Research Projects

Solar energy has the major energy potential of all the renewable energy sources, and it is technically viable to use solar power to meet the world's energy requirements. In addition, the exploitation of solar energy in a manner that is both direct and aesthetic may be accomplished through the use of a solar thermal system. In this regard, the solar parabolic dish concentrator and desalination system are the two primary forms of solar energy technology. The parabolic dish concentrator with thermal electric generator (TEG) technology has been widely adopted, however it suffers from poor power generation efficiency and scheduling or large scale electricity storage challenges. Combining flexible parabolic dish concentrator to concentrate the available solar radiation in TEG systems is a promising method for advancing the electrical power production technology. In this proposed project, innovative flexible solar parabolic dish concentror with variable focal length system creates a cutting-edge hybrid design that maximizes solar energy use by converting heat into electricity as well as potable water generation. The flexible parabolic dish concentrator with variable focal length system is anticipated to be competitive in the near future due to the ability to generate the electrical power as well as desalinating the seawater within minimum area and deploy costly, high-efficiency solar power system. The parabolic dish concentrator will be intriguing because they substitute costly PV power production system with less expensive TEG unit and need less space than traditional PV systems. In the case of solar thermo-electric generators, a sharp temperature gradient between the cold and hot junctions requires a high temperature. However, the less thermal gradient between the TEG’s hot and cold terminal making it difficult to generate the power with high efficiency. To encounter this problem, the pyramid shaped direct solar still unit will be constructed in a such a way that the cold terminal of the TEG touching the seawater basin and receiver part will act as a TEG’s hot terminal. The proposed flexible solar parabolic dish concentrator will be designed and fabricated which will concentrate the solar radiation without expensive tracking system. For the flexible parabolic dish concentrator system, sunlight is gathered from a broader area and then concentrated onto a TEG system with a smaller surface area and a high solar concentration ratio. However, concentrating solar irradiance with these solar concentrator not only increases the efficiency of power conversion, but also raises the temperature of the TEG’s hot terminal. Consequently, proper thermal control of TEG’s cold terminal with the integrated pyramid desalination unit can improve the power conversion efficiency. In addition to this, the novel variable focal length receiver part will be constructed to enhance the efficiency of the system.