Hybrid Power Generation Using Solar and Wind Energy

Abstract

One of mankind’s greatest needs is a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity. Conventional, non-renewable energy resources such as coal and nuclear fuel have long been used to generate electricity, but these resources are depleting with continued use, which has shifted attention toward renewable sources such as wind, solar and tidal energy. This paper presents the design and implementation of a portable hybrid power system that combines solar and wind energy to generate reliable, sustainable electricity. Wind and solar energy are attractive because of their abundance, availability and ease of harnessing, but each is intermittent on its own: wind power is available only when the wind blows, and solar power only when the sun shines. Combining the two sources, together with a charge controller, improves availability and reliability, since one source can compensate when the other is insufficient. The prototype uses a 20 W monocrystalline solar panel and a small wind-driven dynamo as the two energy sources, each protected against reverse current by a diode, feeding a DC-DC buck-boost converter that supplies a constant input to a PWM solar charge controller. The charge controller regulates the charging of a 12 V lead-acid battery, whose output can supply DC loads directly or be converted to 220 V AC through an inverter. The system is intended for domestic, agricultural and remote-area use where a continuous grid supply is unavailable or unreliable.