INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION (ICREU-2014)

PLANNING FOR CIRES AT

OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
(CENTER FOR INTEGRATED RENEWABLE
ENERGY SYSTEMS)
R.Ramakumar, S.Kancherla, S.Rachapudi and A.Satturu, Oklah oma State University,

Stillwater, OK, USA 74078

Abstract Globally, renewable energy is garnering increasing

attention due to the confluence of many economic and
geopolitical factors. Efficient use of diverse renewable energy
sources can pave a path for sustainable development. Planning
is underway for building a center for integrated renewable
energy systems at OSU to address several important aspects of
renewable energy utilization. The basic idea is to harness locally
available renewable energy sources to supply various forms of
energy and other needs in an economical way with far reaching
implications both in developing and developed countries. Goals
set forth in the plan will significantly assist OSU and the
research group to undertake activities for wide range of
involvement encompassing research, development, education
and training. These activities aim to support interdisciplinary
research, economic development & education that can facilitate
the establishment of an RDT (research, development and
training) center which can ultimately be incorporated into the
National Energy Solutions Institute (NESI) also under
development at OSU to enhance the move towards global
sustainability. The energy paths from source to utilization,
preliminary design configuration, and appropriate technologies
of IRES are discussed in this paper. The concept of

integrating renewable energy systems with emphasis on

Energization of communities is discussed.
Index TermsCIRES, Energization,
Renewable Energy Resources.

Integrated

Systems,

I. INTRODUCTION

rowth of global energy demand, climate change

concerns and sustainability goals have stirred interest in
renewable energy technologies. In order to create a secure and
prosperous future for humanity it is important that science,
engineering and education work together to innovate and
create sustainable pathways to meet the energy and other
needs. Smart ways of renewable energy utilization is one of
the prime areas in which all the developing and developed
nations are working on. Many traditional approaches
employed around the world to expand energy supplies in
various forms are not sustainable and are fraught with serious
environmental and economic consequences. Massive transfer
of borrowed wealth to import non-renewable resources (coal,
oil, natural gas), inefficient use of non-renewable energy
sources, long range climate change effects, inherent or
imported political instabilities are some of the issues that

have plagued the world in recent decades. Nuclear Energy

could be sustainable if there is an appropriate method to
handle low-level waste and the possibilities of reprocessing
spent fuel safely were workable or fusion becomes practical.
There is an urgent need to advance the development of
renewable energy technologies extensively and in a smart
manner. This is a challenge to scientific community that cuts
across disciplinary boundaries, because sustainability has
many perspectives that cannot be addressed by individual
disciplines. Renewable energy sources are capable of
addressing global problems of energy security, climate change
and sustainable development. While developed nations are
trying to mitigate global warming and increase energy
security, developing nations are struggling to find means to
meet the increasing energy needs of their burgeoning
populations and, in particular, to improve the life of nearly
two billion people living in remote rural areas whose plight is
slowly being globalized in terms of environmental
degradation, deforestation and political unrest. Clearly there
is dire need for technologies which will improve the quality
of life of people living in rural areas. In this paper an
approach to energize [5] remote rural areas in a sustainable
and cost-effective manner by employing Integrated
Renewable Energy Systems (IRES) is discussed. With proper
deployment, a slow but steady improvement in the quality of
life and the human living environment can be achieved [7].
This paper outlines the design considerations for IRES and
the possible outcome of deploying IRES in a community. For
ease of analysis only specific renewable energy sources are
taken into consideration. These resources are the common
renewable energy resources available in every community.
The main idea of Integrated Renewable Energy System is to
meet the energy and other needs of a community
economically using appropriate end-use technologies based
upon available resources. IRES provide an effective and
economical approach to energize remote rural areas instead
of the electrification approach promoted by hybrid systems.
As such, this paper summarizes the critical initial steps to
build a Centre for Integrated Renewable Energy Systems near
OSU campus. Central Rural Electric Cooperative (CREC) has
agreed to provide the land to locate CIRES. It is just behind
their headquarters office in South Stillwater within a large
land area owned by CREC. Since this location is very near to
the OSU campus, students, faculty and researchers can easily
access the center to get the feel of CIRES and conduct
workshops and outreach activities.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION (ICREU-2014)

Centers Research Priorities:

a.

Space Heating
Low Grade

Integrated Renewable Energy Systems control

and operation

b.

Environmental, Societal and Economic Studies

c.

Biomass Conversion

d.

Economic Aspects

e.

