solar/wind hybrid renewable power generators for minnesota...

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Solar/Wind Hybrid Renewable

Power Generators for Minnesota

Rural Transportation

Applications

Taek Kwon and Ryan Weidemann

University of Minnesota-Duluth

Ray Starr, Kevin Schmidt and Roger Sowder

Minnesota Department of Transportation

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Outline

• Introduction

• Renewable light pole

• Renewable power station for DMS

• Conclusion

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Renewable Energy for Rural ITS

• The types of ITS technologies that could benefit:

– Traffic-activated advisory signs

– Advance warning signals/flashers for hazardous locations

– Variable message signs

– Road-weather condition detection systems

• Remote rural areas

– Lack of easily accessible power sources

– High cost of bringing electric utility

• Solar/wind generated power is independent of distance

– No monthly electric fees

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Renewable Light Pole

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Lighting at Night

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Why Solar/Wind Hybrid?

• Complementing resources

– Lack of winds but more sunlight in summer

– Lack of sunlight but more winds on bad weather

• System Redundancy

– If PV breaks down, wind still generates power,

or vice versa.

– Increased power and system reliability

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November 18, 2006

Rainy, windy, and cloudy

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December 31, 2006

Ice and snow storm

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June 12, 2007

Sunny, calm, and no precipitation

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June 19, 2007

Sunny, windy, and no precipitation

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Summary of Daily Power Generation

• Using the NREL website for fall and spring

– Solar Energy

• Fall and Spring about 75% of Summer

– Wind Energy

• Fall and Spring about 50% of Winter

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Purchased Component List

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Summary

• Wind/Solar hybrid renewable system

– Complementing

• Many rural ITS applications could benefit

– Because power budget is independent of distance

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Renewable Power Station for DMS:

Project Tasks

• Analyze DMS power requirements

• Develop prototype renewable power station

– Design controller

– Install prototype unit at rural location

• Collect data and evaluate prototype system

• Develop design and procurement specs

• Final Report

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ENTERPRISE Program

• A pooled-fund organization with member agencies

in US, Canada, and Netherlands

• Support jointly-sponsored ITS projects of shared

interest

• Provide test beds in a variety of environments and

locations for emerging ITS technologies

• Identify common needs within the group and

proceed with appropriate technical activities

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ENTERPRISE Members

• Arizona Department of Transportation

• Colorado Department of Transportation

• Dutch Ministry of Transportation

• Federal Highway Administration

• Iowa Department of Transportation

• Kansas Department of Transportation

• Ministry of Transportation of Ontario

• Minnesota Department of Transportation

• Transport Canada

• Virginia Department of Transportation

• Washington State Department of Transportation

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Rural Renewable Power Station

Site

• Hwy 371 at 250th St., south of Ft. Ripley,

MN

• Rural location

• “T” intersection

• Power station in SE quadrant

• VMS in NW quadrant

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Renewable Power Station Site

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Project Location

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Rural Renewable Power Station Site

(Looking North)

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Summer Solar Energy

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Winter Wind Energy

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Available Solar/Wind Energy

• Solar Radiation

– 5.5 - 6.0 KWh/m2/day during the summer

– 3.0 - 3.5 KWh/m2/day during the winter

• Wind Density

– Class 2 during the summer: 200-300 W/m2

– Class 3 during the winter: 300-400 W/m2

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System Overview

Turbine

Controller

Wind

Turbine

Solar

Controller

Solar

Panels

VMS

Controller

AC

Inverter

Battery

Bank

Power

Safety SW

(COTS) (COTS)

(COTS)

(COTS)

(COTS) (COTS)

NOTES: COTS = Commercial Off the Shelf

(Assembled)

Data Logger

Analyzer (Custom)

= Power Flow

= Sensing

VMS (COTS)

