for break even point).
-->Most of the photovoltaic panels are made up of silicon and other toxic metals like mercury, lead
and cadmium
-->Factories that make solar cells produce very little hazardous waste. But still there is some. -->Solar
panels that are used for many years wear out
-->Lack of standardization criteria
-->High initial capital cost
-->Production depends on location
-->Intermittent
-->No night working (unreliable)
-->Relatively low efficiency
-->Requires sunlight (stronger the better)
-->Limits on electricity storage (batteries)
-->Aesthetic issues
-->If not recycled, dumping of scrap solar panels is an issue

10. Miscellaneous Points

1. An average of 1.2x105 TW solar energy is striking the earth. Energy in 1 hour of sunlight striking
the earth is equal to 14 TW for an year.
2. The world's total installatation of solar power is 355.00 GW by the end of 2016. India ranked in
top 10 countries (where China secured 1st rank) and is expected to secure 4th rank by 2020.
3. On 16 May 2011, Indias first solar power project (with a capacity of 5 MW) was registered
under the Clean Development Mechanism. The project is in Sivagangai Village, Sivaganga
district, Tamil Nadu.
4. By the end of 2016 (31st Dec, 2016), India has 9,012.66 MW total installed capacity of solar
power. Telangana has 973.41 MW by Dec 31st, 2016-standing in top 10 in India. Tamilnadu,
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana together constitute 67% of solar power in India.
5. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, also known as the National Solar Mission, started
on 11 January 2010, is an initiative of the Government of India and State Governments to
promote renewable energy, especially solar power. The target of 100 GW solar power is set under
this program by 2022. Year wise target is shown below.

6. Tamil Nadu is the state with highest installed solar power capacity in India as of 21st September
2016, with the total installed capacity in Tamil Nadu is 2100 MW.
7. India is ranked number one in solar electricity production per Watt installed, with an insolation of
1700 to 1900 KiloWatt Hours per KiloWatt Peak (kWh/KWp).
8. Solar energy incidence on India's land area is about 5000 Trillion KiloWatHours (kWh) per year.
9. Many parts in India have 300-330 sunny days, receiving daily solar radiation of 4 -7 kWh/m2 on
an average, which translates into a potential of 600 GW. Highest annual global radiation is
received in Rajasthan (5.5-6.8 kWh/m2 per day) followed by northern Gujarat.
10. In January 2016, foundation stone is laid for the headquarters of the International Solar Alliance
(ISA) in Gwalpahari, Gurgaon(Haryana), which focuses on promoting and developing solar
energy and solar products for countries lying wholly or partially between the Tropic of Cancer
and the Tropic of Capricorn. 121 such countries are covered under this and signed for cooperation
at COP21 (Paris Pact-30th Nov, 2015).
12. The rooftop solar power target by 2022-statewise is shown below;
13. The current largest photovoltaic power station in the world is the 850 MW Longyangxia Dam
Solar Park, in Qinghai, China.
14. The 392 MW Ivanpah installation is the largest Concentrating Solar Power plant in the world,
located in the Mojave Desert of California.
15. The International Energy Agency projected that under its "high renewables" scenario, by 2050,
solar Photovoltaics and Concentrated Solar Power would contribute about 16 and 11 percent,
respectively, of the worldwide electricity consumption, and solar would be the world's largest
source of electricity. Most solar installations would be in China and India.
16. The amount of land required for utilityscale solar power plantscurrently approximately
1 km2 for every 2060 MW generated.
 5. Wind Power Plants

Of all the forces of nature, I should think the wind contains the greatest amount of power
------Abraham Lincoln

1. Introduction
All renewable energy (except tidal and geothermal power), ultimately comes from the sun.
Wind power is the indirect energy product of the sun. Wind energy can provide suitable solutions to
the global climate change and energy crisis. The utilization of wind power essentially eliminates

emissions of CO2, SO2, NOx, SOx and other harmful wastes as in traditional coal-fuel power plants or
radioactive wastes in nuclear power plants. By further diversifying the energy supply, wind energy
dramatically reduces the dependence on fossil fuels that are subject to price and supply instability, thus
strengthening global energy security. During the recent three decades, tremendous growth in wind
power has been seen all over the world. As the most promising renewable, clean, and reliable energy
source, wind power is highly expected to take a much higher portion in power generation in the
coming decades. Compared with traditional energy sources, wind energy has a number of benefits and
advantages. As an inexhaustible and free energy source, it is available and plentiful in most regions of
the earth. In addition, more extensive use of wind power would help reduce the demands for fossil
fuels, which may run out sometime in this century, according to their present consumptions.
Furthermore, the cost/kWh of wind power is much lower than that of solar power. Thus, as the most
promising energy source, wind energy is believed to play a critical role in global power supply in the
21st century.

