تجزیه و تحلیل کاربردی و هزینه ـ فایده نصب و راه اندازی های قدرت ترکیبی خورشیدی در کشتی دریایی بازرگانی

Photovoltaic systems are renewable energy sources with various applications and their implementations in energy production and saving are verified. Installing those systems onto merchant marine vessels could prove to be an efficient way of minimizing fuel costs and simultaneously protecting the environment by reducing significant carbon dioxide emissions. This paper examines the feasibility of installing solar panels onto vessels and also calculated the payback period from the adopted investment with respect to fuel oil savings. Thus, the two important parameters incorporated in the parametric analysis are the solar radiation density and the fuel cost. In order to calculate the energy production of the solar installation systems, the globe is divided in six different zones, according to solar radiation density (Stackhouse and Whitlock, 2008). For one square meter of the considered solar panels the peak output power is taken equal to 130 W (Kagaraki, 2001). The payback period of the investment depends greatly on the fuel prices. For a reasonable fuel price annual increase at about 10–15% the estimated payback period varies from 16 to 27 years. The more the fuel oil increases, the methodology reveals that the payback period converges to a minimum of 10 years. When using any storage media such as hydrogen, the methodology shows that the payback period increases and this depends on the proportion of the energy stored and from the storage media itself.

Nowadays the pollution caused by the marine industry is calculated to be double to what initially was assumed. The annual carbon dioxide emissions from tanker vessels and bulk carriers equal the emissions from the whole USA. Marine industry has major responsibilities for the Greenhouse effect and measures against profuse pollution should be taken (Papalambopoulos Michail and Glykas Alexandros, 2008). The presented paper is based on the concept of hybrid power systems. The term hybrid power system (Hybrid Power Systems, 2008) is used to describe any power system with more than one type of generator (usually a conventional generator powered by a diesel or gas engine) and a renewable energy source such as a photovoltaic (PV), wind, or hydroelectric power system. There are thousands of those systems in use today. They range in size from a few tens of watts to tens of kilowatts. The smaller systems are mostly on remote residences where homeowners add a few PV modules to their existing Genset to reduce the noise and inconvenience of having the generator running all the time. Should there be multiple generators, a smart controller is required. The ultimate smart controller is a human; however many hybrids are installed in remote locations which rely on electronic controllers. Based on parameters, such as the load demand, generator status, and battery state of charge, the controllers should act to keep power flowing to the load as well as to protect the equipment. Performing this with efficiency is not an easy task due to the fact that most hybrid controllers are custom designed. Except from the generators and the alternative energy sources, hybrid power systems also consist of an inverter (often called a power conditioning unit or PCU), which is necessary to drive AC loads from a battery or a photovoltaic array. A battery charger/rectifier is required if batteries are to be charged from an engine generator or the alternative energy source and finally there is the balance of systems (BOS).

The cost–benefit analysis revealed that installation of P/V systems on merchant marine vessels highly depends on the annual average increase of the fuel oil. The higher the increase, the smaller the payback period of the investment. The cost of the P/V investment should be included in the cost of a vessel construction in order to reduce the investment cost. Modifications on existing vessels will increase the investment cost. P/V systems efficiency depends on solar radiation. Statistical data showed that zones that are close to the equator receive greater amount of solar radiation density. Hence, for merchant marine vessels sailing in those zones, a potential P/V investment is much more efficient compared to other more distant zones, since the solar energy production reaches higher values. Another interesting point is that, contrary to the annual increase rate of the fuel prices, the payback period converges to a minimum of about 10 years. A potential use of hydrogen technology as an energy storage media makes the investment less appealing. The main reason for that is the incorporated reduced coefficient rate (52.65%). Therefore, the more the solar energy used for the production and storage of hydrogen, the less profitable the investment becomes. Photovoltaic systems are a highly appreciated renewable energy source. Unfortunately the technology for such systems is still very expensive with complicated implementations.