Advances in Wireless and Mobile Communications.

ISSN 0973-6972 Volume 10, Number 5 (2017), pp. 841-858

© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com

Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues

on Sustainable Energy Supply in Punjab (India),
an Agrarian State

1Gurinderpal Singh, 2V.K. Jain and 3Amanpreet Singh

1
Research Scholar, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering& Technology

2
Professor, Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering,
SLIET, Longowal, Punjab, India.
3
Assoc. Professor, I.K.G. Punjab Technical University, Kapurthala, Punjab.

Abstract

Sustainability of human development, along with decreased poverty levels, is

attainable with increased usage of new energy services. There are plenty of
remotely-located rural regions, where energy for utilization can be extracted
from the renewable energy sources that are available within it. This
investigation supports the North Indian villages, especially Punjab, in
encouraging eco-protection with reduced poverty levels through analyzing the
benefits that are associated with the newly emerging hybrid energy supplies.
A conceptual and practical framework is presented that incorporates
sustainable livelihoods thinking with the provision of sustainable energy
services development of cheaper reliable power for agriculture and industrial
development. In this case we are taking the case of the state of Punjab which is
totally a plain area with lot of available solar energy and 100 % land is
agriculturally cultivable with 2 or 3 crops rotation and due to these factors a
combined effective energy from an hybrid source of solar and bio-gas(biogas
and bio-mass) will help in meeting energy demand and for the development
of this agro state in environment friendly or environment healthy system
842 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

which is the demand of today’s polluted world in which energy is needed ,

produced but without the concern of the environment which is a thing which
has to be handed to the next generations in a better form so that they can live a
better and healthy life. We have to develop clean, green, power from the
locally available resources and the locational positioning and for local
consumption. Thus a balanced economical viable system will be developed .

Keywords: Bioenergy, Biomass, UCS (Union of Concerned Scientists), RPR

(Residue to produce ratio), Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Residue.

1. INTRODUCTION
Rendering the rural regions with a better option of renewable energy, along with
increased sustainability, need utmost attention. The rural regions lack national grid
extension, since factors like, large distribution losses, expensive transmission system
and massive distances impede the extension. Further, the rural regions lack access to
other newly emerging renewable resources because of the extensive fuel costs as well
as the fuel delivery costs. Reasonably-priced renewable energy has a leading role in
getting rid of poverty and accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). In the rural regions, energy for the most part relies on compost, crop
remains and wood. Power available is used mainly for domestic commercial, micro,
small and large industry. Now depending on the available data from the state of
Punjab we have the lot of livestock’s in Punjab. The Asian countries, which are
undergoing continuous development, have biomass energy to be their chief energy
source. The reason is that these countries own industries and households, which
majorly rely on charcoal, fuel wood and sources of biomass energy like, leaves,
compost and agricultural remains. People of these nations have heating as well as
cooking as their major domestic application. Processing of minerals like, ceramics,
tiles, lime and bricks, along with the processing of textiles, metals and food as well as
agro-based products come under the category of industrial applications. The rest of
the applications include tarring of roads. Power co-generation is highly feasible with
the biomass fuels. For instance, palm oil remains and bagasse of sugar industries.
So many biomass fuels emerge as the co-product of numerous processes in an
agricultural and allied industry depending on Residue-to-Product-Ratio (RPR) are
moisture content and ash content. Highly expensive fossil fuels and the growing
interest towards environmental safety encourage newly emerging alternative raw
materials to be created. Agricultural energy sources are rendering considerable
attention towards producing excessive raw material with affordable price. Increased
sustainability is always a problem with the utilization of natural fuels. For instance,
Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 843

