Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία πραγματεύεται την ανάλυση και κατασκευή ενός αυτόνομου φωτοβολταϊκού συστήματος, το οποίο περιλαμβάνει αντλία. Ταυτόχρονα διενεργείται μελέτη ώστε το σύστημα να λειτουργεί στο σημείο μέγιστης αποδιδόμενης ισχύος. Η εργασία αυτή εκπονήθηκε στο Εργαστήριο Ηλεκτρομηχανικής Μετατροπής Ενέργειας του Τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών της Πολυτεχνικής Σχολής του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Σκοπός είναι η οδήγηση αντλίας χαμηλής ισχύος από φωτοβολταϊκό σύστημα, αξιοποιώντας όσο το δυνατόν πιο αποτελεσματικά την διαθέσιμη ηλιακή ακτινοβολία. Για να συμβεί αυτό παρεμβάλλεται μεταξύ των δύο στοιχείων μετατροπέας συνεχούς τάσης. Παράλληλα υλοποιείται κύκλωμα ελέγχου, ικανό να οδηγήσει το σύστημα στο μέγιστο σημείο ισχύος μέσω μεταβολής του λόγου κατάτμησης του μετατροπέα. Αρχικά αναλύεται το φωτοβολταϊκό φαινόμενο. Σαν αποτέλεσμα αυτής της ανάλυσης προκύπτει το ηλεκτρικό ισοδύναμο ενός φωτοβολταϊκού πίνακα, ο οποίος αποτελεί την πηγή ισχύος του συστήματος. Αναπτύσσεται το αντίστοιχο μοντέλο σε προγραμματιστικό περιβάλλον, το οποίο προσαρμόζεται ώστε τα χαρακτηριστικά του να αναπαριστούν πραγματικό πίνακα. Στη συνέχεια διερευνάται ο τρόπος που αλληλεπιδρά η πηγή ισχύος όταν συνδέεται σε φορτίο. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα επιλέγεται το είδος του μετατροπέα που θα χρησιμοποιηθεί. Ακολουθεί η διαστασιολόγηση του μετατροπέα και η μοντελοποίηση του. Το επόμενο βήμα αποτελείται από την ανάλυση του κυκλώματος ελέγχου του συστήματος καθώς και τη μοντελοποίηση μηχανής συνεχούς ρεύματος συνδεδεμένη ως αντλία. Κατόπιν συνδέονται όλα τα μοντέλα και εξετάζεται η συνολική συμπεριφορά του συστήματος σε περιβάλλον SIMULINK. Τέλος κατασκευάζονται ο μετατροπέας και το κύκλωμα ελέγχου και αξιολογείται η συμπεριφορά τους βάσει πειράματος σε εργαστηριακές συνθήκες. / --

This dissertation aims to present detailed analysis of the small scale wind energy conversion system (WECS) design and implementation. The dissertation will focus on implementing a hardware prototype to be used for testing different control strategies applied to small scale WECSs. Novel control algorithms will be proposed to the WECS and will be verified experimentally in details. The wind turbine aerodynamics are presented and mathematical modeling is derived which is used then to build wind simulator using motor generator (MG) set. The motor is torque controlled based on the turbine mathematical model and the generator is controlled using the power electronic conversion circuits. The power converter consists of a three phase diode bridge followed by a boost converter. The small signal modeling for the motor, generator, and power converter are presented in details to help building the needed controllers. The main objectives of the small scale WECS controller are discussed. This dissertation focuses on two main regions of wind turbine operation: the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) region operation and the stall region operation. In this dissertation, the concept of MPPT is investigated, and a review of the most common MPPT algorithms is presented. The advantages and disadvantaged of each method will be clearly outlined. The practical implementation limitation will be also considered. Then, a MPPT algorithm for small scale wind energy conversion systems will be proposed to solve the common drawback of the conventional methods. The proposed algorithm uses the dc current as the perturbing variable and the dc link voltage is considered as a degree of freedom that will be utilized to enhance the performance of the proposed algorithm. The algorithm detects sudden wind speed changes indirectly through the dc link voltage slope. The voltage slope is also used to enhance the tracking speed of the algorithm and to prevent the generator from stalling under rapid wind speed slow down conditions. The proposed method uses two modes of operation: A perturb and observe (PandO) mode with adaptive step size under slow wind speed fluctuation conditions, and a prediction mode employed under fast wind speed change conditions. The dc link capacitor voltage slope reflects the acceleration information of the generator which is then used to predict the next step size and direction of the current command. The proposed algorithm shows enhanced stability and fast tracking capability under both high and low rate of change wind speed conditions and is verified using a 1.5-kW prototype hardware setup. This dissertation deals also with the WECS control design under over power and over speed conditions. The main job of the controller is to maintain MPPT while the wind speed is below rated value and to limit the electrical power and mechanical speed to be within the system