Energy Conversion Technologies

Thermal
Medium grade

INSOLATION

Electricity (DC)Battery

Water Heating
Crop Processing
Cooking
Industrial Needs
Pumped hydro
Water Storage
Electrical Needs
of community

Fig 1: Energy paths from insolation

II. ENERGY PATHS FROM SOURCE TO UTILIZATION
Solar balance introduces an absolute limit to the rate of
energy usage by human beings. The use of solar energy does
not burden the heat balance of the Earth/Atmosphere (E/A)
system. There is a pressing need to energize remote rural
areas of developing countries. Utilization of renewable energy
resources enables the democratization of energy supplies and
offers unique opportunities to leapfrog to modern
technologies. Rapid technological advances in harnessing
renewable energy resources improve their economic viability
as opposed to increasing cost (monetary and other) of nonrenewable energy sources.
Harnessing renewable energy:
Approaches:
a.
b.

c.

d.

Utilize one resource and a single technology for

conversion to one form.
Utilize more than one resource by converting all of
them to one form, typical electrical, for supplying
customers (hybrid systems).

2) Energy paths from Hydro

Potential energy of water stored at a height runs micro hydro
turbines which drive generators to generate electricity. Water
pumped by PV and wind powered water pumps can be stored
in overhead water tanks and the stored water can be used for
irrigation, drinking purpose, industrial needs etc as shown in
Fig 2.
Water pump
AC

The sections that follow discuss energy paths associated with

each of the resources [1] [3] [4] [10].
1) Energy paths from insolation
Energy from the sun can be directly used to generate
electricity, using photovoltaic devices. Solar energy can be
used to heat or light buildings and provide domestic hot
water. It can also be used in concentrated form for cooking
purposes, pumping water, generate electricity (CSP),
desalinate water and refrigerate foods and medicines. Solar
thermal technologies first convert solar energy to heat which
can be used directly or stored in a medium, or converted to
mechanical or electrical energy by an appropriate device as
shown in Fig 1.

Industrial Needs

Electricity
DC

Electrical Needs
of community

WATER
Ground water
recharge
Potable

Water

Utilize more than one resource for supplying several

needs requiring widely differing qualities of energy by
matching resources and needs a-priori to maximize
end-use efficiency and minimize cost (IRES).
Employ integrated renewable energy systems (IRES)
and energize remote rural areas.

Electric Grid

Drinking Water
Irrigation

Irrigation/Industrial

Micro Hydro
Rotating Shaft
Power

Fig 2: Energy paths from hydro

3) Energy paths from biomass
Biogas can be used directly for cooking, and supplying
thermal loads or generating power through CHP,
conventional engine or micro turbines. Biomass powered
generator can also be included in IRES if woody biomass is
available. Using biogas directly for cooking would be efficient
and cheap as compared to using biogas in biogas powered
engines for producing electricity and using this electricity for
cooking purpose as shown in Fig 3.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION (ICREU-2014)

GasBio Gas

Biomass

LiquidBioethanol

SolidBriquettes

Electricity
Thermal
Vehicle Fuel
Fertilizers/
Organic
Manure
Waste
Management
Cooking

2. Social participation and control in order to strengthen

self-reliance that grows form within and to prevent
concentration of economic and political power; and
3. Ecological soundness in order to achieve harmony
with the environment and make development sustainable over
the long run [8] [9].

Human
Needs

Wind power is derived from solar energy due to uneven

heating of different areas of the atmosphere. The resulting
movement of air mass is the source of mechanical energy that
drives wind turbines for electricity generation, water
pumping, wind-mechanical pumps, milling, grinding grains
and other uses as shown in Fig 4.
Water pump
AC
Electricity

Wind

Industrial Needs
DC

Mechanical

Electric Grid

Electrical Needs
of community
Wind
Mechanical
Pump

Fig 4: Energy paths from wind

III. APPRORIATE TECHNOLOGIES

Appropriate technologies have the following features:
1. Fits in the country's infrastructure.
2. Is affordable.
3. Can be properly maintained.
4. Is not destructive to the environment.
Stand-alone photovoltaics (powering lighting and water
pumping systems) are typical examples of appropriate
technologies. They are easy to maintain, environmentally
benign, highly modular, and can be reliable.
Appropriate technology has to be appropriate to development,
understanding development (as shown in Fig 5) not merely as
economic growth but as socioeconomic change primarily
directed towards the following:
1. Satisfaction of basic human needs (food, clothing,
shelter, health, education, transport/communication, etc., and
employment which makes all this possible), starting from the
needs of neediest, in order to reduce inequalities between and
within countries;