2. History
The first recording of a windmill came from a Hindu book dating back to about 400 B.C.E.
There are opinions that the first use of wind dates back 5,000 years to Egypt, where boats used sails to travel from
believe that the first windmills, a machines with vanes attached to an axis to produce circular motion created to d
2000 years ago. There is no written history of this however. The first recorded windmills that were created to do
Persia (present day Iran). The first historical reference to Chinese windmills was in 1219. This is significant beca
were used along the coast of china for wind power.
 Some windmills are still intact in Iran and Afghanistan from the 7th century. These windmills
are reverse of the windmills today however, wind energy went into a chamber to turn
blades, while today the blades are on an external axis. They are still around today and can grind about
a ton of grain per day. After technology was brought back from the Crusades Early European
windmills were used to drain wet land by pumping water. The design of the European windmills was
based on the water wheel due to the fact that windmills should be put on a vertical axis when the
windmills in Persia (present day Iran) were built on a horizontal axis. During this time the foundation
for windmills was set. It was up for inventors to create new blades and other ways to make the
windmill more efficient.

In 17th century, Leibniz proposed using windmills and waterwheels together to pump water
from mines in the Harz Mountains. Dutch settlers brought Dutch mills to America in the 18th century.
This led to the development of a multiblade wind turbine that was used to pump water for livestock.
The first use of a windmill to generate electricity was in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 by
Charles F. Brush.Wind turbines were used in Denmark in 1890 to generate electric power.The multi-
vane "farm windmill" of the American Midwest and West was invented in the United States during the
latter half of the 19th century. Farm windmills are still being produced and used, though in reduced
numbers. They are best suited for pumping ground water in small quantities to livestock water tanks.
By the end of the 19th century there were over 30,000 windmills in Europe. They were used for more
than just pumping water and grinding grain, people used them to run saw mills and other industrial
plants. Early in the 20th century American farms began to use wind turbines to drive electricity
generators for charging storage batteries.
3. Types of Winds
Planetary circulations;
Jet streams
Trade winds
Polar jets
Geostrophic winds
Thermal winds
Gradient winds
Katabatic / Anabatic winds topographic winds
Bora / Foehn / Chinook downslope wind storms
Sea Breeze / Land Breeze
Convective storms / Downdrafts
Hurricanes/ Typhoons
Tornadoes
Gusts / Dust devils / Microbursts
Nocturnal Jets
Atmospheric Waves

4. Why Wind Flows?

Wind is air in motion. Wind results from air in motion due to pressure gradient that is caused
by the solar energy irradiating the earth. Due to the inclined rotation of the earth, differential heating
of the earths surface and atmosphere (by the sun) and hence the pressure difference induces vertical
and horizontal air currents that are affected by the earths rotation and contours of the land.
Temperatures vary according to the amount of the sun the earth receives. Uneven heating of the Earth's
atmosphere and surface occur. Balance between warm and cool air is constantly changing, creating the
wind.

Wind flows from regions of higher pressure to regions of lower pressure. The larger the
atmospheric pressure gradient, the higher the wind speed and thus, the greater the wind power that can
be captured from the wind by means of wind energy-converting machinery. The generation and
movement of wind are complicated due to a number of factors. Among them, the most important
factors are uneven solar heating, the Coriolis effect due to the earths self-rotation, and local
geographical conditions.
 The unevenness of the solar radiation can be attributed to four reasons. First, the earth is a
sphere revolving around the sun in the same plane as its equator. Because the surface of the earth is
perpendicular to the path of the sunrays at the equator but parallel to the sunrays at the poles, the
equator receives the greatest amount of energy per unit area, with energy dropping off toward the
poles. Due to the spatial uneven heating on the earth, it forms a temperature gradient from the equator
to the poles and a pressure gradient from the poles to the equator. Thus, hot air with lower air density
at the equator rises up to the high atmosphere and moves towards the poles and cold air with higher
density flows from the poles towards the equator along the earths surface. Without considering the
earths self-rotation and the rotation-induced Coriolis force, the air circulation at each hemisphere
forms a single cell, defined as the meridional circulation. Second, the earths self-rotating axis has a
tilt of about 23.5 with respect to its ecliptic plane. It is the tilt of the earths axis during the revolution
around the sun that results in cyclic uneven heating, causing the yearly cycle of seasonal weather
changes. Third, the earths surface is covered with different types of materials such as vegetation, rock,
sand, water, ice/snow, etc. Each of these materials has different reflecting and absorbing rates to solar
radiation, leading to high temperature on some areas (e.g. deserts) and low temperature on others (e.g.
iced lakes), even at the same latitudes. The fourth reason for uneven heating of solar radiation is due to
the earths topographic surface. There are a large number of mountains, valleys, hills, etc. On the
earth, resulting in different solar radiation on the sunny and shady sides.

