HYBRID LENZ2 VAWT AND SOLAR PV PANEL FOR RURAL LIGHTING
Keywords:
Hybrid system, Lenz2 VAWT, solar PV panel, wind turbine, lighting, power generationAbstract
The hybrid Lenz2 vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and solar photo voltaic (PV) panel for rural lighting is a renewable energy technology application which is suitable for sustainable development in Thailand. The objective is aimed at designing the system, investigating the system’s performance, and simulating the system’s potential at different locations. The experimental setup shows that most of the electric power generated by the system came from solar PV panel but the Lenz2 VAWT provided more reliability in terms of the operating times even though it generated lower power due to low wind speeds which is normal for most locations in Thailand. From the experiment, a wind turbine of the Lenz2 VAWT type has 25% power coefficient but the power curve cannot be achieved due to the limitation in the equipment. The system can provide enough electric power for 10 h street lighting at night, as expected. The simulation results show the potential of the system for using data at Pakchong, Thailand. For future improvement, increasing the power coefficient of the wind turbine can be achieved by a new design of wind turbine with a more swept area and lightweight materials.
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