ratings when the wind speed is above the rated value. The concept of stall region and stall control is introduced and a stability analysis for the overall system is derived and presented. Various stall region control techniques are investigated and a new stall controller is proposed and implemented. Two main stall control strategies are discussed in details and implemented: the constant power stall control and the constant speed stall control. The WECS is expected to work optimally under different wind speed conditions. The system should be designed to handle both MPPT control and stall region control at the same time. Thus, the control transition between the two modes of operation is of vital interest. In this dissertation, the light will be shed on the control transition optimization and stabilization between different operating modes. All controllers under different wind speed conditions and the transition controller are designed to be blind to the system parameters pre knowledge and all are mechanical sensorless, which highlight the advantage and cost effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. The proposed control method is experimentally validated using the WECS prototype developed. Finally, the proposed control strategies in different regions of operation will be successfully applied to a battery charger application, where the constraints of the wind energy battery charger control system will be analyzed and a stable and robust control law will be proposed to deal with different operating scenarios. / Ph. D.

Microgrids containing photovoltaic (PV) cells and wind power gain more and more interest. These microgrids may work in stand-alone mode ("islanding") or be conncted to the main grid. In both modes of operation, power quality must be monitored and controlled. This report focuses on microgrids and aims to implement a monitoring system based on FPGA. In the monitoring system, two applications can be achieved, firstly a PAS-MPPT algorithm in a DC-DC boost converter to improve the maximun power point tracking of a PV unit, and secondly a detection and switching system of the grid mode - stand-alone or connected to the main grid. Simulation results prove the Verilog programs in FPGA are suitable to be used in microgrids.

Sufficient power supply to run GPS machinery and transmit data on a long-term basis remains to be the key challenge for wildlife tracking technology. Traditional ways of replacing battery periodically is not only time and money consuming but also dangerous to live-trapping wild animals. In this paper, an innovative wildlife tracking collar with multi-source energy harvester with advantage of high efficiency and reliability is proposed. This multi-source energy harvester entails a solar energy harvester and an innovative rotational electromagnetic energy harvester is mounted on the "wildlife tracking collar" which will extend the duration of wild life tracking by 20% time as was estimated. A feedforward and feedback control of DC-DC converter circuit is adopted to passively realize the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) logic for the solar energy harvester. A novel electromagnetic pendulum energy harvester with motion regulator is proposed which can mechanically rectify the irregular bidirectional swing motion of the pendulum into unidirectional rotational motion of the motor. No electrical rectifier is needed and voltage drops from diodes can be avoided, the EM pendulum energy harvester can provide 200~300 mW under the 0.4g base excitation of 4.5 Hz. The nonlinearity of the disengage mechanism in the pendulum energy harvester will lead to a broad bandwidth frequency response. Simulation results shows the broadband advantage of the proposed energy harvester and experiment results verified that at some frequencies over the natural frequency the efficiency is increased. / Master of Science

The necessity for clean and sustainable energy has shifted the energy sector’s interest in renewable energy sources. Photovoltaics (PV) is the most popular renewable energy source because the sun is ubiquitous. However, several discrepancies exist in a PV system when implemented for real-world applications. Among several other existing problems related to Photovoltaics, in this work, we deal with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) under Partial Shading (PS) conditions. MPPT is a mechanism formulated as an optimization problem adjusting the PV to deliver the maximum power to the load. Under full insolation conditions, varying solar panel temperatures, and different loads MPPT problem is a convex optimization problem. However, when the PV’s surface is partially shaded, multiple power peaks are created in the power versus voltage (P-V) curve making MPPT non-convex.

