Abstract:

The project of developing the laboratory for the renewable energy sources (RES) has started at the Department of electrical engineering in University North in 2016. The central part of the system is the photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant in off-grid operation. It consists of four monocrystalline and four polycrystalline modules, connected through separate maximum-power-point-tracking (MPPT) controllers to the inverter. The inverter with maximal power of 3000 VA converts the DC voltage to standard network voltage 230 V, 50 Hz. Moreover, it controls the process of battery charging. Further growth of this laboratory will be to add the small wind turbine and electrical energy generation with Peltier elements into one micro grid.

Prior to the procurement of wind turbines, research on weather conditions in the Varaždin area was carried out in order to obtain suitable equipment. Temperature, pressure, speed and wind direction data were collected and stored over several months, using a meteorological station installed at the University location. The collected data were then analysed in order to select the optimal hardware and software components for the expansion of the existing renewable energy laboratory at the University North.

The main purpose and goal of this laboratory is to include more of the teaching staff and students of University North into scientific research work, i.e., to encourage the mutual cooperation of experts in electronics, energy and information and communication technology (ICT). Furthermore, project participants will get familiar with the modern equipment in the laboratory. Students can also complete their final work by contributing to development of this project at University North.

This paper describes the existing equipment of the laboratory as well as current research with the aim of gathering as many relevant data as possible for the selection of future laboratory equipment. The research has resulted in definition of the economic and technical parameters of the selected equipment, suitable for installation and exploitation of the observed micro location.

Keywords:

Renewable energy sources, wind turbine, meteorology station, data analyses.