The earths self-rotation is another

important factor to affect wind direction and
speed. The Coriolis force, which is generated
from the earth's self-rotation, deflects the
direction of atmospheric movements. In the
north atmosphere wind is deflected to the right
and in the south atmosphere to the left. The
Coriolis force depends on the earths latitude;
it is zero at the equator and reaches maximum
values at the poles. In addition, the amount of
deflection on wind also depends on the wind
speed; slowly blowing wind is deflected only
a small amount, while stronger wind deflected
more.
 In large-scale atmospheric movements, the combination of the pressure gradient due to the
uneven solar radiation and the Coriolis force due to the earths self- rotation causes the single
meridional cell to break up into three convectional cells in each hemisphere: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel
cell, and the Polar cell. Each cell has its own characteristic circulation pattern. In the Northern
Hemisphere, the Hadley cell circulation lies between the equator and north latitude 30, dominating
tropical and sub-tropical climates. The hot air rises at the equator and flows toward the North Pole in
the upper atmosphere. This moving air is deflected by Coriolis force to create the northeast trade
winds. At approximately north latitude 30, Coriolis force becomes so strong to balance the pressure
gradient force. As a result, the winds are defected to the west. The air accumulated at the upper
atmosphere forms the subtropical high-pressure belt and thus sinks back to the earths surface, splitting
into two components: one returns to the equator to close the loop of the Hadley cell; another moves
along the earths surface toward North Pole to form the Ferrel Cell circulation, which lies between
north latitude 30 and 60. The air circulates toward the North Pole along the earths surface until it
collides with the cold air flowing from the North Pole at approximately north latitude 60. Under the
influence of Coriolis force, the moving air in this zone is deflected to produce westerlies. The Polar
cell circulation lies between the North Pole and north latitude 60. The cold air sinks down at the
North Pole and flows along the earths surface toward the equator. Near north latitude 60, the Coriolis
effect becomes significant to force the airflow to southwest.

Local geography also influences the wind generation and speed. The roughness on the earths
surface is a result of both natural geography and manmade structures. Frictional drag and obstructions
near the earths surface generally retard with wind speed and induce a phenomenon known as wind
shear. The rate at which wind speed increases with height varies on the basis of local conditions of the
topography, terrain, and climate, with the greatest rates of increases observed over the roughest terrain.
A reliable approximation is that wind speed increases about 10% with each doubling of height. In
addition, some special geographic structures can strongly enhance the wind intensity. For instance,
wind that blows through mountain passes can form mountain jets with high speeds.

5. Characteristics of Wind
1. Stochastic
2. Intermittent
3. Seasonal (typically stronger in the winter months)
4. Wind speed increases with elevation
6. Wind Speed Distribution
Rayleigh & Wiebull Speed Distributions are used for predicting the wind speed.

7. Wind Speed Effects

8. What is a Wind Turbine?

A wind turbine is a rotating machine which extracts the energy from the wind and converts the
kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by
machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill. If the
mechanical energy is instead converted to electricity by using a generator, the machine is called a wind
generator, wind turbine, wind power unit (WPU), wind energy converter (WEC), or aerogenerator. The
energy that can be extracted generally depends on the speed of the wind, amount (density) of the wind
and the area of interception of the wind (swept area).
9. Types of Wind Turbines
1. Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT)
Drag is the main force
Nacelle is placed at the bottom
Yaw mechanism is not required
Lower starting torque
Unwanted fluctuations in the power output
Omni directional (accepts wind from any direction)
Components can be mounted near ground-Easy service
Lighted wieght towers
Less material to capture same amount of air,
Rotors generally near ground where wind is poor
Centrifugal force stresses blades
Poor self starting capabilities
Require support at top of turbine rotor
Requires entire rotor to be removed to replace bearings.
Difficulty in mounting the turbine
2. Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT)
Most common wind turbine design.
Being parallel to the ground, the axis of blade
rotation is parallel to the wind flow.
Upwind mode, blades facing the wind (wind
striking from the front of the blades)
Downwind mode-wind passes the tower before
striking the blades (wind striking from the back)
Lift is the main force
Much lower cyclic stresses
95% of the existing turbines are HAWTs
Nacelle is placed at the top of the tower
Yaw mechanism is required

10. Basic Principle of Wind Turbines

1. Drag Type
In the drag type wind turbine, the wind literally pushes the blades out of the way. Drag
powered wind turbines are characterized by slower rotational speeds and high torque capabilities.
They are useful for the pumping, sawing or grinding work that, farm and similar "work-horse"
windmills perform. For example, a farm-type windmill must develop high torque at start-up in order to
pump, or lift, water from a deep well.
2. Lift Type
The lift type wind turbine employs the same principle that enables airplanes, kites and
birds to fly. The blade is essentially an airfoil, or wing. When air flows past the blade, a wind speed
and pressure differential is created between the upper and lower blade surfaces. The pressure at the
lower surface is greater and thus acts to "lift" the blade. When blades are attached to a central axis, like
a wind turbine rotor, the lift is translated into rotational motion. Lift-powered wind turbines have much
higher rotational speeds than drag types and therefore are well suited for electricity generation.