<p>In this research, a Split-Shaft Wind Energy Conversion System (SS-WECS) is investigated</p> <p>to improve the performance and cost of the system and reduce the wind power</p> <p>uncertainty influences on the power grid. This system utilizes a lightweight Hydraulic Transmission</p> <p>System (HTS) instead of the traditional gearbox and uses a Doubly-Fed Induction</p> <p>Generator (DFIG) instead of a synchronous generator. This type of wind turbine provides</p> <p>several benefits, including decoupling the shaft speed controls at the turbine and the generator.</p> <p>Hence, maintaining the generator’s frequency and seeking maximum power point</p> <p>can be accomplished independently. The frequency control relies on the mechanical torque</p> <p>adjustment on the hydraulic motor that is coupled with the generator. This research provides</p> <p>modeling of an SS-WECS to show its dependence on mechanical torque and a control</p> <p>technique to realize the mechanical torque adjustments utilizing a Doubly-Fed Induction</p> <p>Generator (DFIG). To this end, a vector control technique is employed, and the generator</p> <p>electrical torque is controlled to adjust the frequency while the wind turbine dynamics</p> <p>influence the system operation. The results demonstrate that the generator’s frequency is</p> <p>maintained under any wind speed experienced at the turbine.</p> <p>Next, to reduce the size of power converters required for controlling DFIG, this research</p> <p>introduces a control technique that allows achieving MPPT in a narrow window of generator</p> <p>speed in an SS-WECS. Consequently, the size of the power converters is reduced</p> <p>significantly. The proposed configuration is investigated by analytical calculations and simulations</p> <p>to demonstrate the reduced size of the converter and dynamic performance of the</p> <p>power generation. Furthermore, a new configuration is proposed to eliminate the Grid-</p> <p>Side Converter (GSC). This configuration employs only a reduced-size Rotor-Side Converter</p> <p>(RSC) in tandem with a supercapacitor. This is accomplished by employing the hydraulic</p> <p>transmission system (HTS) as a continuously variable and shaft decoupling transmission</p> <p>unit. In this configuration, the speed of the DFIG is controlled by the RSC to regulate the</p> <p>supercapacitor voltage without GSC. The proposed system is investigated and simulated in</p> <p>MATLAB Simulink at various wind speeds to validate the results.</p> <p>Next, to reduce the wind power uncertainty, this research introduces an SS-WECS where the system’s inertia is adjusted to store the energy. Accordingly, a flywheel is mechanically</p> <p>coupled with the rotor of the DFIG. Employing the HTS in such a configuration allows the</p> <p>turbine controller to track the point of maximum power (MPPT) while the generator controller</p> <p>can adjust the generator speed. As a result, the flywheel, which is directly connected</p> <p>to the shaft of the generator, can be charged and discharged by controlling the generator</p> <p>speed. In this process, the flywheel energy can be used to modify the electric power generation</p> <p>of the generator on-demand. This improves the quality of injected power to the</p> <p>grid. Furthermore, the structure of the flywheel energy storage is simplified by removing</p> <p>its dedicated motor/generator and the power electronics driver. Two separate supervisory</p> <p>controllers are developed using fuzzy logic regulators to generate a real-time output power</p> <p>reference. Furthermore, small-signal models are developed to analyze and improve the MPPT</p> <p>controller. Extensive simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of such a system and its</p> <p>improved quality of power generation.</p> <p>Next, an integrated Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) is developed to support the</p> <p>new DFIG excitation system in the SS-WECS. The goal is to improve the power quality</p> <p>while significantly reducing the generator excitation power rating and component counts.</p> <p>Therefore, the rotor excitation circuit is modified to add the storage to its DC link directly.</p> <p>In this configuration, the output power fluctuation is attenuated solely by utilizing the RSC,</p> <p>making it self-sufficient from the grid connection. The storage characteristics are identified</p> <p>based on several system design parameters, including the system inertia, inverter capacity,</p> <p>and energy storage capacity. The obtained power generation characteristics suggest an energy</p> <p>storage system as a mix of fast-acting types and a high energy capacity with moderate</p> <p>acting time. Then, a feedback controller is designed to maintain the charge in the storage</p> <p>within the required limits. Additionally, an adaptive model-predictive controller is developed</p> <p>to reduce power generation fluctuations. The proposed system is investigated and simulated</p> <p>in MATLAB Simulink at various wind speeds to validate the results and demonstrate the</p> <p>system’s dynamic performance. It is shown that the system’s inertia is critical to damping</p> <p>the high-frequency oscillations of the wind power fluctuations. Then, an optimization approach</p> <p>using the Response Surface Method (RSM) is conducted to minimize the annualized</p> <p>cost of the Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS); consisting of a flywheel, supercapacitor, and battery. The goal is to smooth out the output power fluctuations by the optimal</p> <p>size of the HESS. Thus, a 1.5 MW hydraulic wind turbine is simulated, and the HESS is</p> <p>configured and optimized. The direct connection of the flywheel allows reaching a suitable</p> <p>level of smoothness at a reasonable cost. The proposed configuration is compared with the</p> <p>conventional storage, and the results demonstrate that the proposed integrated HESS can</p> <p>decrease the annualized storage cost by 71 %.