burning of wood for energy is possible within a restricted period of time, since their
chemical properties change over time. The quality of biomass necessitates
enhancement by considering newly progressing biomass combustion systems, along
with a keen knowledge of its producing methodologies. The reason is its emergence
as a potentially great bioenergy sector, which gives clean, renewable energy resources
for transportation and power generaton. Biomass tackles all the issues, which pertain
to security, environment, economy and weather conditions that arise due to fossil fuel
usage. In contrast to fossil fuels, the biomass-produced bioenergy own a lower carbon
content with increased sustainability towards utilization as a fuel in power generation
and transport industries. Since biomass results from manure or plant remains, it serves
as a locally existing energy alternative. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has
attempted to spot out the biomass resources with high sustainability. As a
consequence, it observed the biomass production quantity in United States, while
tackling the tradeoffs that exist between environment and energy. As per UCS 2012,
in 2030, United States is known to produce an annual biomass resource quantity of
680 million tons, on an approximate. This quantity is more than sufficient to meet the
United States’ entire power consumption by 4-5% and encourages the power
production of 200 billion kilowatt-hours as well as the ethanol production of 12
billion gallons or more in 2016. Another source of energy, gaining utmost importance,
is the agricultural biomass. Specifically, the highly produced agricultural biomass is
the crop residue. The resource kind as well as the quantity of a particular site decides
the sites’ choice of using manure or agricultural biomass in producing the bioenergy.
The locally-placed or the regionally-economized areas enjoy numerous benefits from
the bioenergy production, which involves the use of manure/ agricultural residue.

2. DISCUSSION
The availability of both the biogas and solar for the concept of the development of
hybrid system for the region of the agrarian state of Punjab that has both the sources
in abundance due to availability of high fertility of soil, good water resource and a
typical geographical location. According to a report of Assocham, Punjab exhibits
excessive per capita power consumption, as given in following data. Concept is to
maintain and generate this power economically and environmental friendly.
844 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

Table. 1 Highest Per capita consumption in India.

Name of State Per Capita Power Consumption kWh.
Haryana 1208.2
Gujarat 1330.5
Punjab 1506.3
Tamil Nadu 1079.9
Bihar 91
Assam 175.1
UP 340.5
* Source: Assocham study.

Table. 2 Data of electrification between year 2001-2011

As As per Finally
Particulars Census Census CAGR projected State Adopted
2001 2011 from Data data
Census
figures
Total Households 4265156 5409699 2.41% 5959722 6006790 6006790
Rural Households 2775462 3315632 1.79% 3560072 3363099 3363099
Urban Households 1489694 2094067 3.46% 2399650 2643691 2643691
Total Electrified 3920301 5225793 2.92% 5862533 6006790 6006790
Households
Rural Electrified 2482925 3166394 2.46% 3489840 3363099 3363099
H/H
Urban Electrified 1437376 2059399 3.66% 2377982 2643691 2643691
H/H
Total Un- 344855 183906 -6.09% 143420 0 0
electrified H/H
Rural Un- 292537 149238 -6.51% 114014 0 0
electrified H/H
Urban Un- 52318 34668 -4.03% 29406 0 0
electrified H/H
 Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 845

Table 3. Data of households, electrification and energy consumption FY 2014-2015

Sl. As per State
No. Particulars Unit data
(FY 2014-
2015)
1 Total Households in State Nos. 6006790
2 Total Urban Households Nos. 2643691
3 Total Rural Households Nos. 3363099
4 Total Electrified Households Nos. 6006790
5 Total Electrified Households - Urban Nos. 2643691
6 Total Electrified Households - Rural Nos. 3363099
7 Balance Un-electrified Households Nos. 0
8 Balance Un-electrified Households - Urban Nos. 0
9 Balance Un-electrified Households - Rural Nos. 0
10 Electrification of houses under 12th Plan RGGVY Nos. 0
11 Annual energy sold in the State during FY 2014-15 MU 40403
12 Annual Domestic energy sold in the state during FY 2014-15 % 27.57
13 Annual Domestic energy sold in the State during FY 2014-15 MU 11138
14 Average Annual Energy Consumption per household during kWh 1854
FY 2014-15
15 Average Daily Energy Consumption per household during kWh 5.08
FY 2014-15
16 Annual Total Rural Consumption MU 4942
17 Annual per household rural consumption kW 1470
h
18 Annual Total Urban Consumption MU 6195
19 Annual per Household Urban Consumption kW 2343
h
20 Daily per household rural consumption kW 4.03
h
21 Daily per household Urban consumption kWh 6.42
846 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

Table 4. Data of peak demand, energy requirement and energy deficit in

different FYs
FY FY FY FY FY FY
Period/Items Unit 2009- 2010- 2011- 2012- 2013- 2014-
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Peak Demand at state MW 9786 9399 10471 11520 10141 11534

periphery

Peak Met MW 7407 8007 8834 9074 8903 10155

Peak Deficit (-)/ MW -2379 -1392 -1637 -2446 -1238 -1379

Surplus (+)