11. Major Equipments in Wind Power Plants

1. Tower: Verticle structure (lattice, tubular or guyed tower (supported by steel/metal strings)) of
the wind turbine structure on top of which all the major equipments are placed. It creates
the height for the rotating blades. The taller the tower, the more power produced.
2. Blades: The portion of the wind turbine that are dragged or lifted hence rotated by the wind is
called the blades. Converts the wind power to a rotational mechanical power. These are
usually two or more wooden, fiberglass or metal blades (new design) which rotate about
an axis (horizontal or vertical) at a rate determined by the wind speed and the shape of
the blades. The blades are attached to the hub, which in turn is attached to the main shaft.
3. Hub: Blades are connected to a hub, which is connected to a shaft.
4. Shaft: Two different shafts turn the generator. One is used for low speeds while another is used in
high speeds.
5. Rotor: The hub and the blades together are referred to as the rotor. Wind turns the blades which
turn the drive shaft.
6. Gear Box: Gears connect the high and low speed shafts and increase the rotational speeds from
about 10-60 rpm to about 1200-1800 rpm, the rotational speed required by most
generators to produce power.
7. Generator: The generator converts the mechanical energy of the turbine to electrical energy
(electricity). Different generator designs produce either alternating current (AC)
or direct current (DC), available in a large range of output power ratings. Most wind
turbines require a gear-box transmission to increase the rotation of the generator to the
speeds necessary for efficient electricity production. As a result, Some DC-type wind
turbines do not use transmissions. Instead, they have a direct link between the rotor and
generator. These are known as direct drive systems. Without a gear box, wind turbine
complexity and maintenance requirements are reduced, but a much larger generator is
required to deliver the same power output as the AC-type wind turbines.
 Types of generators used are;
For Small rating systems
Medium rating systems
Large rating systems
- Permanent Magnet type DC generators
- Permanent Magnet type DC generators, Induction generators,
Synchronous Generators (Synchronous / Permanent Magnet
Generator = Potential use without gearbox, historically higher cost
due to use of rare-earth metals)
- Induction generators (3-phase), Synchronous Generators (3 phase)
(Asynchronous / Induction Generator =Slip (operation above/below
synchronous speed possible, reduces gearbox wear)

8. Controller: Senses wind direction, wind speed generator output and temperature and initiates
appropriate control signals to take control action.
Control methods used are;
Drivetrain Speed: Fixed (direct grid connection) and Variable (power electronics for indirect
grid connection)
Blade Control (Stall): Blade position fixed, angle of attack increases with wind speed until stall
occurs behind the blade
Blade Control (Pitch): Blade position changes with wind speed to actively control low speed
shaft for a low-speed
9. Yaw Mechanism: The area of the wind stream swept by the wind turbine is maximum when
blades face into the wind. Alignment of the blade angle with respect to the
wind direction to get maximum wind energy can be achieved with the help of
yaw control that rotates wind turbine about the vertical axis. In smaller wind
turbines, yaw action is controlled by tail vane whereas, in larger turbines, it is
operated by servomechanism.
10. Brake: Brake is activated by a wind speed sensor to stop the turbine when cut out speed is
reached. It is to safeguard the equipment at higher wind speeds by stopping the turbine.
11. Nacelle: The encasing(housing), enclosing the gear box and the generator is called Nacelle.
12. Anemometer: An instrument for recording the speed and direction of the wind.
13. Wind Vane: Is a device usually combined with anemometer to sense the wind direction.
14. Transmission lines: All the wind turbines are connected to a common swithyard from where
transmission of power takes place forming a complete wind power plant.

12. Physics
1. Power
The mechanical power produced by a wind turbine is given by a formula(ideal):

Where; = Density of air = 1.2 kg/ m3 (.0745 lb/ft3),

at sea level, 20o C and dry air
A = Swept area = (radius)2, m2
V = Wind Velocity, m/sec.

This equation states that the power is equal to

one-half, times the air density, times the rotor area,
times the cube of the wind speed. Means, the amount
of energy which the wind transfers to the rotor
depends on the density of the air, the rotor swept area,
and the wind speed. Wind power is a measure of the
energy available in the wind. It is a function of the cube (third power) of the wind speed. If the wind
speed is doubled, power in the wind increases by a factor of eight, means that small differences in
wind speed lead to large differences in power.
Example Problem: How much power a wind turbine with 50 meters long blade can generate with a
wind speed of 12 m/s? The site of the installation is about 1000 feet above sea level. Assume 40%
efficiency ().

Sol: Air density is lower at higher elevation. For 1000 feet above sea level, is about 1.16 kg/m3
3
Power = 12 ()(A)(V) ()
3
= 0.5(1.16)(x502)(12) (0.4)
6
= 3.15 x 10 Watt
= 3.15MW

2. Power Coefficient & Betz Limit

Power Coefficient, Cp, is the ratio of power extracted by the turbine to the total contained in
the wind resource Cp = PT/PW. The Betz Limit is the maximal possible Cp = 16/27 . Means
approximately 59% efficiency is the maximum possible efficiency a conventional wind turbine can do
in extracting power from the wind. In other way, the theoretical maximum amount of energy in the
wind that can be collected by a wind turbine's rotor is 59%. If the blades were 100% efficient, a wind
turbine would not work because the air, having given up all its energy, would entirely stop.
Theoretically it is possible to get 100% efficiency by halting and preventing the passage of air through
the rotor. However, a rotor is able to decelerate the air column only to one third of its free velocity. In
practice, the collection efficiency of a rotor is not as high as 59%. A more typical efficiency is 35% to
45%. A complete wind energy system, including rotor, transmission, generator, storage and other
devices, which all have less than perfect efficiencies, will deliver between 10% and 30% of the
original energy available in the wind.

3. Rated Speed
The rated speed is the minimum wind speed at which the wind turbine will generate its
designated rated power. For example, a "10 kilowatt" wind turbine may not generate 10 kilowatts until
wind speeds reach 25 mph. Rated speed for most machines is in the range of 25 to 35 mph. At wind
speeds between cut-in and rated, the power output from a wind turbine increases as the wind increases.
The output of most machines levels off above the rated speed. Most manufacturers provide graphs,
called "power curves," showing how their wind turbine output varies with wind speed.
4. Cut-in Speed
Cut-in speed is the minimum wind speed at which the wind turbine will generate usable power.
This wind speed is typically between 7 and 15 mph.

