A practical implementation of energy harvesting, monitoring and analysis system for solar photo voltaic terrestrial vehicles in Indian scenarios: A case of pilot implementation in the Indian Railways

Abstract

The use of fossil fuels for energy leads to emission of carbon dioxide, thus causing global warming which may lead to drastic climatic changes, extinction of living species, rising sea level and extreme natural disasters. The new non-conventional renewable energy resources such as solar energy, wind energy etc. are increasingly relevant energy sources in today's times to the limited fossil fuel based energy. In India, the energy requirement is increasing day by day and among many energy consuming sectors, the transport sector poses a high demand. Utilizing the free space available on rooftops of terrestrial vehicles in India for solar power harvesting could be a significant move in reducing dependence on fossil fuels and reduce global warming. Since the type of terrain, weather, and other environmental conditions can have a significant impact on the design, performance and reliability of a solar rooftop energy harvesting system for terrestrial vehicles, a prototype implementation providing adequate field data would be a valuable asset for the feasibility study and design of such a system. As a case study, this paper discusses the implementation of a data acquisition, monitoring and analysis control system for a Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach of a train in India. This pilot project serves as a proof of concept for a roof-top solar energy harvesting system with an objective to contribute to the electrical power requirement of LHB coaches of a train. Data collected by this system will be used to design a low cost, commercial version of this technology and can also be considered for various other ground based transportation.