2013 1st International Conference & Exhibition on the Applications of Information Technology to Renewable Energy Processes and Systems

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Keynote Speech 2

Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS)

Prof. Ziyad Salameh Director, Center for Electric Cars & Energy Conversion

University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

Constantly growing demand for energy cannot continue indefinitely relies only upon fossil fuel. The earth’s finite supply will

eventually exhaust. Energy is a major key to industrial development and the world’s well-being .The awareness of depletion of

fossil fuel resources has challenged scientists and engineers to search for alternative energy sources that can meet energy demand

for the near future. Recently the global warming, pollution and high oil prices forced politicians, utility companies (UC) and the

general public to pay more attention to renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind, photovoltaic and bio fuels. RES are located

right where the customers are, so they are used more efficiently, they are not polluting renewable and modular. .

Wind energy conversion systems (WECS) will be one of the most important, widely applied of the renewable energy forms

during the next several decades. Successful research and development will potentially result in generation from wind energy of

about 10% of the electricity used in the US. The significant environmental and societal benefits of wind energy are limitless.

Further advancements will find new applications for wind energy in the bright future.

One of the great advantages of the wind turbine is that it can be used to provide energy to remote places when they are far

from the utility grid. Other advantages include reduction of utility bills, crop irrigation, and providing power to areas with harsh

conditions.

WECS could be used as the sole source of energy working in a standalone mode in the absence of the grid transmission lines

or a supplementary source of energy. They also could be connected to a utility lines working in a grid connected mode.

Wind speeds tend to fluctuate significantly from one hour to another and from one season to another. Because of these

frequent (and sometimes unpredictable) lapses in energy collection, a stand-alone wind energy system does not produce usable

energy for a considerable portion of time throughout the year and cannot satisfy constant load demands. Considerable storage and

reliance upon an additional backup power source are necessary in order to ensure uninterrupted power, adding once again to the

cost and complexity of the system. A network that integrates both solar and wind power into one hybrid generation system has

considerable advantages over its stand-alone counterparts. This increases overall energy output and reliability and reduces energy

storage requirements. Wind and photovoltaic together create a complementary system, extending the overall peak generation

periods, both daily and annually.

However we have not to forget that WECS should be installed in a windy place, with an average wind speed more that the

rated wind turbine speed (the wind speed at which wind turbine-generator delivers its rated power output).

The future of WECS is very bright; the cost is constantly going down due to the mass production, innovation and the

inventions of new products. The worldwide production of wind energy is increasing very rapidly.

Prof. Ziyad Salameh got his Diploma (with honors) from Russia and his M.Sc. and Ph.D from University of Michigan

(Ann Arbor) 1980 and 1982, respectively. Prof. Salameh is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell since 1985. He chaired the ECE Department for three years 2001-2004; he

has technical expertise in a wide area of renewable energy subjects, especially in the area of residential hybrid wind/photovoltaic

systems, storage batteries, and electric vehicle technologies. He teaches graduate courses in Alternative Energy Sources, Power

Systems Distributions, Power Electronics, and Electric Vehicle Technologies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Prof.

Salameh has been a co-investigator and principal investigator of many DOE, state, and utility projects. He brought 28 grants.

Prof. Salameh has published around 125 papers in renewable energy systems, energy storage and electric vehicle technologies,

and he is an associate The International Journal of Renewable Energy and the International Journal of Power and Energy systems.

He wrote a book (in the press) entitled Renewable Energy Systems Design and Analysis to be published by Elsevier, ISBN:

0123749913, EAN: 9780123749918.

He is member of the IEEE Renewable Technologies Subcommittee, the IEEE Emerging Technologies coordinating

Committee ETCC, member IEEE Distributed Generation and Energy Storage Subcommittee. Prof. Salameh is the Director of the

Center for Electric Car and Energy Conversion with four research laboratories: Renewable Energy Lab, Battery Evaluation Lab,

Power Electronics Lab, and Electric Vehicle Lab. Prof. Salameh supervised successfully 10 doctoral theses and 38 master theses.