Integrated Solar and In-Pipe Hydro Energy from Overhead Tank for Off-Grid Applications

This research article proposes a novel Economical and Eco-Friendly (EEF) hybrid model of Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) energy integrated with In-Pipe Hydro Energy (HER) recovered from the High Head Water (HHW) flows in the pipelines for Stand-Alone Applications (SOA) in High-Rise Buildings (HRB) such as Residential Apartments. Although the SPV energy is considered as one of the most viable Renewable Energy Resources (RES) in the world, its limitation with off-grid applications is its intermittent nature of power generation. Even the integration of SPV with Battery Storage Backup (BSB) also has limitations such as capacity and peak load constrains, besides the requirement of high initial capital investments. These aspects motivated the authors to carry out the present research study for integrating the SPV with HER, which is the untapped energy of the HHW flows from overhead tanks to the point of consumption. The research study shows that integration of SPV with HER can deliver uninterrupted, reliable and environmental-friendly electric power supply for SOA at an optimal unit cost. A working model of the proposed system has been designed, installed in a typical multistoried apartment building and tested. Citation: Jayashri. E. J, RMK Engineering College, Kavaraipettai, Chennai -601 206, Tamil Nadu, India; Reshma. R ,RMK Engineering College, Kavaraipettai, Chennai -601 206, Tamil Nadu, India; Anand. P ,RMK Engineering College, Kavaraipettai, Chennai -601 206, Tamil Nadu, India. "Integrated Solar and In-Pipe Hydro Energy from Overhead Tank for Off-Grid Applications." Global Research and Development Journal For Engineering : 1 - 10.