5. Cut-out Speed/Shutdown Speed

At very high wind speeds, typically between 45 and 80 mph, most wind turbines cease power
generation and shut down. The wind speed at which shut down occurs is called the cut-out speed.
Having a cut-out speed is a safety feature which protects the wind turbine from damage. Shut down
may occur in one of several ways. In some machines an automatic brake is activated by a wind speed
sensor. Some machines twist or "pitch" the blades to spill the wind. Still others use "spoilers," drag
flaps mounted on the blades or the hub which are automatically activated by high rotor rpm's, or
mechanically activated by a spring loaded device which turns the machine sideways to the wind
stream. Normal wind turbine operation usually resumes when the wind drops back to a safe level.

6. Tip Speed Ratio

The tip-speed ratio is the ratio of the rotational speed of the blade to the wind speed. The larger
this ratio, the faster the rotation of the wind turbine rotor at a given wind speed. Electricity generation
requires high rotational speeds. Lift- type wind turbines have maximum tip-speed ratios of around 10,
while drag-type ratios are approximately 1. Given the high rotational speed requirements of electrical
generators, it is clear that the lift-type wind turbine is the most practical for this application. The
number of blades and the total area they cover affect wind turbine performance. For a lift-type rotor to
function effectively, the wind must flow smoothly over the blades. To avoid turbulence, spacing
between blades should be great enough so that one blade will not encounter the disturbed, weaker air
flow caused by the blade which passed before it.
13. Advantages & Disadvantages
1. Advantages
-->Wind blows day and night, which allows wind turbines to produce electricity throughout the day
-->Wind is a renewable energy source-No pollution
-->Wind energy is a domestic
-->Wind power plants need very less land (< 1 acre/MW). Up to 95%of land used for wind farms
can also be used for other profitable activities including ranching, farming and forestry
-->After installation, only cost is maintenance
-->Available everywhere to some extent
-->Simple designs
-->Supply of wind energy cannot be controlled by anyone (no political maneuvering)
-->Wind power Units are quickly constructed
-->Wind generators are much smaller in size compared other types electrical generators
-->Small size allows wind power to be very versatile
-->Wind power is a great compliment to a house with a preexisting photovoltaic system
-->Serves as a great backup system
-->Mass production of wind turbines drives down costs
-->No fuel payments
-->More efficient maintenance is possible
-->No water needed for operations
-->Cost Stability & Cheaper than solar power plant

2. Disadvantages
-->Cumbersome research needed
-->Expensive to set up
-->Wind speed varies a lot & wind pattern is hard to predict
-->Wind flow is not steady
-->Unreliable
-->Accurate data absolutely necessary
-->Environmental impact from manufacturing
-->Turbines can require large areas of land
-->Inefficient
-->Noise, Visual impact
-->Hazard to bird migration, wild life impact
-->Aesthetics Not in my back yard
14. Future Technology Developments
Offshore turbines
-More wind speeds
-Less noise pollution
-Less visual impact
-Difficult to install and maintain
-Energy losses due to long distance transport
Drive Train Innovations
Blade Design Innovations
Controls Innovations
Improved Design Tools