</p> <p>Finally, this research investigates the effects of the reduced-size RSC on the Low Voltage</p> <p>Ride Through (LVRT) capabilities required from all wind turbines. One of the significant</p> <p>achievements of an SS-WECS is the reduced size excitation circuit. The grid side converter is</p> <p>eliminated, and the size of the rotor side converter (RSC) can be safely reduced to a fraction</p> <p>of a full-size excitation. Therefore, this low-power-rated converter operates at low voltage</p> <p>and handles the regular operation well. However, the fault conditions may expose conditions</p> <p>on the converter and push it to its limits. Therefore, four different protection circuits are</p> <p>employed, and their effects are investigated and compared to evaluate their performance.</p> <p>These four protection circuits include the active crowbar, active crowbar along a resistorinductor</p> <p>circuit (C-RL), series dynamic resistor (SDR), and new-bridge fault current limiter</p> <p>(NBFCL). The wind turbine controllers are also adapted to reduce the impact of the fault</p> <p>on the power electronic converters. One of the effective methods is to store the excess energy</p> <p>in the generator’s rotor. Finally, the proposed LVRT strategies are simulated in MATLAB</p> <p>Simulink to validate the results and demonstrate their effectiveness and functionality.</p>

L’intégration de l’énergie éolienne, qui est une ressource renouvelable très utilisée, n’est pas toujours facile pour le micro-réseau urbain. Dans cette thèse, une éolienne urbaine basée sur une machine synchrone à aimants permanents (MSAP) est étudiée pour être intégrée dans un micro-réseau urbain à courant continu. Un état de l'art concernant les énergies renouvelables, les micro-réseaux à courant continu et les stratégies de contrôle de la production d'énergie éolienne, est réalisée. Basé sur un modèle d’éolienne urbaine répondant à la demande du système électrique, qui se compose d’un émulateur de vent et de pales, un MSAP et un convertisseur DC/DC, cette thèse propose des méthodes de poursuite du point de puissance maximale satisfaisant à l’obligation de produire de l’énergie dans la mesure du possible. Une stratégie de contrôle à puissance limitée répond correctement. De simples à complexes, quatre algorithmes MPPT, P&O à pas fixe, P&O à pas variable avec la méthode Newton-Raphson améliorée, P&O à pas variable à base de logique floue et une méthode indirecte de type lookup table, sont étudiés et implémentés pour être comparés à l’aide de trois profils de vitesse du vent. Par expérimentation, les algorithmes MPPT et PLC sont comparés, analysés et discutés. Résumant tous les résultats expérimentaux, la méthode lookup table peut gérer toutes les exigences du mode de fonctionnement MPPT en présentant la meilleure performance, mais, dans le mode de fonctionnement PLC, la P&O à base de logique floue présente les meilleures performances. / The integration of the wind power, which is one mostly used renewable resource, is always one challenger for urban microgrid. In this thesis, one urban wind turbine based on a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) is studied in order to be integrated into a DC urban microgrid. A state of the art concerning the renewable energies, DC microgrid, and control strategies of wind power generation is done. Based on a model of urban wind turbine fitting the demand of urban electric system, which consists of an emulator of wind speed and blades, a PMSM and a DC/DC converter, this thesis proposes the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods satisfying the requirement of producing energy as much as possible, and power limited control (PLC) strategies answering the demand of flexible energy production. From simple to complex, four MPPT algorithms including Perturbation and Observation (P&O) fixed step-size method, P&O with improved Newton-Raphson method, P&O with fuzzy logic method and lookup table method are studied and implemented to be compared with each other using three wind velocity profiles. According to the experience about MPPT subject, four PLC algorithms are introduced and implemented to be analyzed and compared with each other with one power demand profile calculated randomly. Summarizing all experimental results, the lookup table method can handle all requirement of MPPT operating mode supplying the best performance, however, in the condition of more flexible power demand operating mode, the combination of P&O and fuzzy logic method presents the best performance and potential which can be achieved in future works.