Peak Deficit (-)/ % -24.3 -14.8 -15.6 -21.2 -12.2 -11.96

Surplus (+)

Energy Requirement MU 4642 45249 46264 47996 47347 48864

at 6
state periphery

Energy Availability MU 3997 42513 44824 45389 46610 48380

at state periphery 7

Energy Deficit (-)/ MU -6449 -2736 -1440 -2607 -737 -484

Surplus (+)

Energy Deficit (-)/ % -13.9 -6.0 -3.1 -5.4 -1.6 -1.0

Surplus (+)
* Source: State Power Utilities/CEA

The demand is more during the summer season in the month of May, June, July,
August, September and October and this has been explained by the figure 1 below.
The generation of biogas is maximum during this period and the solar energy is also
maximum during this period.
Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 847

12000

10000

8000 Average Demand(MW)

at State Periphery
6000

4000 Average Demad

met(MW) at State
2000 Periphery

0
May

July

January

March
November
August

December
April

June

Septembe

Feburary
October

Figure. 1 Month wise Peak Demand Scenario (MW) – Average of FY 2012-13 to

2014-15

The energy consumption is also maximum from the month of May, June, July,
August, September and October. This can be seen from the figure 2 below and again
our model of solar bio meets the criteria of maximum generation and maximum
production at same time. This will help and add a positive point in justification of our
model.

7000
6000
5000
Average Demand
4000 met(MU) at State
3000 Periphery
Average Availability
2000 (MU) at State Periphery
1000
0
April

August
May

June

March
July

January
December
Septembe

November
October

Feburary

Figure 2. Month wise Energy Scenario (MU) – Average of FY 2012-13 to 2014-15

848 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

2.1 Resource Base

Biomass is available in three different forms.
A. Forest and wood processing residues
i. Log Residues
ii. Saw-milling Industry
iii. Plywood production Industry
iv. Particle board production Industry
B. Perennial Plantation Crop Residue
i. Cocoa
ii. Coconut
iii. Oil Palm
iv. Rubber
C. Agricultural Residues (annual crops)
i. Rice
ii. Maize
iii. Jute
iv. Cotton
v. Sugarcane
vi. Soybeans
vii. Groundnuts
viii. Cassava
ix. Other Cereals

In crops (for instance, wheat, corn and rice), cobs, husks, stalks and similar other
inedible parts also exist, along with the edible grains that are fit for livestock/human
eating. These inedible remains of the crops form the entire biomass to about half the
portion.

The inedible crop remains, which serve as animal beds too, can be burnt and spread
over the fields. But, the current developments in the field of science and technology
enable the producers of agricultural remains to transform the remains into fuels that
are biomass-dependent (for example, ethanol). Additionally, agriculture-dependent
biomass supports power generation to a greater extent.
Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 849

Table. 5 Data of different crops their biomass contents and RPR ratio
SR. Crop Contents RPR Ratio
No.
1. Rice A. Rice Straw: 0.416 – 3.96 (1.757 for calculation)
B. Rice Husk 0.2-0.33
2. Maize A. Maize stalk 1.0-4.328(2 for calculation)
B. Maize Cob 0.273
C. Maize Husk 0.2
3. Cassava A. Stalks 0.167-2(4-9 tons per hector per year)
B. Peelings One ton per hector
4. Groundnuts A. Husk/Shells 0.5
B. Straw 2.3
5. Soybeans A. Straw 2.5(at moisture content 15%)
B. Pods 1(at moisture content 15%)
6. Sugarcane A. Bagasse 0.1-0.33(at moisture content 50%)
B. Tops/Leafs 0.1-0.3(at moisture content 10%)
Calculation value 0.3
7. Jute Stalks 2
8. Cotton Stalks 3.5-5 (at moisture content 12%)
9. Cereals Straw 0.7-1.8(calculation value at 1.75)
(at moisture content 15%)

