Hybrid energy sources for drying: Solar energy conversion to microwave energy for agricultural and mineral applications

Chapter 488 - Solar Energy Utilization in Agriculture in Nigeria

Semitransparent polymer solar cell/triboelectric nanogenerator hybrid systems: Synergistic solar and raindrop energy conversion for window-integrated applications

One of the challenges in utilizing photovoltaic systems in agricultural applications is the cost of batteries. Batteries are often replaced when used for farm power compared to residential applications due to the incessant high current that is drawn from the battery as a result of the nature of operation in agricultural applications. This increases the overall life cycle cost (LCC) of the system, which makes generation of electricity from renewable energy sources unattractive. This paper proposes the use of supercapacitors (SCs) to improve the battery lifetime and reduce the life cycle cost of a standalone Photovotaic (PV)/battery system for a remote farm power application. Two scenarios are created: PV/battery system only (i.e., without SC) and PV/battery/SC (i.e., with SC) for a typical remote agricultural feedmill. The sizes of PV, battery, and SC are optimally matched with the load profile of the feedmill using genetic algorithm, while the battery lifetime was estimated based on Schiffer's technique. The analysis is carried out through simulation in the Matlab™ environment. Some of the key results reveal that PV/battery only has a slightly lower initial capital cost of $5010 compared to PV/battery/SC with an initial capital cost of $5480. However, the battery lifetimes with and without the use of SC are 5 and 2 years, respectively, denoting an improvement of 40% in the battery lifetime when SC is adopted. The LCC values of the PV/battery system with and without SC are obtained to be $6423 and $11 037, respectively, indicating a significant reduction of 58% in the LCC when SC is utilized.

This paper presents a solar power based liquid sprayer for agricultural applications, environmental applications and health care applications. The proposed liquid sprayer can be used for spraying pesticides in agricultural applications. It can be used for spraying the hypo liquid in environmental applications like killing the bacteria and insects in the street drainages. It can also be used for spraying the sanitizer in health care applications like killing the corona virus of COVID-19. The proposed sprayer uses solar power and solar energy as a source of power for spraying purpose. One person is sufficient for operating the proposed sprayer. The performance evaluation of the sprayer was carried out for spraying pesticide in different agricultural fields.

A novel review on the efficiency of nanomaterials for solar energy storage systems

Agricultural waste residues (agro-waste) present a significant source of carbohydrates that are often underutilized despite their valuable properties. With increasing urbanization and limited non-renewable resources, the valorization of agro-waste is imperative. The global energy demand is on the rise, driven by factors such as population growth, industrialization, and a desire for enhanced living standards. Traditional energy sources, especially fossil fuels, have come under scrutiny for their environmental impact and limited availability. Consequently, there is an increasing focus on developing renewable and sustainable energy solutions, particularly through the use of agricultural waste. Agricultural waste—including crop residues, animal manure, and byproducts from food processing—represents a largely untapped resource for energy production. Converting this waste into valuable energy can help meet rising energy needs while offering environmental and economic advantages, such as mitigating waste disposal issues and creating additional income sources for the agricultural sector. Despite the significant potential of agricultural waste for energy storage and conversion, several challenges remain. These include issues related to logistics and transportation, the need for pretreatment, and concerns about economic feasibility. Future research should aim to enhance conversion technologies and better integrate agricultural waste into energy and agricultural systems. This review discusses various energy conversion technologies and applications of agricultural waste, including biofuels, biogas, and direct combustion, while exploring its role in energy storage through biochar. This review examines the composition and properties of agricultural waste, the various technologies available for energy conversion, and how agricultural waste can be utilized as a feedstock for biofuels, biogas, and direct combustion. It also investigates the integration of agricultural waste in energy storage solutions like biochar and explores other agricultural applications beyond energy production.

Chapter 7 - Solar heating and cooling applications in agriculture and food processing systems

Solar energy represents one of the future energy sources with a high potential, used as an alternative to conventional methods, especially during summer. The advantages of using solar energy are multiple, this type of energy being virtually endless and free, and its use has no negative effects on the environment, being regarded as a clean energy source.
 Solar energy has multiple applications in agriculture, one of its benefits being that it is used for dryers as an alternative energy source, especially in regions with a high solar potential. In this paper different types of fruits and vegetable dryers, nationally and abroad are presented, as well as results obtained from different methods of solar dryers.

CURRENT shortages accent the need for alternative energy sources for many agricultural appli-cations. Presently solar energy is not being used to dry crops even though much of the basic technology needed to develop these systems is avail-able. Failure of agricultural pro-cedures to employ solar energy over a decade ago, when much of the agri-culturally related research was per-formed, was due in large part to the availability of conventional energy sources at reasonable prices. Many techniques developed through solar energy research are adaptable to present agricultural systems. However, additional re-search to demonstrate this compit-ability is needed to encourage pro-ducers to accept and adopt solar en-ergy as an energy source for many agricultural operations. Research is particularly needed to evaluate the adaptability of specific solar energy collector systems to local and regional climatic conditions. Therefore a research project was undertaken with the following ob-jectives: 1 Compare the performance of five types of solar collectors for sup-plemental heating of air used for dry-ing shelled corn. 2 Establish the economic and energy efficiencies of drying shelled corn using solar energy as a supple-mental energy source.

