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The world's attention has turned towards renewable energy due to escalating energy demands, declining fossil fuel reservoirs, greenhouse gas emissions, and the unreliability of conventional energy systems. The sun is the only renewable energy source that is available every day for a specific period of time. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is known for its direct conversion of sunlight into electricity using the photoelectric effect. However, due to the non-linear electrical characteristics, the power output of solar PV cells is bound to a lower value and can not produce the power of which it is capable. To extract the maximum possible power, the PV cell needs to be operated at its maximum power point (MPP) uninterruptedly under numerous weather conditions. Therefore, an electronic circuit driven by a set of rules known as an algorithm is utilized. To date, the flower pollination algorithm (FPA) is one of the most renowned maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms due to its effective tracking ability at the local and global positions. After an in-depth analysis of the design, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of the FPA algorithm, we have proposed an additional filtration and distribution process named "Random walk" along with the ordering of solutions, to improve its efficiency and tracking time. The proposed structure named "Ordered FPA" has outperformed the renowned FPA algorithm under various weather conditions at all the standard benchmarks. Simulations are performed in MATLAB/Simulink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we have presented an optimal microgrid design that ensures the uninterrupted energy supply to Mirpur University of Engineering and Technology (MUST), Azad Jammu and Kashmir AJK, Pakistan at the cheapest price by using reliable energy resources. The availability of energy resources, environmental viability, and economic feasibility are the key parameters of design. The available resources for the MUST site include the National grid, Solar photovoltaic (SPV), Battery bank, and Diesel generator. The data of electrical load, solar illumination, atmospheric temperature at the university, diesel fuel cost, SPV module lifetime, SPV degradation factor, SPV efficiency, SPV cost, battery cost, battery life, national grid energy price, load shedding and toxic emissions have been considered valuables in designing the hybrid micro-grid. The difference in net present cost (NPC) of the optimal design and the worst design is calculated by considering the above parameters. The proposed optimal microgrid design supplies energy to the load using SPV, Diesel generator, and battery bank with NPC of $250,546 and the renewable fraction of 99%. Whereas the worst design includes the Diesel generator and battery bank as energy supplying sources with the NPC of $2.14 M and a renewable fraction of 0%. Simulations performed using HOMER Pro software (HOMER Energy, HOMER Pro-3.11, Boulder, CO, USA) proved that after considering all the data and requirements mentioned above, out of 979 feasible designs, the proposed hybrid microgrid design is best suitable for MUST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy or alternative energy is extracted through renewable resources. These are considered as an alternative from conventional fossil fuel-based sources because conventional energy sources are depleting rapidly and raised concerns over increasing environmental impacts. Among many renewable sources, solar energy has a substantial part to meet the increased energy demand with reduced environmental effects. Solar irradiance and temperature are key factors upon which photovoltaic (PV) power generation depends but its optimum operating point gets affected by variation in the above-mentioned environmental factors. Finding the optimum operating point is a challenge due to the nonlinear solar behavior and varying nature of environmental conditions. To overcome these challenges, maximum power point (MPP) searching algorithms are exploited to get optimum power from the PV energy system. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) behavior is different for various weather conditions, for instance, partial shading (PS), and uniform irradiance (UI) conditions. Numerous MPPT methods came to be used to find the optimum power. This work deals with the development of a novel technique for MPP finding of a PV system on the basis of the Water Cycle Algorithm (WCA) under PS conditions. It turns out to be good in terms of exploration and exploitation. Thus, it has the capability to avoid getting stuck in local minima (LM) and to find the global maxima (GM). The performance of the WCA technique is examined on four different types of P-V patterns for UI, PS and fast changing environmental conditions through MATLAB simulation and experimental setup. The findings of WCA are compared with the previous well-known soft computing methods such as PSO, ACS, DFO, and conventional method P&O to evaluate performance. The outcomes reveal that the WCA algorithm overtakes P&O from the perspective of robustness, accuracy, efficiency, and stability, as well as PSO in respect of converging speed and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the fusion of project‐based learning (PBL) and collaborative learning (CL) cohesively, coordinated with sensors and Bluetooth advancements, open‐source programming, and open‐source equipment devices, in a specific microcontroller and installed frameworks designing apply autonomy course for the elementary learners. The major purpose of this study is to evaluate the significance of integrating PBL and CL. The course creates capacities and abilities in critical thinking, problem‐solving, independent learning, collaboration, and specialized technical information. Since PBL alone does not guarantee profoundly talented cooperation, it was supplemented with CL. This structure coordinated course substance and understudy pragmatic accomplishment in a reenacted learning environment. The understudies built a line following and Bluetooth‐controlled robots by actualizing control programming on the "Arduino" open‐source platform, just as utilizing remote interchanges as Arduino offers an instinctive advancement condition and different equipment and programming resources that permit quick improvement of microcontroller‐based ventures. The basic findings of this study work reveal that teaching, learning, and student assessment processes can be improved by using PBL when integrated with CL. The research successfully extends onto another group of learners for preparing similar gadgets under different timelines. In addition, this paper also discusses upon the problem identification, selection of the equipment, circuit design, hardware mounting, and critical analysis of the results acquired from the course through the personal learning experience of the teachers as well as in the form of feedback from the two groups of young learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The penetration of renewable energy sources into the conventional power systems are evolving day by day. Therefore, in this paper, a photovoltaic (PV) connected thermal system is discussed and analyzed by keeping PV to operate at maximum power point (MPP). The main problem in the interconnection of these systems is load frequency fluctuations due to different load changing conditions. The model predictive controller (MPC) has the ability to predict the target value at real-time with fast convergence. Therefore, MPC is proposed to negate this problem by giving minimum oscillation. The comparison analysis is carried out with other conventional controllers, including genetic algorithm-based PI, firefly algorithm-based PI and PI controller. Simulation results clearly exhibit the outclass performance of MPC over all other controllers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present approach, a Cr 2 O 3 -TiO 2 -modified, portable, and biomimetic nanosensor was designed to meet the requirement of a robust and colorimetric sensing of hydrogen peroxide. Cr 2 O 3 -TiO 2 nanocomposites prepared via the hydrothermal method were fabricated as a transducer surface on the filter paper using the sol-gel matrix. The color on the filter paper sensor changed from green to blue upon the addition of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of TMB. This change in the color intensity was linear with the concentration of H 2 O 2 . RGB software was used as a color analyzing model to evaluate the optical signals. This paper-based colorimetric platform provided us with an improved analytical figure of merit with a linear range of 0.005-100 μM with 0.003 μM limit of detection. The real sample analysis and excellent anti-interference potential results proved the good analytical performance of the proposed design, providing a more promising tool for colorimetric H 2 O 2 detection. Introducing Cr 2 O 3 -TiO 2 nanocomposite-based paper sensors, being a novel method for optical and colorimetric detection, can pave the way for the development of other sensing devices for the detection of different analytes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)