An Outdoor Portable Hybrid Wind-Solar Energy Harvester for Charging Portable Mobile Devices

Ajibike E. Akin-Ponnle, Akinlolu A. Ponnle

Abstract: In Nigeria, frequent and prolonged power supply unavailability has been a problem; especially in rural areas where means of charging cellphones and other mobile electronic appliances are done by using generators which are ?unclean? and very financially consuming. Nigeria is a place of abundant renewable energy resources and can make use of them to provide means of charging and electrification. This paper presents the design and implementation of an outdoor portable hybrid wind-solar energy harvester that can be used to charge portable mobile electronic devices in times of mains power interruptions, in the absence of electrical sources, during outdoor activities away from home and especially in rural areas where there might be no supply of electricity. The portable hybrid wind-solar system uses a solar panel with LM2596 buck converter, a wind turbine with mini boost converter and 18650 power bank for ensuring efficient charging of the batteries and provision of charging for external mobile devices. The harnessed power from the sun via the solar panel and from the wind by the wind turbine is used to charge the battery through a power multiplexer. Additionally, the power bank module boosts the output voltage of the battery which can then be used to charge phones and other small electronic appliances via USB port. Tests were carried out on the system outdoor at daytime in a city in Southwestern Nigeria to study its performance. The solar panel was able to provide enough power to charge the batteries during the daytime; but for the wind turbine, the wind speed at the test location was not high enough for it to generate enough voltage and power needed to charge the batteries as fast as the solar panel. Nevertheless, the wind turbine can produce sufficient voltage needed to charge the batteries if the wind speed is high enough. Highest combined output power from the developed portable hybrid harvester during the day is 18.43 W with 100% sunshine and wind speed of 1.54 m/s.

Keywords: hybrid wind-solar energy harvester, solar panel, wind turbine, wind speed, battery