Satisfaction of
basic human
needs

Community
needs

Fig 3: Energy paths from biomass

4) Energy paths from Wind

Priorities

Appropriate
Technology

SocioEconomic
change

Affordability

Self-Reliance

Sustainable
Development

Fig 5: Appropriate technology roadmap

The interaction among different technologies and the
alternate uses of resources also require careful consideration.
In the case of biomass, its widespread use as a fuel for
cooking by burning is very damaging to the environment and
human health. Use of biogas digesters allows the biomass to
be used for cooking in the form of biogas and the left over
sludge can be used as fertilizer to return the nutrients back to
the soil. Installation of small wind energy conversion systems
will not encroach much on the land use since the area
surrounding them can be used for other purposes such as
grazing and agriculture. Storing water in elevated storage
tanks and releasing it later for potable and domestic
consumption can only have beneficial impacts. Cyclic use of
water in an elevated storage/release mode using mini-and
micro-hydro systems in conjunction with photovoltaic-and
wind-driven water pumps will not impact irrigation related
use of water from other sources. Solar collectors and
photovoltaic panels will require some land use area, but the
small-scale nature of these devices required for rural use will
result in only minimal impact [4].
In IRES design appropriate technology plays the critical role.
As the major goal of IRES, is to energize the rural areas with
the minimal effect to ecological system with the renewable
energy sources available to the community. Irrigation systems
and canals which bring water from the water storage such
that they will aid to increase the level of underground water
can be designed.
IV. IRES BLOCK DIAGRAM
All the forms of input resources can be interconnected to meet
the energy demand of the community. Renewable energy
resources are stochastic in nature, site specific, fairly evenly
distributed around the world and have no or minimal
environmental impacts. Integrated use of these renewable
energy sources will help overcome weakness of one resource
by the strength of the other in some aspect. Integrated
approach is suitable in rural areas where biomass is in
abundance and solar, wind and hydro may be sparsely
available depending on the terrain and other geographical

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION (ICREU-2014)

factors. Along with energization, IRES provides job

opportunities and upgrades socio-economic conditions of
rural communities. Fig 6 shows the IRES roadmap from
source to utilization.
Fig 6: Schematic of IRES with inputs and outputs

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION (ICREU-2014)

V. PRELIMINARY DESIGN
Hybrid systems utilize more than one renewable resource, but
convert all of them into one form (typically electrical) for
distribution and use. Integrated systems also utilize more than
one resource, but match needs with resources a-priori to
maximize end-use efficiency and minimize cost.
Integrated renewable energy systems (IRES) utilize two or
more
Renewable energy resources

Conversion technologies, and

End-use technologies

To supply a variety of energy and other needs of differing

forms, qualities, and characteristics in an integrated fashion,
a preliminary design has been developed. Fig 7 shows the
block diagram of IRES with AC and DC buses.

predictable, with seasonal variations. Among the loads, some

are more variable than others. Design systems or optimization
techniques which can be employed to develop a prototype for
IRES should consider all the above factors. Conduct survey
on latest processes and technologies for energy conversion
(especially biomass) and integration into IRES and come up
with approximate budget. Develop the concept of a nonlinear
and non stationary dynamic model to predict energy supply
and demand patterns by combining information available
from data sources with local sensors [2]. Develop a unified
framework for operation and monitoring of integrated largescale dynamic systems. Study needs to be focused on
economic considerations and plan to develop economic tools
in order to analyze IRES in larger market.
VII. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The proposed program will help fulfill OSUs land grant
mission. The team with complementary expertise in
renewable energy systems, bio-energy, sensors and
forecasting, sensor fusion, test platform development and
economic studies, would jointly address the various key
research problems. The center will contribute significantly
towards the development of needed educational and research
infrastructure in science and engineering. It will help nurture
and develop a cadre of scientists and engineers with a broader
view involving social, technical and economic aspects of
issues of global nature. This center will facilitate
collaboration between researchers (at OSU and elsewhere)
and energy companies. This will help to shape the future
policies of these companies with regards to renewable energy
research and other types of collaboration. It will directly
impact many small towns and villages in the state and
improve their energy management. It also has a significant
potential to develop the industrial and manufacturing
infrastructure and global trade along with the needed human
resources in Oklahoma. Along with energization, IRES
provides job opportunities and upgrades socio-economic
conditions of rural communities.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is an outcome of an Interdisciplinary Planning
Grant founded by Oklahoma State University. Additional
support for this project came from the OSU Engineering
Energy Laboratory and the PSO/Albrecht Naeter
Professorship in the School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering.

