PLANT ENERGY SOURCE

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The Plant Power concept is based on the cooperation of plants and microorganisms to
produce in-situ electricity. Plants take up carbon dioxide and water and capture light energy.
This energy is stored in the chemical bonds of sugars produced, using carbon dioxide and water.
Part of this chemically stored energy is transferred to the roots of the plants. This energy
present in the root zone can then be captured by the so-called electro-chemical active bacteria.
These organisms are capable to oxidize the organic matter present in the root zone and transfer
the energy rich electrons to an electrode. The energy carried by the electrons can be used as
electrical energy, after which the electrons react at another electrode with oxygen to form
water. The primary advantage of the Plant Power concept is that renewable, clean electricity
can be produced while the facility can be well integrated in the landscape. The aim of the EU
project is to enhance the productivity of the Plant Power concept such that it becomes
competitive with other bioenergy systems.

Plant Power is electricity based on cooperation of living plants and microorganisms in a fuel cell.
Plants capture light energy during photosynthesis. In this process carbon dioxide and water is taken up
and converted into chemical bonds of sugars. Part of this chemically stored energy is transferred via the
roots and littered into the soil. This energy transported into the soil can be captured by the so-called
electro-chemical active bacteria. These micro-organisms are capable to oxidize the organic matter and
transfer energy rich electrons to an electrode. The energy carried by the electrons can be used as
electrical energy, after which the electrons react at another electrode with oxygen to form water.

Conceptual framework
 SOLAR BASED AIR COMPRESSOR FOR CAR/BIKE TIRE INFLATE

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

With the existing push in the direction of sustainable, clean sources of power, it is no
surprise that solar power has become one of the most popular alternative energy sources. Free
and available everywhere, the power of the sun can be employed to power everything like cell
phones and motors. The sun's energy is usually harvested through solar panels that are made
up of photovoltaic cells. These cells can convert the sun's power into electricity that can be
used for a number of purposes. For private use, a handheld solar hybrid charger can be
employed to recharge little device for instance a DC fan, a cell phone, or a camera. This project
consists of Microcontroller based control unit that continuously monitors and controls the air
pressure. This live pressure value gets display on Alpha Numeric LCD display in real time.

Regulated output of Solar cell is connected to rechargeable battery through a

unidirectional current flow circuitry. This particular charged battery output given as input to the
air compressor motor, this motor will controlled by the user manually using control buttons and
also automatically by micro controller by a set point. In this project micro controller has the
input modules like pressure sensor, control buttons and output modules are LCD display,
compressor switching driver and buzzer to give alarm in case of high pressure.

Conceptual framework
 HYBRID INVERTER WITH SOLAR BATTERY CHARGING

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

In today's climate of growing energy needs and increasing environmental concern,

alternatives to the use of non-renewable and polluting fossil fuels have to be investigated. One
such alternative is solar energy. Solar energy is quite simply the energy produced directly by the
sun and collected elsewhere, normally the Earth. The sun creates its energy through a
thermonuclear process that converts about 650,000,0001tons of hydrogen to helium every
second. The process creates heat and electromagnetic radiation. The heat remains in the sun
and is instrumental in maintaining the thermonuclear reaction. The electromagnetic radiation
(including visible light, infra-red light, and ultra-violet radiation) streams out into space in all
directions. Only a very small fraction of the total radiation produced reaches the Earth. The
radiation that does reach the Earth is the indirect source of nearly every type of energy used
today. The exceptions are geothermal energy, and nuclear fission and fusion. Even fossil fuels
owe their origins to the sun; they were once living plants and animals whose life was
dependent upon the sun.

Inverters are widely used in the domestic as well as industrial environments to serve as
second line of source in case of power cut form the electricity utility grids. However, due to low
capacity of the battery the inverter dies out with the use of heavy load appliances. This project
is designed in such a way that it overcomes this limitation by the use of solar energy. Hybrid
Inverter with Solar Battery Charging System consists of an inverter powered by a 12V Battery.
This inverter generates up to 110V AC with the help of driver circuitry and a heavy load
transformer. This battery gets charged from two sources, first being the mains power supply
itself. If the mains power supply is available, the relay switches to the connection using mains
power supply to supply to the load. This power supply also charges the battery for using it as
back up the next time there is power outage. The use of solar panel to charge the battery gives
an additional advantage of surplus power in case the power outage of mains is prolonging. Thus
this inverter can last for longer duration’s and provide uninterrupted power supply to the user.

BASIC PRINCIPLE OF SOLAR INVERTER A solar inverter, or PV inverter, converts the

variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel into a utility frequency
alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-
grid electrical network. It is a critical component in a photovoltaic system, allowing the use of
ordinary commercial appliances. Solar inverters have special functions adapted for use with
photovoltaic arrays, including maximum power point tracking and anti-islanding protection.
There are two types of sources for electrical power generation. One is conventional and other is
non- conventional. Today to generate most of electrical power conventional sources like coal,
gas, nuclear power generators are used. Some of conventional source are polluted the
environment to generate the electricity. And nuclear energy is not much preferable because of
its harmful radiation effect on the mankind. After some of ten years conventional sources will
not sufficient enough to fulfill the requirements of the mankind. So some of the electrical
power should be generated by non-conventional energy sources like solar, wind .With the
continuously reducing the cost of PV power generation and the further intensification of energy
crisis, PV power generation technology obtains more and more application. Conventionally,
there are two ways in which electrical power is transmitted. Direct current (DC) comes from a
source of constant voltage and is suited to short-range or device level transmission. Alternating
current (AC) power consists of a sinusoidal voltage source in which a continuously changing
voltage (and current) can be used to employ magnetic components. Long distance electrical
transmission favors AC power, since the voltage can be boosted easily with the use of
transformers. By boosting the voltage, less current is needed to deliver a given amount of
power to a load, reducing the resistive loss through conductors. The adoption of AC power has
created a trend where most devices adapt AC power from an outlet into DC power for use by
the device. However, AC power is not always available and the need for mobility and simplicity
has given batteries an advantage in portable power. Thus, for portable AC power, inverters are
needed. Inverters take a DC voltage from a battery or a solar panel as input, and convert it into
an AC voltage output

Conceptual framework