120 VAC48 VDC

Battery

Cabinet

Control Cabinet

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DMS Sign & Controller

• ADDCO Brick

• 3 Line x 12 Character

• 5x7 Pixels per Character, 8 LEDs per Pixel

• 80 Watts Idle

• 258 Watts on 35 bricks ON

• Amber Monochrome

• Roadside Mounted

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DMS and Control Cabinet

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Battery Bank

• 6V 220Ah AGM deep cycle batteries

– 32 batteries

– Total 42,240Wh

• Capacity

– Provide 7 days of power without charge for DMS

• Cabinet

– Custom designed

– Insulated and ventilated

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Battery Bank

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Solar Panel

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Three Solar Panels

• 3 * 170W=510W Max

• Three panels in series

connection

• Charge controller converts

23*3=69V to 48V

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Solar Panel Controller

• OutBack MX60

• Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) charge controller

• Standby power consumption: less than 1W

• Set to 48V charge system

• 60 Amp max current

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Wind Turbine and Controller

• Whisper 200, Southwest

Windpower

• 1,000W at 26mph

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AC Inverter

• Outback VFX3638 Off-Grid Inverter

• 48V DC to 120AC/60Hz

• 3,600W Cont., 6,000W surge

• Idle power: 23W

• Reliable

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Power Monitoring System

• TS-7260 Single Board Computer (SBC) manufactured by Technological Systems– Large flash memory capable of storing more than 10

years of data

– Real-time clock for time-stamping of the data

• Measure currents using shunts

• A/D Converter– PentaMetric manufactured by Bogart Engineering

– No memory

• 24/7 continuous monitoring

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Power Monitoring System

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Installation (1)

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Installation (2)

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Installation (3)

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After Installation

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Pole

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CostDescription Qty Unit cost Extended

Solar panel 3 $839 $2,517

Wind turbine w/

Controller

1 $2,521 $2,521

Battery 32 $187 $5,980

Mounting Pole 1 $5,786 $5,786

Inverter 1 $1,899 $1,899

Power data logger 1 $5,94 $5,94

Battery cabinet 1 $1,900 $1,900

Pole foundation 1 $5,270 $5,270

Misc cables, shunts $360 $360

Total $30,003

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Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Tests Signs

SIGN TEST

IN

PROGRESS

DRIVE WITH

CARE

BUCKLE UP

TEST 01 TEST

ABCDEFGHIJKL

MNOPQRSTUVWX

8 13

18 34

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Sign Tests (7/2-8/21,08)

• 7/7 12:05pm – 7/14 8:30am, 18 characters

ON (132 hours)

• 7/15 8:30am – 7/23 9:45am, 34 characters

ON (193 hours)

• 8/7- 8/20, 13 characters ON (312 hours)

• 8/21 high load test

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Daily Power Data (7/2-8/21,08)

Daily Avg Power State

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

7/2

/08

7/4

/08

7/6

/08

7/8

/08

7/1

0/0

8

7/1

2/0

8

7/1

4/0

8

7/1

6/0

8

7/1

8/0

8

7/2

0/0

8

7/2

2/0

8

7/2

4/0

8

7/2

6/0

8

7/2

8/0

8

7/3

0/0

8

8/1

/08

8/3

/08

8/5

/08

8/7

/08

8/9

/08

8/1

1/0

8

8/1

3/0

8

8/1

5/0

8

8/1

7/0

8

8/1

9/0

8

8/2

1/0

8

Ah

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

Vo

lt

Solar Ah Wind Ah Inverter Ah Battery V

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Monthly Power Generation/Consumption Data

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Monthly Power Data

Monthly Ah and Volts

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Aug-

07

Sep-

07

Oct-

07

Nov-

07

Dec-

07

Jan-

08

Feb-

08

Mar-

08

Apr-

08

May-

08

Jun-

08

Jul-08 Aug-

08

Am

p H

ou

rs

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

Vo

lts

Solar_Ah

Wind_Ah

Inverter_Ah

Battery_V

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Conclusion

• Wind/Solar hybrid renewable power station was successfully constructed and tested

• Solar/Wind combination is complementary and increases power reliability

• Higher capacity wind turbine, PV panels and battery banks can increase power reliability

• Higher capacity inverter was more reliable

• Large battery bank created an effect of water level on a large lake, i.e., voltage level changes little from the load or charge.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Questions?

• Dr. Taek Kwon

– Phone: (218) 726-8211

– Email: tkwon@d.umn.edu