RENEWABLE ENERGY HARVESTING SYSTEMS USING RAILWAY TRACKS

Abstract

The electrical energy is the basic requirement for any nation to achieve the goal of development. The demand of electricity is increasing day by day, also due to the rapid increase in population all over the world. Conventionally, the electricity generation is depends on the non renewable sources of energy like coal, which develops huge amount of CO2. This CO2 when comes in the atmosphere it makes effect on the ozone layer. Thus, there is a need to move forward with the renewable sources of energy which will not generate the CO2. Therefore, many sectors moving towards installing more and more renewable energy resources in their premises for electricity production. Railway sectors are also using the rooftops for installing solar panels. This study is focused on using the railway tracks for installation of renewable energy units, so that good amount of electrical energy can be generated. Moreover, there are some types of renewable energy sources like electric energy generation from piezoelectric effect and other electromechanical energy conversion which can generate good amount of electrical energy. The piezoelectric effect converts the mechanical energy into the electrical energy. There are mainly two types of piezoelectric structures i.e. compression type piezoelectric system and cantilever beam type piezoelectric system, which help in generating electricity. The compression type piezoelectric system uses the force or weight applied on the piezoelectric unit, whereas, the cantilever beam type piezoelectric system uses the vibrations of the moving object to generate electrical energy. The location suggested for the compression type units is on the cross junctions of the railway track and sleepers, whereas, the location for cantilever type units must be on very side of railway tracks. The comparison of two piezoelectric systems has been done which suggests that compression type piezoelectric unit can generate more electrical energy than cantilever beam type piezoelectric system. Also, the technical analysis of both the piezoelectric structures, using the sensitivity analysis has been done. And finally the cost analysis of both the piezoelectric structures has also been done. The Solar PV panels are used for converting the solar energy into the electrical energy. The solar PV panel has been emerging as one of the most prominent way of generating electrical energy from the sunlight or solar radiations. One of the drawbacks of the solar PV panel is that it requires large area for the system installation. The thesis suggests to use the distance v between two metro stations which includes the bridge construction over the railway track. The rooftop of the bridge can be used to install the solar PV panel. The electrical energy generated by the system over a day is going to store in a battery. Based on these analyses, the prototype model has been suggested which have the compression type piezoelectric system on the cross section of railway track and sleeper, and also on the floor of the railway platform so that the number of foot-falls on platform can be used for generating electrical energy. Also the distance between two metro stations can be used to have bridge, whose rooftop can be used for installing the solar PV panels. This combination can produce good amount of electrical energy.