Table 6. Bio mass waste of different agricultural crops in Punjab

Area under Percentage
Sr. Type of Bio-Mass waste(Per
cultivation of
No. Crops Hectare)
(in 1000 hectare) Area
1. Wheat 3510 45 22 Q
2. Paddy 2831 36 104Q
3. Cotton 483 6 80Q
4. Maize 133 1.69 80Q
5. Oil Seeds 110 1.4 16Q
6. Potatoes 83 1.06 14Q
7. Sugarcane 70 0.89 250Q
8. Pulses 2.3 0.27 17.5Q
9. Barley 12 0.25 18Q
10. Peas 19.6 0.15 15Q
850 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

Residues for bioenergy are to be used under conditions, that they do not affect
farming, and impart protection against carbon loss as well as erosion of soil. The
sustainable removal of crop remain quantity by the farmers relies on the land’s slope,
weather in the region, state of the soil and management skills. Hence, the crop remain
quantity does not stay constant for all fields or inside a certain field itself. Abundant
residue removal produces adverse effects like, frequent erosion of soil. In contrast,
less residue removal lowers rapid soil drying during springtime, leading to delayed
planting as well as field works.
Hence, the removal of crop remains has to be done in a manner that the environment
never gets adversely affected. Planting cover crops or adopting no-till farming can
effectively work against water pollution or erosion of soil. The adoption of such
agricultural ideas results in massive production with large residue quantity, supporting
bioenergy production that exceed our expectations.
Agricultural residues are used to generate power but burning them directly is often
unfeasible. Before undertaking the process for energy generation, the agricultural
remains has to be formed as pellets or similar other structure.
Availability of agricultural residues and manure is in abundant in large scale in
agriculture sector, the nation will develop better biomass resource. Perennial crops
play a valuable role in the integrated system, as it prohibits chemical utilization with
enhanced quality of water as well as soil. For better energy production, balanced
healthy food crops, life stock should be less and low concentrated. Improving soil can
be done by planting specific trees and perennial crops of low impact.

Biogas:
Biogas implies a gas mixture, which evolves due to the breaking of organic matter
without oxygen presence. The raw materials to produce biogas include the wastes
from food, green, municipality and agriculture. Other raw materials include sewage,
remains of plant and manure. Biogas belongs to the renewable energy kind with traces
of carbon content. The process for biogas production is anaerobic digestion, where the
anaerobic life forms digest the organic matter within a closed system. The process of
fermenting the biologically degradable materials also results in biogas production.
Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 851

Table7. Biogas Yield, m3/Kg day solid of different types of vegetable matter.
Sr. Different type of vegetable Yield, m3/Kg day
No matter solid
1. Straw 0.17
2. Grass 0.43
3. Leaves 0.30
4. Water hyacinth 0.40

Table 8. Biogas requirements of many purposes

Sr. Purpose Specification Gas required,
No 3
m /day
1. Cooking Per person 0.425
2. Stove, 10cm 0.47
diameter
3. Lighting 200- candle power 0.1
4. 40- Watt bulb 0.13
5. 2- Mantle 0.14
6. Gasoline Per HP 0.43
engine
7. Diesel Engine Per HP 0.45
3
8. Refrigerator Per m 1.2
3
9. Incubator Per m 0.6
10. Table Fan 30cm Diameter 0.17
11. Space Heater 30cm Diameter 0.16

Table 9. List of fuels with their comparisons

Sr. Fuel Calorific Burning mode Thermal
No Value(kcal) Efficiency
(%)
1. Cow dung, KG 2092 Open stove 11
2. Fire wood, Kg 3821 Open stove 17
3. Soft coke, Kg 6292 Open stove 28
4. Charcoal, Kg 6930 Open stove 28
5. Kerosene, Ltr. 9122 Pressure stove 50
6. Biogas, m3 5373 Standard burner 60
7. Coal gas, Kg 4004 Standard burner 60
8. Power, Kwh 880 Hot plate 70
852 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

In this table 9, after comparison of various fuels we come to the conclusion that
biogas has maximum calorific value and high thermal efficiency so we must use
biogas to the maximum so that all the positive points of good fuel are utilized to the
optimum.
Table 10. Biogas production and the associated optimum conditions
Sr. No Parameter Optimum value
o
1. Temperature( C) 30-35
2. Retention time (Days) 20-40
3. Solid content (%) 7-9
4. Carbon nitrogen ratio 20-30
5. pH 6.8-7.5

In this table 10 we see the various optimum condition of biogas. These conditions are
easily available during the month April, May, June, July, August and September. So
the maximum gas production takes place during these months and our demand for
power is also maximum during this period so we should try to utilize the maximum
biogas production during these months.

