Investigation of performance and emission characteristics of a biogas fuelled electric generator integrated with solar concentrated photovoltaic system

Integration of renewable energy systems with the appropriate technology plays a pivotal role in resolving the problem of sustainable energy supply. This paper is aimed to describe the concept of integration of biomass and solar concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) energy system. The present study focused particularly on the investigation of performance and emission from a 1.4 kVA Spark Ignition, constant speed generator using raw biogas integrated in hybrid energy system. The experiments are conducted at different fuel flow rates under varying electric loading conditions. Comparing with LPG as fuel, the power deterioration is observed to be 32% on raw biogas, due to its low calorific value. The maximum power output and brake thermal efficiency using biogas is witnessed to be 812 W and 19.50% respectively. The exhaust emission analysis of generator using biogas displays considerably reduced carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons whereas there is no significant difference in nitrogen oxides concentration levels while comparing with LPG, ascertaining it to be an eco-friendly fuel. The biogas fuelled electric generator integration with CPV system can attain sustainable rural energy supply. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.