Regional and on-farm wireless sensor networks for agricultural systems in Eastern Washington

This report presents an assessment of the potential use of wind turbine generator systems (WTGS) in US agriculture. In particular, this report presents the number of WTGS's economically feasible for use in US agriculture and the conditions which yielded economic feasibility of WTGS's for certain agricultural applications. In addition, for each case, i.e., set of assumed conditions, under which WTGS's were found to be economically feasible, this report identifies (1) the agricultural WTGS applications in terms of location, type and size (complete farm and dedicated-use applications); (2) the number of WTGS's by wind machine and generator size category; (3) aggregate energy conversion potential; and (4) other technical and economic WTGS performance data for particular applications. This report also describes the methodology, data and assumptions used for the analysis. A major part of the study was the development and use of a rigorous analytical system to assess an application's wind power generation and use potential.

As a clean and renewable energy source, solar energy is a competitive alternative to replace conventional fossil fuels. Nevertheless, its serious fluctuating nature usually leads to a poor alignment with the actual energy demand. To solve this problem, the direct solar‐to‐electrochemical energy conversion and storage have been regarded as a feasible strategy. In this context, the development of high‐performance integrated devices based on solar energy conversion parts (i.e., solar cells or photoelectrodes) and electrochemical energy storage units (i.e., rechargeable batteries or supercapacitors [SCs]) has become increasingly necessary and urgent, in which carbon and carbon‐based functional materials play a fundamental role in determining their energy conversion/storage performances. Herein, we summarize the latest progress on these integrated devices for solar electricity energy conversion and storage, with special emphasis on the critical role of carbon‐based functional materials. First, principles of integrated devices are introduced, especially roles of carbon‐based materials in these hybrid energy devices. Then, two major types of important integrated devices, including photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical‐rechargeable batteries or SCs, are discussed in detail. Finally, key challenges and opportunities in the future development are also discussed. By this review, we hope to pave an avenue toward the development of stable and efficient devices for solar energy conversion and storage.

The agri-food chain consumes about one third of the world’s energy production with about 12% of it for crop production and nearly 80% for processing, distribution, retail, preparation and cooking. The agri-food chain also accounts for 80-90% of total global freshwater use where 70% alone is for irrigation. Additionally, on a global scale, freshwater production consumes nearly 15% of the entire energy production. It can therefore be argued that making agriculture and the agri-food supply chain independent from fossil fuel use has a huge potential to contribute to global food security and climate protection not only for the next decades but also for the coming century. Provision of secure, accessible and environmentally sustainable supplies of water, energy and food must thus be a priority. One of the major objectives of the world’s scientists, farmers, decisions makers and industrialists is to overcome the present dependence on fossil fuels in the agro-food sector. This dependency increases the volatility of food prices and affects economic access to sustenance. This book provides a critical review of recent developments in solar, wind and geothermal energy applications in agriculture and the agro-food sector such as processing, distribution, retail, preparation and cooking.

Sun is an inexhaustible source of energy capable of fulfilling all the energy needs of humankind. The energy from the sun can be converted into electricity or used directly. Electricity can be generated from solar energy either directly using photovoltaic (PV) cells or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP) technology. Progress has been made to raise the efficiency of the PV solar cells that can now reach up to approximately 34.1% in multi-junction PV cells. Electricity generation from concentrated solar technologies has a promising future as well, especially the CSP, because of its high capacity, efficiency, and energy storage capability. Solar energy also has direct application in agriculture primarily for water treatment and irrigation. Solar energy is being used to power the vehicles and for domestic purposes such as space heating and cooking. The most exciting possibility for solar energy is satellite power station that will be transmitting electrical energy from the solar panels in space to Earth via microwave beams. Solar energy has a bright future because of the technological advancement in this field and its environment-friendly nature. The biggest challenge however facing the solar energy future is its unavailability all-round the year, coupled with its high capital cost and scarcity of the materials for PV cells. These challenges can be met by developing an efficient energy storage system and developing cheap, efficient, and abundant PV solar cells. This article discusses the solar energy system as a whole and provides a comprehensive review on the direct and the indirect ways to produce electricity from solar energy and the direct uses of solar energy. The state-of-the-art procedures being employed for PV characterization and performance rating have been summarized. Moreover, the technical, economic, environmental, and storage-related challenges are discussed with possible solutions. Furthermore, a comprehensive list of future potential research directions in the field of direct and indirect electricity generation from solar energy is proposed.

Fossil fuel is the major source of energy in many of the industrial and domestic drying systems used for food processing. Solar drying is a simple, low cost, and hygienic method to preserve agriculture and other marine food products. Solar dryer acts as substitute to conventional drying that reduces the extensive usage of conventional fossil fuels. However, the intermittent nature of solar energy necessitates of a backup storage device with drier to ensure continuous operation. Solar thermal energy storage is considered as a most promising option in this direction. Reliability of a solar dryer is increased by storing excess thermal energy available during sun shine hours and using it when solar energy is inadequate. Solar thermal energy storage system bridges the gap between the energy supply and demand and thereby reduces the instability in the amount of energy available. This chapter presents the studies on solar dryers integrated with latent heat storage system and also details about the performance analysis of solar dryers based on energy, exergy, economic feasibility, and quality of solar dried agricultural food products.