Table 11. Data of livestock in quantity, biogas produced per unit and total amount of
total biogas produced.
Quantity Bio-Gas
Sr. Total Bio-Gas
Livestock (In Produced per
No. Produced 103 M3
Thousands) unit
1. Cows 2427.71 0.25-0.40 728.313
2. Buffalo 5159.73 0.25-0.40 1547.919
3. Sheep 128.53 0.02-0.04 3.8559
4. Goat 327.27 0.02-0.04 9.8181
5. Pig 32.22 0.06-0.08 2.2554
6. Poultry 16068.76 0.002-0.004 48.2062
Human Population 27704.236
7. 0.02-0.04 831.12
(Latrine user) (2.77 Crore )
Total 3171.488

The statical data of the table 11 gives us the amount of total biogas directly available
from the livestock in the state of Punjab. This amount of biogas, if converted to
energy (electrical energy), will help in power production. Additionally, this energy
will be environmental friendly and reduce the dependence on exhaustible resources
(eg. Coal, Oil , etc.). The massive rise in livestock, followed by Confined Animal
Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 853

Feeding Operations (CAFOs), has resulted in manure concentrations that are not
controllable. Though such surplus manure quantity can aid in bioenergy production,
water gets constantly polluted day-to-day in most regions. However, if the livestock is
produced in smaller number, the manure to biogas transformation becomes simpler
with the utilization of anaerobic digesters itself. In such a case, the farmers are left to
enjoy biogas production with improved eco-friendliness and economical advantages.
Biogas serves as a good source of power as well as heat in farm operations.
Additionally, when purified, biogas acts to be a natural gas with increased renewable
power. Biogas extraction using anaerobic digesters facilitate large-scale biogas
production, along with enhanced quality of water. Further, it reduces methane that the
manure emits and allows land to be fertile enough by returning nutrients. Use of
bioenergy with improved efficiency of automobiles and having a technology for
advanced automobiles will cut the projected oil use by 50% in 20 years and this will
be a step towards self dependence on NCES.

Table 12. Agrometeorological Data for the Year 2014(It gives temperature (0C),
SVP(mm), RH(%),WD(Deg.), EVP(mm), RF(mm) for the state of Punjab station
Bathinda.
WD EVP RF
Month Temperature(oC) SVP(mm) RH(%) WD(Deg.)
Mean (mm) (mm)
Mean
Tmax Tmin Tmean M E M E M E
(RH)
Jan. 18.1 6.3 12.2 7.3 7.4 89.2 46.8 68.0 207.3 233.5 220.4 1.5 0.5
Feb. 19.7 8.1 13.9 8.2 8.4 90.9 48.5 69.7 199.8 220.9 210.4 1.8 1.0
March 26.21 12.55 19.38 10.4 10.4 85.5 40.5 63.0 207.1 232.4 219.8 4.0 0.9
April 34.3 17.6 25.9 12.4 19.1 74.3 23.0 48.7 273.2 230.2 251.7 8.7 0.4
May 38.8 22.5 30.7 14.7 11.3 63.2 22.8 43.0 200.0 195.2 197.6 10.3 1.5
June 41.9 27.5 34.7 18.8 15.5 64.2 26.9 45.6 203.9 255.0 229.5 11.7 0.8
July 37.5 27.9 32.7 23.8 21.9 78.6 45.5 62.0 151.9 180.2 166.0 8.4 0.6
Aug. 36.6 26.7 31.7 23.2 22.2 82.1 47.8 65.0 208.5 224.8 216.7 6.9 1.0
Sep. 34.0 23.9 29.0 20.9 20.9 86.9 52.5 69.7 223.8 248.5 236.2 4.8 5.4
Oct. 32.8 18.6 25.7 14.7 12.3 83.7 32.6 58.1 204.8 242.9 223.9 4.6 0.0
Nov. 27.75 10.71 19.23 9.69 7.96 90.67 27.63 59.15 262.6 268.17 265.42 2.90 0.17
Dec. 17.8 6.0 16.9 7.5 7.9 93.8 56.3 50.8 230.3 248.2 140.6 1.5 0.0
SVP- Saturation Vapour Pressure, RH- Relative Humidity, WD- Wind Direction,
EVP- Evaporation, RF- Rainfall, O.F- Over Flow, M-Morning -0730 LMT, E-
Evening – 1430 LMT.
(Source – Punjab Agricultural University, Regional station, Bathinda.)
854 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