15. Miscellaneous Points

1. The earth receives approximately 1.74 x 1017 MW of power (per hour) from the sun. About 1-
2% (i.e. 3.6 109 MW) of this energy is converted to wind energy (which is about 50-100
times more than the energy converted to biomass by all plants on earth) and about 35% of wind
energy is dissipated within 1000 m of the earths surface [2]. Hence, the available wind power
that can be converted into other forms of energy is approximately 1.26 109 MW. Because this
value represents 20 times the rate of the present global energy consumption, wind energy in
principle could meet entire energy needs of the world.
2. The rotor area determines how much energy a wind turbine is able to harvest from the wind.
Since the rotor area increases with the square of the rotor diameter, a turbine which is twice as
large will receive 22 = 2 x 2 = four times as much energy. A typical 600 kW wind turbine has a
rotor diameter of 43-44 meters, i.e. a rotor area of some 1,500 square meters.
3. To be considered a good location for wind energy, an area needs to have average annual wind
speeds of at least 12 mph. Usually the wind speed ranges for generation are;
0 ~ 10 mph: Too low wind speed for generation. Turbine is not operational. Rotor is locked.
10 ~ 25 mph: 10 mph is the minimum operational speed. It is called Cut-in speed.
Generated power increases with the wind speed.
25 ~ 50 mph: Typical wind turbines reach the rated power (maximum operating power) at
wind speed of 25 mph (called Rated wind speed). Further increase in wind
speed will not result in substantially higher generated power by design. This is
because, for example, pitching the blade angle to reduce the turbine efficiency.
> 50 mph: Turbine is shut down when wind speed is higher than 50mph (called Cut-out
speed) to prevent structure failure.
4. Controller turns the blades on at 8-16 mph and shuts them down around 65 mph to prevent any
high wind damage.
5. The rpm of a wind turbine rotor can range between 40 rpm and 400 rpm, depending on the
model and the wind speed. Generators typically require rpm's of 1,200 to 1,800. Most wind
turbines require a step-up gear-box for efficient generator operation (electricity production).
6. Tubular/Lattice/Guyed structure height twice the blade length is found economical.
7. Doubling the tower height increases the expected wind speeds by 10% and the expected power
by 34%. Doubling the tower height generally requires doubling the diameter as well,
increasing the amount of material by a factor of eight. At night time, or when the atmosphere
becomes stable, wind speed close to the ground usually subsides whereas at turbine altitude, it
does not decrease that much or may even increase. As a result, the wind speed is higher and a
turbine will produce more power than expected - doubling the altitude may increase wind
speed by 20% to 60%. Tower heights approximately two to three times the blade length have
been found to balance material costs of the tower against better utilization of the more
expensive active components.
8. Rotor blades for wind turbines are always twisted. Seen from the rotor blade, the wind will be
coming from a much steeper angle (more from the general wind direction in the landscape), as
you move towards the root of the blade, and the center of the rotor. A rotor blade will stop
giving lift (stall), if the blade is hit at an angle of attack which is too steep. Therefore, the rotor
blade has to be twisted, so as to achieve an optimal angle of attack throughout the length of the
blade.
9. The determination of the number of blades involves design considerations of aerodynamic
efficiency, component costs, system reliability, and aesthetics. Aerodynamic efficiency
increases with the number of blades but with diminishing return. Increasing the number of
blades from one to two yields a 6% increase in efficiency, whereas increasing the blade count
from two to three yields only an additional 3% in efficiency. Further increasing the blade count
yields minimal improvements in aerodynamic efficiency and sacrifices too much in blade
stiffness as the blades become thinner. Generally, the fewer the number of blades, the lower the
material and manufacturing costs will be. Higher rotational speed reduces the torques in the
drive train, resulting in lower gearbox and generator costs. A rotor with an even number of
blades will cause stability problems for a wind turbine. The reason is that at the very moment
when the uppermost blade bends backwards, because it gets the maximum power from the
wind, the lower most blade passes into the wind shade infront of the tower. This produces
uneven forces on the rotor shaft and rotor blade.
10. As the number increases; noise, wear and cost increase and efficiency decreases. Multiple
blade turbines are generally used for water pumping purposes.
11. A rotor with an even number of blades will give stability problems for a machine with a stiff
structure. The reason is that at the very moment when the uppermost blade bends backwards,
because it gets the maximum power from the wind, the lowermost blade passes into the wind
shade in front of the tower.
12. Two blade turbines dont require a hub.
13. Most common design is the three-bladed turbine. The most important reason is the stability of
the turbine. A rotor with an odd number of rotor blades (and at least three blades) can be
considered to be similar to a disc when calculating the dynamic properties of the machine.
14. Three blade HAWTs are the most efficient wind turbines.
15. The spacing between the adjacent wind turbine is between 5 and 9 times of the rotor diameter
in the prominent wind direction and 3 to 5 times perpendicular to wind direction.
16. The worldwide installed capacity of wind power reached 435 GW by the end of 2015.
17. The development of wind power in India began in the 1986 with first wind farms being set up
in coastal areas of Maharashtra (Ratnagiri), Gujarat (Okha) and Tamil Nadu (Tuticorin) with 55
kW Vestas wind turbines.
18. The potential for wind farms in the country was first assessed by Dr. Jami Hossain using a GIS
platform to be more than 2,000 GW in 2011. The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE,
previously C-WET) has announced a revised estimation of the potential wind resource in India
from 49,130 MW to 302,000 MW assessed at 100m Hub height. According to C-WET, the
wind power potential in India at 50m hub-height is estimated to be 49,130 MW and at 80m
hub-height is estimated to be 1,02,788 MW. Indian Wind Energy Association has estimated that
with the current level of technology, the onshore potential for utilization of wind energy for
electricity generation is of the order of 102 GW.
19. As of 30th October 2016, the installed capacity of wind power in India was 28,110 MW, mainly
spread across the South, West and North regions. Target as per the 12th Plan (upto March 2017)
is 32,352MW. By the year end 2016, India had the fourth largest installed wind power capacity
in the world (1. China 2. USA 3. Germany 4.India 5. Spain 6. UK).
20. In the year 2015, the MNRE (Minstry of New and Renewable Energy) set the target for wind
power generation capacity in India by the year 2022 at 60,000 MW.
21. Wind power accounts to nearly 9.16% of India's total installed power generation capacity and
generated 28,604 million Kwh (MU) in the fiscal year 2015-16 which is nearly 2.5% of total
electricity generation. It is about 11.46% of total renewable energy.
22. 70% of wind generation is during the five months duration from May to September coinciding
with Southwest monsoon duration.Winds in India are influenced by the strong south-west
summer monsoon, which starts in May-June, when cool, humid air moves towards the
land and the weaker north-east winter monsoon, which starts in October, when cool, dry
air moves towards the ocean. During the period march to August, the winds are uniformly
strong over the whole Indian Peninsula, except the eastern peninsular coast. Wind speeds
during the period November to march are relatively weak, though higher winds are available
during a part of the period on the Tamil Nadu coastline.
23. East and North-East regions have no grid connected wind power plants as of March 2015. No
offshore wind farm utilizing traditional fixed bottom wind turbine technologies in shallow sea
areas or floating wind turbine technologies in deep sea areas are under implementation.
24. However, an Offshore Wind Policy was announced in 2015 and presently weather stations and
LIDARs are being set up by NIWE at some locations. India is planning to enter into offshore
wind power, with a 100 MW demonstration plant located off the Gujarat coast. The project
action to identify potential offshore zones along Gujarat & Tamil Nadu will be implemented
from December 2013 to March 2018.
25. Most of the wind power generation is during the south west monsoon season when rivers
usually flood with water generating cheaper secondary hydro power. Scheduling the wind
power which is unpredictable secondary power (even on daily basis), at fair price is a problem
during monsoon season. Also adding additional pumped storage hydroelectricity units instead
of new wind power plants to produce predictable secondary power on daily basis during
monsoon months and pumped storage operation for converting excess power in to peaking
power during the rest of the year is more economical and commercial proposition.
26. When large wind power plants are located away from the load centres, laying dedicated
transmission lines to evacuate the unreliable secondary wind power is additional cost liability.
In India, solar power is complementary to wind power as it is generated mostly during the non
monsoon period in day time. Solar power plants can be located in the inter space between the
towers of wind power plants or nearby area with common power evacuation facility.
27. Two types of wind turbines namely stall regulated and pitch regulated are being deployed in
the country and abroad for gridinteractive power. The stall regulated wind turbines have fixed
rotor blades whereas pitch regulated wind turbines have adjustable rotor blades that change the
angle of attach depending upon wind speed. Both technologies have their own advantages and
disadvantages. Wind turbines are also available with lattice, steel tubular and concrete tubular
towers. Average turbine size increases to 1.90MW from 1.71MW in the preceding FY 2015-16.
28. The state-wise statistics installed capacity of of wind power generation (in MW) in India is
as follows (as of October, 2016);