Fig 7: Block diagram of IRES with AC and DC buses

REFERENCES

VI. FUTHER STUDY

[1] Ramakumar R., and Hughes W.L.,1981, "Renewable

Energy Sources and Rural Development in Developing
Countries," IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. E-24, NO.
3, pp 242-251.
[2] Priya Ramasubbu Sensors and Neural networks to
supervise
Integrated
Renewable
Energy
Systems
(IRES),thesis work,2006,submitted to faculty of the graduate
college of Oklahoma State University.

Design procedures for IRES involves finding the ratings of

the various energy conversion and energy storage devices
required to supply all the energy and other needs of the locale
or village/community [5]. Some of the resources such as wind
and insolation are site-specific and stochastic in nature. Other
resources such as biomass and water flow head are more

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION (ICREU-2014)

[3] R. Ramakumar, "Integrated Renewable Energy Systems,"
Power Engineering Review, IEEE , vol.15, no.2, pp.10-13,
Feb 1995.
[4] Ramakumar R, Abouzahr I, Krishnan K, Ashenayi K.
Design scenarios for integrated renewable energy systems.
IEEE Trans Energy Convers 1995;10:73646.
[5] R. Ramakumar, "Energizing rural areas of developing
countries using IRES, "Proceedings of the 31st Intersociety
Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, IECEC 96,
vol.3, pp. 11-16 Aug 1996.
[6] Ramakumar, R., et al., 1992, "A Knowledge-Based
Approach to the Design of Integrated Renewable Energy
Systems," IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 7,
No. 4, pp. 648-659.
[7] R. Ramakumar, Renewable Energy Utilization Scenarios:
A Case for IRES in Developing Countries, Proceedings of
ISES Solar World Congress 2007,Beijing, China, September
2007.
[8] Date A. Understanding appropriate technology. In: Ghosh
PK, editor. Appropriate technology in third world
development. Westport (CT): Greenwood Press, 1984:16383
[9] Reddy A.K.N. Appropriate Technology. Proceedings of
the A.T.Workshop organized by Karnataka State Council for
Science and Technology for Teachers from Engineering
Colleges (1978)
[10] R. Ramakumar, Renewable Energy Sources and
Developing Countries, IEEE Trans. on Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol. PAS-102, No. 2, February 1983.
R. Ramakumar was born in Coimbatore, India,
on October 17, 1936. He received the B.E.
degree in electrical engineering from the
University of Madras, Madras, India, in 1956,
M.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, India, in 1957, and the Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca,
New York, in 1962.He has been a PSO/Albrecht Naeter
Professor (since 1991) and the Director of Engineering and
Energy Laboratory (since 1987) at Oklahoma State
University. He was named a Regents Professor in 2008. His
research interests are in renewable energy, energy conversion,
power engineering, energy storage, engineering reliability,
and alternate energy sources. He is a Fellow of IEEE and
holds memberships in several professional and honorary
societies.
Sameera Kancherla has received her B.Tech
degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
from
Jawaharlal
Tenchnological
University,Hyderabad,India in the year 2012. She
is currently pursuing Masters in Electrical Engineering from
Oklahoma State University,OK, USA and also works as a
Research Assistant at the Engineering Energy Laboratory.
Her fields of interest are Renewable Energy Systems, Power
Systems and Reliability Systems.
Suman Rachapudi was born in Markapur,
Andhra Pradesh, India, on August 26, 1988. He
received the B.Tech degree in Electronics and
Instrumentation from the Nagarjuna University,
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India, in 2009.He was Senior
Systems Engineer in Infosys Technologies Ltd till December

2012.He is currently pursuing Masters in Management

Information Systems in Spears Business School and Graduate
Research Assistant at the Engineering Energy Laboratory,
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma. His areas
of interest are Renewable Energy, Appropriate Technology,
Analytics and Digital E-Commerce.
Apurupa Satturu received her bachelors degree
from
Jawaharlal
Nehru
Technological
University - Kakinada, India in 2012. She is
currently a Masters student and a graduate
assistant in Electrical and Electronics
Engineering Department at Oklahoma State University. Her
research interests are Renewable energy, Power Systems and
Energy marketing.