Maximizing the solar power by combine cycle: An experimental study on miniature solar power station

This article describes a method to increase the overall power output of a small scale solar power station by introducing combine cycle. Here combine cycle utilizes the concentrated sun rays in terms of heat to produce additional electricity. This research begins with constructing a miniaturized solar power station having six solar panels with individual sun tracking system designed with Arduino Uno; a microcontroller board based on Atmega328P; in order to track the position of the sun for getting the maximum direct sunlight on the solar panels. Solar panels are 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. The concentrated sunrays heat up and evaporate diethyl ether only at 34.6°C which flow through a turbine and generate electricity in a generator combined with the turbine. It is observed from this research work that the overall generated power increases by 61.76% with the introduction of solar tracker as well as the combined cycle. This study would expose the additional frontiers for the researchers as well as the practitioners to produce more electricity with same amount of solar panels by introducing solar tracking system and combine cycle.