Hybrid renewable energy power systems are positioned to become the long-term power solution for portable, transportation and stationary system applications. Hybrid power systems are virtually limitless in possible setups and configurations to produce the desired power for a particular system. A hybrid system can consist of solar panels, wind power, fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries, capacitors, and other types of power devices. Hybrid systems can be setup with power electronics to handle low, high, and variable power requirements. For example, solar panels can be used to convert solar energy into electrical energy when sunlight is directly hitting the PV panels for maximum efficiency, and then power from wind turbines can be used when wind speed and direction is ideal. The energy from these devices can be stored in batteries and used for electrolysis to produce hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be fed to fuel cells to provide power for long periods of time or portable or transportation applications. Power electronics provides a key element in stabilizing, boosting and managing the power when necessary.

The electrical output of a specific power system may not provide the input needed for a certain device. Many applications, such as grid or residential power, require AC power. Other devices such as cell phones require DC power. The output of fuel cells and batteries, however, is DC voltage with an intensity that depends on the number of cells stacked in series. An inverter can be used to change the output from DC to AC power when needed. Also, many renewable energy systems can have slow startup times and can be slow to respond to higher power needs. Therefore, systems usually have to be designed to compensate for high or intermittent power requirements. Power converters can be used to regulate the amount of power flowing through a circuit. Figure 1 shows a general schematic with a fuel cell that illustrates the power electronics component as a key element in the fuel cell system.

Refer link: http://www.fuelcellstore.com/blog-section/power-electronics-for-renewable-energy-systems

Integration of Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning

There is so much talk about advanced analytics (AA), artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) that most people have a hard time understanding these technologies. The good news is, the majority of people do not have to understand; they should spend their time on their operational processes and products – not on the math. My view on AA (including AI, ML, etc.) is that it delivers hints that normal people might have missed due to volume, speed and complexity of the IoT data available.

The use of advanced analytics and machine learning, for instance, can help a utility check for irregularities in operational performance, potentially leading to the prediction of a potential failure before it happens.

With the world relying more heavily on renewables as a critical source of energy, we need a way to harness IoT data quickly and accurately in order to successfully scale renewable energy across the globe. One could argue that the effective use of IoT will be a key differentiator for the winners in this next phase of growth in the renewable energy sector.

Publication

1. Energy Efficient Ultra low power Solar Harvesting System Design with MPPT for IOT Edge Node Devices, "Saswat Kumar Ram, Sudeendra Kumar K, Sauvagya Ranjan Sahoo and Kamalakanta Mahapatra", iSES 2018, Hyderabad, India

Refer Link: https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/09/the-future-of-the-internet-of-things-in-renewable-energy0.html