Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems

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Engineering for sustainability Engineering for sustainability is an emerging theme for the twenty-first century. On campuses, new courses on renewable and efficient power systems are being introduced, while the demand for practicing engineers with expertise in this area is rapidly increasing. Written both for professionals seeking a self-study guide and for upper division engineering students, Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems is a design-oriented textbook that gives readers a comprehensive understanding of distributed power generation systems and renewable energy technologies. Numerous worked examples in the text illustrate the principles, while problems at the ends of each chapter provide practical applications using realistic data. The author begins with an overview of the development of today's electric power industry, including the historical and regulatory evolution of the industry, and provides an introduction to the technical side of power generation, including the basics of electric and magnetic circuits, three-phase power, and thermodynamics. After introducing conventional steam-cycle, gas-turbine, combined-cycle, and cogeneration power plants, he leads the reader into emerging technologies including: Distributed generation technologies for combined heat and power, including fuel cells, microturbines, Stirling engines, and reciprocating internal combustion engines An introduction to the range of renewable technologies, including concentrating solar power (cSP) dish and trough systems, micro-hydropower, and biomass systems Economic analysis of renewable and combined heat and power systems Wind power, from single, home-size wind turbines to large wind farms Solar energy, with equations for estimating solar resources at any location and time Photovoltaic (PV) systems grid-connected, roof-top designs, off-grid stand-alone systems, and PV water pumping systems While assuming no prerequisites, the book provides enough technical background to enable the reader to do first-order calculations on how well systems will actually perform. Throughout, techniques for evaluating the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the technologies are provided. Comprehensive and clearly-organized, Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems prepares engineers to make their own contribution, and build their careers, in one of the most exciting, beneficial, and high-profile areas of endeavor in engineering today. This is a comprehensive textbook for the new trend of distributed power generation systems and renewable energy sources in electric power systems. It covers the complete range of topics from fundamental concepts to major technologies as well as advanced topics for power consumers.

Reader Reviews:

Here is a book that is needed by those (especially engineers) interested in energy systems for the future. It has broad coverage and yet enough depth to allow design of new systems. Professor Masters' casual writing style and his sense of humor make the book fun to read.

The book covers wind systems, photovoltaic cells(PV) and PV systems, distributed generation (concentrating solar power, microhydro, fuel cells, biomass), and economics of renewable electric power generation and comparison with conventional thermal power plants. This book is important as the engineering world moves into the era of rising energy prices and is compelled to provide alternatives to fossil and nuclear fueled generation. There are abundant very helpful examples worked out in the text.

We used this book in a one semester introduction to renewable power taught as an elective for senior and first year graduate students. Since this was the first time the course was taught by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of NH, and our first time through the book, the course covered only a subset of chapters.

The book provides solid engineering background for topics discussed in applied "how to" books on renewable energy systems. It will appeal to that person who wants deeper understanding of principles. The ideas - both theoretical and practical - are carefully developed.

We read a good number of the problems at the end of the chapters we covered and assigned a subset of those. We found the book problems to be very enlightening and carefully thought out. Many of the problems provided profound insight and preparation for understanding and using the material studied. Even the first chapter on basic electrical and magnetic circuits has problems involving models for photovoltaic modules.

Michael J. Carter, Associate Professor of ECE at UNH
Filson H. Glanz, Professor Emeritus of ECE at UNHGil Masters is a master teacher, as every page in this book makes clear. The best summary is found in the preface:

"Engineering for sustainability is an emerging theme for the twenty-first century, and the need for more environmentally benign electric power systems is a critical part of this new thrust. Renewable energy systems that take advantage of energy sources that won't diminish over time and are independent of fluctuations in price and availability are playing an ever-increasing role in modern power systems. Wind farms in the United States and Europe have become the fastest growing source of electric power; solar-powered photovoltaic systems are entering the marketplace; fuel cells that will generate electricity without pollution are on the horizon. Moreover, the newest fossil-fueled power plants approach twice the efficiency of the old coal burners that they are replacing while emitting only a tiny fraction of the pollution.

There are compelling reasons to believe that the traditional system of large, central power stations connected to their customers by hundreds or thousands of miles of transmission lines will likely be supplemented and eventually replaced with cleaner, smaller plants located closer to their loads. Not only do such distributed generation systems reduce transmission line losses and costs, but the potential to capture and utilize waste heat on site greatly increases their overall efficiency and economic advantages. Moreover, distributed generation systems offer increased reliability and reduced threat of massive and widespread power failures of the sort that blacked out much of the northeastern United States in the summer of 2003.

It is an exciting time in the electric power industry, worldwide. New technologies on both sides of the meter leading to structural changes in the way that power is provided and used, an emerging demand for electricity in the developing countries where some two billion people now live without any access to power, and increased attention being paid to the environmental impacts of power production are all leading to the need for new books, new courses, and a new generation of engineers who will find satisfying, productive careers in this newly transformed industry.

This book has been written primarily as a textbook for new courses on renewable and efficient electric power systems. It has been designed to encourage self-teaching by providing numerous completely worked examples throughout. Virtually every topic that lends itself to quantitative analysis is illustrated with such examples. Each chapter ends with a set of problems that provide added practice for the student and that should facilitate the preparation of homework assignments by the instructor.

While the book has been written with upper division engineering students in mind, it could easily be moved up or down in the curriculum as necessary. Since courses covering this subject are initially likely to have to stand more or less on their own, the book has been written to be quite self-sufficient. That is, it includes some historical, regulatory, and utility industry context as well as most of the electricity, thermodynamics, and engineering economy background needed to understand these new power technologies.

Engineering students want to use their quantitative skills, and they want to design things. This text goes well beyond just introducing how energy technologies work; it also provides enough technical background to be able to do first-order calculations on how well such systems will actually perform. That is, for example, given certain windspeed characteristics, how can we estimate the energy delivered from a wind turbine? How can we predict solar insolation and from that estimate the size of a photovoltaic system needed to deliver the energy needed by a water pump, a house, or an isolated communication relay station? How would we size a fuel cell to provide both electricity and heat for a building, and at what rate would hydrogen have to be supplied to be able to do so? How would we evaluate whether investments in these systems are rational economic decisions? That is, the book is quantitative and applications oriented with an emphasis on resource estimation, system sizing, and economic evaluation."
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