29. In FY 2015-16, Telangana State makes a debut in the wind energy space and records a maiden
installed capacity of 77.70 MW solely powered by Suzlon turbines of make - S97 2100kW
120m Hybrid Towers and added another 21.0 MW in 2016-17.
 6. Other Power Plants

1. Biomass Power Plants

A biomass-fired power plant produces electricity and heat by burning biomass in a boiler.
Wood chips, residues and other types of biomass and organic materials such as crops/plants,
agricultural, forest, sawdust and agro-industrial wastes are used in the boilers for burning, in the same
way as coal, natural gas and oil. Rice husk, woody biomas such as Julie flora, casurina, stalks/cobs
and shells, sugarcane trash, cotton stalks, mustard stalks, groundnut shells, residues include manure,
sewage, sludge and other degradable waste, liquid biomass waste, such as manure, household waste
and sewage plant residues, can be digested to biogas. etc., are the mostly used biomass for power
production in our country. The only difference between Biomass Power Plants and Thermal Power
Plants is the input fuel used. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly via combustion
to produce heat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel. Co-firing biomass with
coal (replacing a portion of coal with biomass) is an effective method of using biomass for energy
purposes and to reduce CO2 emissions. Coal plants can be made suitable to replace part of the coal by
biomass or even to convert fully to biomass turning a coal plant into a 100% renewable energy plant.

Burning biomass releases carbon emissions, around a quarter higher than burning coal, but has
been classed as a "renewable" energy source in some country's legal frameworks, because plants can
be regrown. The carbon dioxide released through biomass combustion is captured by growing
biomass. Properly managed biomass is therefore carbon neutral over time. There is currently a debate
on the time period within which biomass is truly carbon neutral. Biomass can and must make a
meaningful contribution to the goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of two degrees.

Biomass - a short CO2 cyclus

1. Trees take up CO2.
2. Wood residues are chipped.
3. CO2 is released during combustion in the power plant
4. Trees take up CO2 and so on.
 Due to the reasons-Renewable, widely available, carbonneutral and has the potential to
provide significant employment in the rural arease, Biomass Power Plants are put up in the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy's list of proposed power plants. Biomass is also capable of providing
firm energy. About 32% of the total primary energy use in the country is still derived from biomass
and more than 70% of the countrys population depends upon it for its energy needs. Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy has realised the potential and role of biomass energy in the Indian context and
hence has initiated a number of programmes for promotion of efficient technologies for its use in
various sectors of the economy to ensure derivation of maximum benefits. Biomass power generation
in India is an industry that attracts investments of over Rs.600 crores every year, generating more than
5000 million units of electricity and yearly employment of more than 10 million mandays in the rural
areas. For efficient utilization of biomass, bagasse based cogeneration in sugar mills and biomass
power generation have been taken up under biomass power and cogeneration programme. The
estimated power potential from the surplus agro residues in our country is about 18,000MW. In
addition 7,000MW can also be produced if the sugar mills in our country switch to modern techniques
of co-generation. The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has been implementing a scheme for
promoting biomass power plants and bagasse power plants(sugar mills co-generation). A cumulative
capacity of 4831 MW has been commissioned so far with 500 Bagasse and Biomass Power Plants. An
additional 370 MW is under construction. The leading states in that production are Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana State, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharastra, Punjab and Rajasthan.
2. Geothermal Power Plants
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Earths geothermal
energy originates from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, from
volcanic activity, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface. From hot springs, geothermal energy
has been used for bathing since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman times, but
it is now better known for electricity generation. The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in
temperature between the core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal
energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface. As the interior of the earth acts as a thermal
reservoir of heat, that heat can be used to convert the water into steam and drive a turbine for
producing electricity. Wells are digged into the earth to longer distances and water is injected for its
coversion into steam which comes out from a production well and drives a turbine.

