K.H. Solangi

Optimum Simultaneous DG and Capacitor Placement on the Basis of Minimization of Power Losses

and the results will also be discussed in detail.

Development of solar energy and present policies in Malaysia

Solar energy is regarded a clean renewable energy source, with great potential for environment-friendly electricity generation. Properly harvested, it can optimally benefit. Malaysia has a particularly abundant source of renewable energies; for solar, as evidenced by a 4.21kWh/m2 to 5.56kWh/m2 average daily radiation with a high of 6.8kWh/m2 (purportedly in August and November). Present installed capacity totaling 20,493MW, is estimated to reach 23,099MW maximum-demand capacity in 2020, by when 190MWp of cumulative solar energy would have been installed. Incentives should be offered to boost solar energys economic feasibility. This paper examines the Malaysian governments various policies on, and implementation of, solar energy technology. It suggests methods and policies for provision of safe, cost-effective, quality energy, and discusses environmental sustainability and diversification of solar energy resource.

Solar energy policy: Malaysia vs developed countries

Countries all over the world is enquiring and taking efforts to implement the environment friendly renewable energy to mitigate the negative impacts of fossil fuels on the environment and their fast depletion. To reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and environmental degradation, many countries have focused and formulated solar energy related policies to increase its share into energy mix. In this paper a review of the solar energy policies, implemented in the developed countries and Malaysia, are discussed as well as the discussion of successful existing solar energy policies in the developed countries. According to the 2010 BP Statistical Energy Survey, the world cumulative installed solar energy capacity was 22928.9 MW in 2009, a change of 46.9 % compared to 2008. After the review of literature, FiT, RPS and Incentives are found to be the most beneficial energy policies implemented by the developed countries. These policies create the paths to promote the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies. Also, the current policies related to solar energy in Malaysia are investigated and compared with developed countries.

Survey of grid-connected photovoltaic inverters and related systems

Grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverter technology has advanced since it first attracted the attention of policy makers. The objective of this article is to present a survey of grid-connected PV inverters and their present technology in Malaysia. Surveyed here are 186 PV inverter products from 22 manufacturers, their power factors, system THDs, efficiencies, power inputs (from PV array), costs, sizes, and protections investigated, and their datasheets collected from various manufacturers in Europe, North America, and Asia. The data are compared within regions and subject headings. Discussed are the lowering of cost, the raising of efficiency levels, and reliability improvement.

Experimental investigation of heat transfer performance and frictional loss of functionalized GNP-based water coolant in a closed conduit flow

The convective heat transfer coefficient and friction factor for fully developed turbulent flow of trimethylolpropane tris[poly(propylene glycol), amine terminated] ether-treated graphene nanoplatelet (TMP-treated GNP)-based water coolants are experimentally determined at constant velocity flowing through a horizontal copper tube with uniform heat fluxes. The TMP-treated GNP was first analyzed in terms of structure and morphology to confirm the GNP functionalization with TMP. The colloidal stability of TMP-treated GNP-based water coolant shows the high potential of the coolants for using in heat transfer equipment. Then, the experiments were conducted at a Re range of 3900–11700 at constant velocity flow (1–3 m s−1) and concentrations of 0.025 wt% to 0.1 wt%. The enhancement in thermal conductivity for TMP-treated GNP-based water coolants was between 20% and 31% compared to the basefluid. The convective heat transfer coefficient for the TMP-treated GNP-based water coolant was found to be up to 107% higher than the basefluid. The Nusselt number increased up to 72% at a heat flux of 23870 W m−2. However, the friction factor drop increases simultaneously in the range 4–10%. The results suggest that TMP-treated GNP-based water coolants could function well as working fluids in heat transfer applications and provide good alternatives to conventional working fluids.

Global solar energy use and social viability in Malaysia

Along with the enhancement of technology and alarming of global warming, various types of technologies are advanced worldwide nowadays to harness the energy from the sun such as solar thermal energy, ocean thermal energy conversion, solar ponds, solar tower and photovoltaic systems to utilize the energy in the majority of domestic applications and industrial sector to a certain extent. Subsequently, gradual increase usage of solar energy requires creating awareness among public to protect the environment in term of green campaign which is one of the hot topics among the Malaysians where there are many organizations organizing green campaign such as Environmental Protection Society Malaysia (EPSM), Malaysia Environment NGOs (MENGO) and Treat Every Environment Special Sdn. Bhd. (TRESS). Therefore, this study examines solar energy production and consumption worldwide by looking at various existing solar technologies to have the understanding of each technology. This article also intends to catch up specifically the social viability of solar energy production and use, with the availability of the resources for the full scale development.

A bio-based, facile approach for the preparation of covalently functionalized carbon nanotubes aqueous suspensions and their potential as heat transfer fluids

In this study, we propose an innovative, bio-based, environmentally friendly approach for the covalent functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes using clove buds. This approach is innovative because we do not use toxic and hazardous acids which are typically used in common carbon nanomaterial functionalization procedures. The MWCNTs are functionalized in one pot using a free radical grafting reaction. The clove-functionalized MWCNTs (CMWCNTs) are then dispersed in distilled water (DI water), producing a highly stable CMWCNT aqueous suspension. The CMWCNTs are characterized using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The electrostatic interactions between the CMWCNT colloidal particles in DI water are verified via zeta potential measurements. UV-vis spectroscopy is also used to examine the stability of the CMWCNTs in the base fluid. The thermo-physical properties of the CMWCNT nano-fluids are examined experimentally and indeed, this nano-fluid shows remarkably improved thermo-physical properties, indicating its superb potential for various thermal applications.

Present Solar Energy Potential and Strategies in China

Facing great pressure of economic growth and energy crisis, China pays much attention to the renewable energy. Renewable energy development is one of the main targets of the Chinese government on the way to the sustainable development and climate change mitigation. Chinas energy policy target is to reach 15.4% renewable energy share by 2020 and 27.5% by 2050. Chinas total installed electrical power capacity reached 700 GW by the end of 2007 and is predicted to surpass 900 GW in 2010. A similar goal exists for the solar photovoltaic power sector which China intends to increase generating capacity from 0.14 GW as of 2009 to over 1.8 GW by 2020. In order to achieve this target, the Government has implemented many instruments from laws and policies and financial incentives. The paper gives introduction to the present situation of the solar energy development in China and overviews the main policies that China uses to promote and develop the solar energy. Also, the suggestions for the further development of solar energy technologies in China are given.