Herbaceous biomass heating is not always advantageous and remains unfit most
times, since the biomass combustion system lacks its quality of biomass due to it. At
elevated temperatures, vaporization of potassium as well as chlorine takes place. As a
consequence, salt is formed along the boiler walls with high corrosive nature. Further,
clinkers result due to the agglomeration of silica particles with chlorine as well as
potassium. The clinkers formed have adverse effects on the functioning and the
performance of the biomass combustion systems. “Staged combustion” has been
developed for the combustion systems to tackle the clinker forming issue. In staged
combustion, temperatures that are lower than the melting point of ash is used for the
combustion of feedstock. With such a lower temperature applied on the fuel, biogas
release is effective and the ash is allowed to retain its chemical constituents.
Moreover, the fuel bedding is subjected to smaller air quantity in the staged
combustion process for decreased alkali release. Hence, the combustion process will
be completely achieved with increased cleanliness, when the turbulence as well as the
combustion temperature is maintained high. The ash, resulting from the combustion
process, is continually removed from the fuel bed for being transferred to an ash pan.
The agricultural fiber sources fall into the following four types.
1. Dedicated energy crops
2. Crop milling residues
3. Feed grains
4. Field crop residues
There is a need for work, which facilitates improved biomass-dependent fuel
production. In addition, the agricultural sector has to be improvised to remove the
imbalance in healthy food harvesting as well the large-scale biomass production with
increased sustainability. Management of the trade-off between food as well as
biomass production has large beneficial impact on agriculture and energy generation.

Solar Energy:
The solar radiation (insolation), which the earth is receiving in its upper atmosphere,
is about 174,000 Terawatts (TW). Of this insolation quantity, the land masses, oceans
and clouds absorb about 70%, leaving the rest (30%) to be reflected towards the space
again. The solar light incident on the Earth has its spectrum to be constituted of
visible as well as infrared range and a smaller portion of ultraviolet. The degree of
insolation in the living places of people, all around the globe, is about 150 to 300
watts per square meter or 3.5 to 7.0 kWh/m2 per day.
The oceans, which constitute the world by 71%, and the land surface of Earth absorb
the incident solar radiation. Atmospheric circulation is achieved with the rising of
Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 855

warm air, containing vaporized water, from the oceans. The vaporized water in the
warm air, on reaching a higher altitude, gets transformed to clouds through the
condensation process. The clouds, then, diffuse to create rain on the surface of Earth.
In this way, the water cycle gets finished. During the condensing phase of water,
latent heat is caused. It is this latent heat, which turns out to be massive for generating
thunderstorm, snowfall, cyclones, rain and wind. The landmasses as well as the
oceans on Earth absorb ample sunlight, so as to retain 14oC mean surface temperature.
In plants, the solar to chemical energy conversion is attained through the process of
photosynthesis. As a consequence of photosynthesis, the production of biomass, wood
and food takes place. The biomass is mainly responsible for the fossil fuel production
The annual solar energy absorption of the land masses, oceans and atmosphere of the
earth is about 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ). This energy is exceedingly higher than the
world utilization in 1 hour. Biomass production during photosynthesis involves an
annual energy conversion of 3,000 EJ. The annual solar energy that is incident on
Earth is twice the amount of energy, which is generated out of the entire number of
non-renewable resources in Earth (mined uranium, natural gas, oil and coal inclusive).
The utilization of solar energy by human relies on the solar energy quantity, which is
available closer to Earth. The reason is that the land, cloud conditions, change of time
and geography has large impact on the solar energy near the earth’s surface.
Basically, the regions that are geographically nearer to the equator, receives abundant
solar radiation. The regions that are at a larger distance from the equator can have
solar energy with increased use of photovoltaic technology, in relation to the sun’s
location. The solar energy potential also varies with the change of time in night. The
solar panels are subjected to decreased amount of solar light, if the cloud cover is
large. This is because the cloud cover causes the solar cells to receive lesser amount
of sunlight by blocking.
Active and passive are the two kinds of existing solar technologies. These
technologies have distinct procedure for collecting, converting and distributing the
light from sun. With these solar technologies, solar energy can be made available at
all places of Earth, including the places that are away from equator. The solar energy
is basically obtained from the incident solar radiation of earth. It forms the base for
the generation of all the other renewable energy (for instance, tidal as well as
geothermal energy), either directly or indirectly.
The sunlight conversion to beneficial outputs in an active solar technology is
facilitated by fans, pumps, solar thermal collectors, intensive solar power and
photovoltaic cell. In contrast, the passive solar technology involves space designing
856 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