Cooking is an integral part of each and every human being as food is one of the basic necessities for living. Commonly used sources of energy for cooking are firewood, crop residue, cow dung, kerosene, electricity, liquefied petroleum gas(LPG), biogas etc. Half of the world’s population is exposed to indoor air pollution, mainly the result of burning solid fuels for cooking and heating. Wood cut for cooking purpose contributes tothe16 million hectares(above4% of total area of India) of forest destroyed annually. The World Health Organization(WHO) reports that in 23 countries 10% of deaths are due to just two environmental risk factors: unsafe water, including poor sanitation and hygiene; and indoor air pollution due to solid fuel usage for cooking. In under-developed countries, women have to walk 2kms on average and spend significant amount of time for collecting the firewood for cooking. The cooking energy demand in rural areas of developing countries is largely met with bio-fuels such as fuel wood, charcoal, agricultural residues and dung cakes, whereas LPG or electricity is predominantly used in urban areas. India has abandon amount of solar energy in most of the regions making it most ideal place for harvesting solar energy. With almost 300 sunny days each year, one can confidently relay on this source of energy. India’s geographical location is in such a way that theoretically it receives 5x1015 kWh/ year of solar energy. Solar cooking is the simplest, safest, environmental friendly and most convenient way to cook. It is a blessing for those who cook using firewood or cow dung, who walk for miles to collect wood, who suffer from indoor air pollution. Hence solar cooking is going to play major role in solving future energy problem. Solar based cooking has never been a strong contender in the commercial market or even close to being a preferred method of cooking. They have been relegated to demonstration appliances to show case the solar based concepts. In this mode, cooking is no longer a time independent activity that can be performed at any time of day. One is forced to cook only at certain times when there is sufficient insolation. The geography of the cooking activity also shifts away from the kitchen. The kitchen is no longer the hearth of the home as the actual cooking activity shifts to the roof tops or high insolation platforms. This further adds to the inconvenience apart from being unable to cook at night or during cloudy conditions or during most of the winter days. Another issue of significant inconvenience is the general social structure in most families of the developing countries wherein the cooking activity is carried out by the senior ladies of the home. They are generally not athletic enough to be moving to and from the kitchen and the roof top to carry out the cooking exercise. As the solar cookers are enclosed spaces, interactive cooking is not possible let alone having any control on the rate of cooking. These are some of the more significant issues in the social psyche that has abundantly impeded the acceptance of solar thermal based cooking appliances. These issues and problems are in fact the motivating factors for this thesis. Based on these motivating factors, this thesis aims to propose solutions keeping the following points as the major constraints. cooking should be performed in the kitchen. one should be able to perform the cooking activity independent of the time of day or insolation. the cooking activity should be interactive the time taken for cooking should be comparable with the conventional methods in vogue. there should be a reduction in the use of conventional energy. Using the constraints and the motivating factors discussed above as the central theme, this thesis proposes a method to transfer solar thermal energy to the kitchen and act as a supplement to the conventional source of energy like the LPG or other sources that are traditionally being used in the households. The method proposed is in fact a hybrid scenario wherein the solar thermal is used to supplement the traditional source. Solar photovoltaic cells are also used to power the electronics and apparatus proposed in this thesis. This thesis addresses in detail the issues in analysis, modeling, designing and fabrication of the proposed hybrid solar cooking topology. The main goal of the proposed system is to transfer heat from sun to the cooking load that is located in the kitchen. The topology includes an additional feature for storing the energy in a buffer. The heat is first transferred from the solar thermal collector to a heat storage tank(that acts as the buffer) by circulating the heat transfer fluid at a specific flow rate that is controlled by a pump. The