Efficiency improvement of a solar power plant using combine cycle: An experimental study on a miniaturized solar power station

This experimental study represents a novel technique to increase the overall efficiency of a solar power plant by introducing combine cycle which utilizes the concentrated sun rays in terms of heat to produce additional electricity. For this study a miniaturized solar power station has been designed and implemented which consists of six solar panels with individual sun tracking system. Arduino Uno; a microcontroller board based on Atmega328P; had been used to design solar tracker in order to track the position of the sun for getting the maximum direct sunlight on the solar panels. Three microcontrollers have been programmed to control all six solar panels which were established in a circular shape around a combine cycle system with a mirror on the top which helps to reflect the concentrated sun light to the water reservoir. With the concentrated solar heat reflected from the panels as well as the mirror, the combine cycle heats up the diethyl ether which evaporated only at 34.6°C that flows through a turbine and generate electricity in a generator associated with the turbine. It is observed from this research work that the efficiency achieved from the solar panel with sun tracking device is higher than the usual condition. This overall system increases efficiency of solar station by 8.48% in terms of solar tracker and generating electrical power by the use of concentrated solar heat. The designed miniature model could be helpful to produce more electricity at same place combining solar panel system and combine engine.