Northern Illinois University
Virtual Renewable Energy Laboratory
College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

Experiment 3: Data Acquisition for Renewable Energy Systems

The global supply of electrical energy is from conventional sources with the fossil fuels as the leading source. Currently the most common fuel used in the United States for electricity production is coal. The continued growth in the demand for energy consumption worldwide has led to an increase in carbon emissions, which have significant effects on climate change. There is an urgent need for clean and renewable energy sources that have significantly less impacts on the global climate.

Wind and solar are the two main sources of renewable energy. Photovoltaic (PV) cells are semiconductors which become electrically conductive on exposure to light or heat. Multiple cells are connected to have a solar module, and multiple modules can form a solar panel. Solar panels have an efficiency of only about 10%.

Output voltage of solar panel will vary with different irradiance, angle to the sun and output current. A data acquisition system (DAQ) is very effective to monitor and log the output of a solar panel as it varies during the day. A DAQ system include sensors, signal conditioning, analog-to-digital converters (ADC) and programmable software. Figure 1 shows a DAQ system. It reads analog signals, then use signal conditioning and analog-to-digital converters (ADC) to convert the signal into digital signals.

Figure 1. DAQ system

Most commercial wind turbines have 3 blades. DAQ can also be used to monitor wind power systems. A typical DAQ system that monitors electrical power from a wind turbine will require 120 V to operate its electronics.

Learning Objectives

Procedure

Lab Reports Requirement