Currently, all over the world, 16-17 GW has been produced by geothermal power plants. India
has reasonably good potential for geothermal; the potential geothermal provinces can produce 10,600
MW of power. Though India has been one of the earliest countries to begin geothermal projects way
back in the 1970s, so far there are no noted operational geothermal plants in India due to the chief
reason being the availability of plentiful coal at cheap costs.. There is also no installed geothermal
electricity generating capacity as of now and only direct uses (eg.Drying) have been detailed.
However, with increasing environmental problems with coal based projects, India started looking for
clean and eco-friendly energy sources; one of which could be geothermal. India proposes to harness
1,000 MW by 2022 and 10,000 MW (10 GW) of geothermal energy by 2030. Various geothermal
spots have been identified and piolt projects are undergoing. The first geothermal power plant to be set
up is announced in Chattisgarh.
3. Tidal Power Plants
The gravitational pull of the moon and sun along with the rotation of the earth cause the tides.
People harnessed the movement of water tides to operate grain mills more than a 1,000 years ago in
Europe. Today, tidal energy systems generate electricity. Energy can be extracted from tides of
ocean/sea/river by creating a reservoir or basin behind a barrage and then passing tidal waters through
turbines in the barrage to generate electricity. A tidal barrage works in a similar way to that of a
hydroelectric scheme, except that the dam is much bigger and spans a river estuary. When the tide
goes in and out, the water flows through tunnels in the barrage. The ebb and flow of the tides can be
used to turn a turbine, or it can be used to push air through a pipe, which then turns a turbine.

The world's first large-scale tidal power plant was the Rance Tidal Power Station in France,
which became operational in 1966. It was the largest tidal power station in terms of output until Sihwa
Lake Tidal Power Station (254MW) opened in South Korea in August, 2011.. The oldest operating
tidal power plant is in La Rance, France, with 240 MW of electricity generation capacity. The
identified economic tidal power potential in India is of the order of 8000-9000 MW with about 7000
MW in the Gulf of Cambay about 1200 MW in the Gulf of Kuch and less than 100 MW in
Sundarbans. The Indian state of Gujarat has planned to host South Asia's first commercial-scale tidal
power station of 50 MW on the west coast Gulf of Kuch. The country's first tidal power generation
project is coming up at Durgaduani Creek of the Sundarbans.
4. Wave Power Plants
Waves are caused by wind blowing on the surface of the water. Waves act as a carrier for
kinetic energy generated by the wind. Kinetic energy, the energy of motion, in waves is tremendous.
Wave power is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that energy to do
useful work-for example for electricity generation. Wave energy can be difficult to harness due to the
unpredictability of the ocean and wave direction. Most wave power systems include the use of a
floating buoyed device and generate energy through a snaking motion, or by mechanical movement
from the waves peaks and troughs. The rising and falling of the waves moves the buoy-like structure
creating mechanical energy which is converted into electricity and transmitted to shore over a
submerged transmission line. Though often co-mingled, wave power is distinct from the diurnal flux
of tidal power and the steady gyre of ocean currents. A machine able to exploit wave power is
generally known as a Wave Energy Converter (WEC). Submerged WECs also have the potential to
reduce the impact on marine amenity and navigation, as they are not at the surface.

The worlds first commercial wave farm is based in Portugal, at the Aguadora Wave Park,
which consists of three 750 kW Pelamis devices. Indian Wave Energy traces its history since 1984
when an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) type of device put into tuse at Vizinjham Fisheries Harbor
near Trivandrum in Kerala. In 1993 the National Institute of Ocean Technology was established .
Though the government of Gujarat is constructing Indias biggest tidal barrage off the coast of the
Arabian sea and a prototype at Thiruruvananthpuram, Vizhinjam Fisheries Harbor (150 kW Plant),
wave energy projects have been few and far between. The potential along the 6000 Km of coast is
about 40,000 MW. However, the realistic and economical potential is likely to be considerably less.
5. OTEC Power Plants
The main objective of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is to turn the solar energy
trapped by the ocean into useable energy. OTEC systems use the ocean's natural thermal gradient-the
fact that the ocean's layers of water have different temperatures to drive a power-producing cycle. The
working fluid used is normally ammonia. Warm surface water of the ocean is used to evaporate the
working fluid into vapor which drives the turbine to produce electricity and the output vapor is then
cooled by cool water which is drawn from the deep inside of the ocean. As long as the temperature
between the warm surface water and the cold deep water differs by about 20C (36F), an OTEC
system can produce a significant amount of power. OTEC has a potential installed capacity of 180,000
MW in India. A prototype project of OTEC is built-Sagar Shakthi at Tiruchendur (Tuticorn) with
1MW capacity.