Table Of ContentSecond Edition
Design, Analysis, and Operation
Wind and Solar
Power Systems
1570_book.fm copy Page ii Wednesday, June 15, 2005 10:02 AM
Second Edition
Design, Analysis, and Operation
Wind and Solar
Power Systems
Mukund R. Patel
Boca Raton London New York Singapore
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International Standard Book Number-10: 0-8493-1570-0 (Hardcover)
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Patel, Mukund R., 1942-
Wind and solar power systems : design, analysis, and operation / Mukund R. Patel.--2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8493-1570-0 (alk. paper)
1. Wind power plants. 2. Solar power plants. 3. Photovoltaic power systems. I. Title.
TK1541.P38 2005
621.31'2136--dc22
2005043904
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Cover photo: Original land use continues in a wind farm in Germany. (With permission from Vestas Wind
Systems, Denmark.)
The wind and photovoltaic power technologies are rapidly evolving. Although reasonable care has been taken
in preparing this book, neither the author nor the publisher assumes responsibility for any consequences of using
the information. The diagrams disclosed herein are for illustration purposes only and may be covered by patents.
Dedication
Dedicated to my mother, Shakariba,
who practiced ingenuity, and to my children,
Ketan, Bina, and Vijal,
who flattered me by becoming engineers.
Preface
The phenomenal growth and new developments in wind and solar power technolo-
gies have made the second edition of this book necessary. It reflects the need for an
expanded, revised, and updated version of the well-received first edition in just 5
years. During that time, the capital and energy costs of wind power have declined
by 20%. Today, the cost of electricity from grid-connected wind farms is below 4
cents/kWh, and that from photovoltaic (PV) parks below 20 cents/kWh. The goal
of ongoing research programs funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is to bring wind energy cost
below 3 cents/kWh and the PV energy cost below 15 cents/kWh by 2010. In capital
and energy costs, wind now competes on its merits with the conventional power
technologies, and has become the least expensive source of electrical power —
traditional or new — in many parts of the world. It is also abundant and environ-
mentally clean, bringing many indirect social benefits not fully reflected in the market
economics. For these reasons, wind power now finds importance in the energy
planning in all countries around the world. According to the DOE, prime wind
locales of the world have the potential of supplying more than ten times the global
energy needs. In the U.S., the DOE has established 21 partnerships with public and
private bodies to develop turbines to generate economical power in low-wind-speed
regions that would open up much larger areas of the country for rapid development
of wind power. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) estimates that wind
energy will grow from less than 1% at present to as much as 10% of the U.S.
electricity demand by 2020.
Around the world, the wind power generation capacity has seen an average
annual growth rate of 30% during the period from 1993 to 2003. More than 8,000
MW of new wind capacity was added globally in 2003 with an investment value of
$9 billion. This brought the total cumulative wind capacity to 40,000 MW. The most
explosive growth occurred in Germany. Offshore wind farms are bringing a new
dimension to the energy market. Many have been installed, and many more, each
exceeding 300-MW capacity, are being installed or are in the planning stage. Most
offshore farms are less than 10 km from the shore in less than 10 m depth of water.
Denmark’s plan to install 750 MW of new wind capacity by 2008, bringing its total
to 4,000 MW for supplying 25% of the country’s electricity, includes aggressive
offshore plans. U.S. wind capacity is projected to reach 12,000 MW by 2015. Utilities
and wind power developers have announced plans for more than 5,000 MW of new
capacity in 15 states by 2006. Hydro-Quebec plans 1,000 MW of new capacity to
be added between 2006 and 2012. In these new installations, 3-MW turbines are
being routinely installed in many countries, with 5-MW machines available today
for large offshore farms; 7-MW units are in prototype tests.
On the solar PV side, the cost of PV electricity is still high: between 15 and 25
cents/kWh. With the consumer cost of utility power ranging from 10 to 15
cents/kWh, PV cannot economically compete directly with utility power as yet,
except in remote markets where utility power is not available and transmission line
cost would be prohibitive. Many developing countries have large areas falling in
this category, and that is where the most PV growth is taking place, such as in India
and China. The worldwide solar PV is about $7 billion in annual business, mainly
driven by Germany.
Worldwide, PV installations grew at an average annual rate of 25 to 30% during
the period from 2000 to 2004. By the end of 2004, the cumulative PV capacity was
2,030 MW, with 1,000 MW in the U.S. The annual production of PV modules was
530 MW in 2004 and is projected to reach 1,600 MW by 2010. The present module
prices are $6 to $7 per watt for 1-kW modules and $3 to $4 per watt for 1-MW
plants. The emerging thin-film and concentrating PV cells are expected to reduce
the module prices substantially in the near future.
After the restructuring of U.S. electrical utilities as mandated by the Energy
Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992, industry leaders expected the power generation business,
both conventional and renewable, to become more profitable in the long run. Their
reasoning is that the generation business has been stripped of regulated prices and
opened to competition among electricity producers and resellers. The transmission
and distribution business, on the other hand, is still regulated. The American expe-
rience indicates that free business generates more profits than regulated business.
Such is the experience in the U.K. and Chile, where the electrical power industry
had long been structured similarly to the U.S. EPAct of 1992. Moreover, the renew-
able power price would be falling as the technology advances, whereas the price of
the conventional power would rise with inflation, making the wind and PV even
more profitable in the future.
North America’s darkest blackout in 2003 with its estimated $10 billion in
damage is bringing a new and sharp focus to distributed power generation. Because
overloaded transmission lines caused the blackout, and it would take decades before
new lines can be planned and built, the blackout has created a window of opportunity
for distributed power generation from wind and PV. As most large-scale wind farms
are connected to the grid lines, PV systems are expected to benefit more in distributed
power generation growth.
The Author
Mukund R. Patel, Ph.D., P.E., is a research engineer, consultant, and educator with
40 years of hands-on involvement in designing and developing state-of-the-art elec-
trical power equipment and systems. He has served as principal engineer at the
General Electric Company in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; fellow engineer at the
Westinghouse Research & Development Center in Pittsburgh; senior staff engineer
at Lockheed Martin Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey; development manager at
Bharat Bijlee Limited, in Bombay, and as 3M Distinguished Visiting Professor at
the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Presently, he is a professor of engineering at
the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, and an associate
editor of Solar Energy Journal published by the International Solar Energy Society.
Dr. Patel obtained his Ph.D. degree in electric power engineering from Rensse-
laer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York; M.S. in engineering management from
the University of Pittsburgh; M.E. in electrical machine design from Gujarat Uni-
versity; and B.E. from Sardar Patel University, Vallabha Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India.
He is a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (U.K.), associate fellow
of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a senior member of the
IEEE, a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania, and a member of Eta
Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and Omega Rho.
Dr. Patel has presented and published about 50 papers at national and interna-
tional conferences, holds several patents, and has earned recognition from the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration for exceptional contribution to the
photovoltaic power system design for the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. He
is active in consulting and teaching short courses to professional engineers in the
electrical power industry.
Dr. Patel lives in Yardley, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Sarla. They have three
children, Ketan, Bina, and Vijal, and two grandchildren, Rayna and Dhruv. Dr. Patel
can be reached at