stored heat energy that is collected in the buffer is directed into the kitchen by circulating the heat transfer fluid into the heat exchanger, located in the kitchen. This is accomplished by controlling the flow rate using another pump. The solar thermal collector raises the temperature of the thermic fluid. The collector can be of a concentrating type in order to attain high temperatures for cooking. Concentrating collector like linear parabolic collector or parabolic dish collector is used to convert solar energy into heat energy. Absorption of energy from the incident solar insolation is optimized by varying the flow rate of circulating thermic fluid using a pump. This pump is energized from a set of photovoltaic panels(PV cell) which convert solar energy into electrical energy. The energy absorbed from the solar thermal collector is stored in a buffer tank which is thermally insulated. Whenever cooking has to be carried out, the high temperature fluid from the buffer tank is circulated through a heat exchanger that is located in the kitchen. The rate of cooking can be varied by controlling both the flow rate of fluid from the buffer tank to heat exchanger and also by controlling the amount of energy drawn from the auxiliary source. If the available stored energy is not sufficient, the auxiliary source of energy is used for cooking in order to ensure that cooking is in-dependent of time and solar insolation. In the proposed hybrid solar cooking system, the thesis addresses the issues involved in optimization of energy extracted from sun to storage tank and its subsequent transfer from the storage tank to the load. The flow rate at which maximum energy is extracted from sun depends on many parameters. Solar insolation is one of the predominant parameters that affect the optimum flow rate. Insolation at any location varies with time on a daily basis (diurnal variations) and also with day on a yearly basis(seasonal variation). This implies that the flow rate of the fluid has to be varied appropriately to maximize the energy absorbed from sun. In the proposed system, flow rate control plays a very significant role in maximizing the energy transfer from the collector to the load. The flow rate of the thermic fluid in the proposed system is very small on the order of 0.02kg/s. It is very difficult to sense such low flows without disrupting the operating point of the system. Though there are many techniques to measure very low flow rates, they invariably disrupt the system in which flow rate has to be measured. Further, the low flow sensors are far too expensive to be included in the system. A reliable, accurate and inexpensive flow measuring technique has been proposed in this thesis which is non-disruptive and uses a null-deflection technique. The proposed measuring method compensates the pressure drop across the flow meter using a compensating pump. The analysis, modeling, design and fabrication of this novel flow meter are addressed. The design and implementation of different subsystems that involves the selection and design of solar concentrating collector and tracking are explained. Finally, it is essential to know the economic viability of the proposed system that is designed and implemented. To understand the economics, the life cycle cost analysis of the proposed system is presented in this thesis. The major contributions of this thesis are: Energy transport: Major challenge in energy transport is to bring heat energy obtained from the sun to the kitchen for cooking. Energy transferred from solar insolation to the cooking load has to be optimized to maximize the overall efficiency. This can be split in to two parts,(a) optimizing efficiency of energy transferred from the collect or to the energy buffer tank,(b) optimizing efficiency of energy transferred from the buffer tank to the load. The optimization is performed by means of a maximum power point tracking(MPPT) algorithm for a specific performance index. Modeling of the cooking system: There are several domains that exist in the solar cooking system such as electrical domain, thermal domain, and hydraulic domain. The analysis of power/energy flow across all these domains presents a challenging task in developing a model of the hybrid cooking system. A bond graph modeling approach is used for developing the mathematical model of the proposed hybrid cooking system. The power/energy flow across different domains can be seamlessly integrated using the bond graph modeling approach. In this approach, the various physical variables in the multi-domain environment are uniformly de-fined as generalized power variables such as effort and flow. The fundamental principle of conservation of power/energy issued in describing the