to achieve air circulation, deciding components of desired thermal attributes and

making the reference for the building, in relation to the sun’s position. Active solar
technology and passive solar technology are deemed to be supply-side technology and
demand-side technology, respectively. The reason is that the former technology is
dealt with the rise of energy supply, while the latter technology denies the alternate
resources from being largely used.
 All around the world, the entire annually-produced solar energy potential
ranges between 1,575 EJ (minimum) and 49,837 EJ(maximum)
 The solar energy quantity has increased reliance on the existing land region,
annual average sky clearance and annual clear sky irradiance.

. Table 13. Data of wind speed solar radiation and clearness index from PAU station
Bathinda.
Month Wind Speed Solar Clearness Index
(m/sec) 2
Radiation(kWh/m /day) (Bright sunshine
(KM/Hr) 2
(MJ/m /day) (Hrs.))
Jan. 2.8 9.6 2.5
Feb. 3.7 14.5 7.2
Mar. 3.9 18.1 7.3
Apr. 3.4 23.1 7.7
May 6.0 27.6 8.7
June 6.6 23.8 6.5
Jul. 6.8 18.7 5.9
Aug. 2.8 17.1 5.7
Sept. 3.0 18.0 8.2
Oct. 1.8 16.6 7.3
Nov. 1.4 14.1 4.0
Dec. 2.1 12.5 4.9
 1 km/hr = 0.277778 m/sec
 1 Kwh= 3.6 MJ
 1MJ = 0.277778 Kw/hr.

Major part of Punjab falls between 29o N to 32o N latitude and 74o E to 77o E
longitude. From the table 13 we have the data of wind, solar radiation and clearness
index and these all data’s show that the maximum solar radiation is available from
the month of March to September and this is again the peak load period and if we
convert this solar energy to electric energy it will be at high efficiency.
Biogas-Solar Hybrid Systems for Solving Issues on Sustainable Energy Supply.. 857

Benefits of purposed solar-biogas hybrid system as a solution to sustain energy

supply in Punjab an agro state
1) Economic benefits
2) Environmental benefits
3) Social benefits

Figure 3. The solar biogas energy system and its associated economical,
environmental and social advantages

3. CONCLUSION:
From the table 1. per capita power consumption of Punjab is highest in India. Table
2,3,4 gives the data of 100% electrification power consumption in urban and rural
areas specifying peak demand, energy requirement and energy deficient in different
FYs. So power demand is maximum in months of April to October and the
production of biogas and solar energy is maximum during these months. So this
model of development will help us meet the demand in which we will have a
balanced development that will help the economical, environmental and social
benefits to the society and our society which is an agro based will be neat and clean
and it will help in the job generations in the rural areas and help us from the
transmission losses which are from 16% to 20% . This will also add up for
uninterrupted power supply 24/7. We will not dependent on high capital oriented
858 Gurinderpal Singh, V.K. Jain and Amanpreet Singh

mega projects and it will save us from the dependence on exhaustible fuels (coal, oil,
gas etc.)
In the above research paper we have arrived at a balanced development projects that
could help the economical, environmental and social benefits and a complete
development of all sectors for the agro based state of Punjab which will help in
development of an individual, remotest person who could not have been effected by
the conventional mega power generating units because it depended only on the large
investor and large consumer so we can say in other worlds they are the capitalist
form of energy generation and distribution but in underdeveloped and developing
country we need the generating distribution system that is more of a socialist pattern.