flow of power/energy across different domains and thus constructing the dynamic model of the cooking system. This model is validated through experimentation and simulation. Flow measurement: A novel method of low fluid mass flow measurement by compensating the pressure drop across the ends of measuring unit using a compensating pump has been proposed. The pressure drop due to flow is balanced by feedback control loop. This is a null-deflection type of measurement. As insertion of such a measuring unit does not affect the functioning of the systems, this is also a non-disruptive flow measurement method. This allows the measurement of very low flow rate at very low resolution. Implementation and design of such a unit are discussed. The system is modeled using bond graph technique and then simulated. The flow meter is fabricated and the model is experimentally validated. Design Toolbox: Design of hybrid cooking system involves design of multi domain systems. The design becomes much more complex if the energy source to operate the system is hybrid solar based. The energy budget has to be evaluated considering the worst case conditions for the availability of the solar energy. The design toolbox helps in assessing the user requirement and help designing the cooking system to fulfill the user requirement. A detailed toolbox is proposed to be developed that can be used in designing/selecting sub-systems like collector, concentrator, tracking system, buffer tank, heat exchanger, PV panel, batteries etc. The toolbox can also be used for performing life cycle costing.

Orientador: Marcelo Carvalho Minhoto Teixeira / Resumo: Nesta tese, utiliza-se um otimizador analógico não derivativo proposto por Teixeira & Żak em 1999 como principal ferramenta para os sistemas de controle dos projetos desenvolvidos. Tal otimizador é composto por blocos não lineares e pode ser classificado como um sistema neural artificial. Sistemas chaveados têm grande aplicação prática na otimização de sistemas e são caracterizados por possuírem subsistemas e uma lei de chaveamento que seleciona cada subsistema a cada momento. Deve-se definir condições para que seja possível projetar uma lei de chaveamento que atenda requisitos de projeto. O estudo de técnicas de controle extremal na solução de problemas de busca pelo rastreamento do máximo ponto de potência (do inglês: Maximum Power Point Tracking - MPPT), vem apresentando resultados interessantes na literatura e um tipo de sistema à qual essa técnica pode ser aplicada, é na geração fotovoltaica. Aplica-se o otimizador analógico citado na busca do MPPT de uma célula fotovoltaica, com o objetivo de observar o controle extremal atuando em um processo de otimização, estendendo o controle para quando existem variações de irradiação solar (cenário de uma possível passagem de nuvens). Também observa-se o comportamento do sistema quanto a manter seu correto funcionamento e estabilidade ultimate bounded. A contribuição principal desta tese foi uma nova proposta de utilização conjunta do otimizador de Teixeira & Żak no projeto de controladores ˙ chaveados baseados na minimização da d... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: On this thesis, a non-derivative analog optimizer, proposed by Teixeira & Żak in 1999, was used as the main tool for the proposed control system. Such optimizer is structured by nonlinear blocks and can be classified as an artificial neural system. Switched systems have great theoretical and practical application in systems optimization and are characterized by having subsystems, and a switching law that selects each subsystem at each moment. It is necessary to define conditions so that it is possible to design a switching law for the desired performance of the controlled system. The study of Extremum Seeking Control techniques in the solution of problems of Maximum Power Point Tracking has presented interesting results, and one type of system which this technique can be applied is in the photovoltaic generation. The analog optimizer is applied in the Maximum Power Point Tracking of a photovoltaic cell, with the objective of observing the actuation of the extremal seeking control in an optimization process, extending the control when there are solar irradiation variations (a possible clouds passage scenario). And also observe the behavior of the system and how to maintain its correct functioning and ultimate bounded stability. The main contribution of this thesis was a new procedure for using the mentioned analog optimizer in the design of switched controllers based on the minimization of the derivative of a Lyapunov function. This method allows the relaxed design of controll... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor