Traction power systems for electrified railways:evolution,state of the art,and future trends

Traction power systems(TPSs)play a vital role in the operation of electrified railways.The transformation of conventional railway TPSs to novel structures is not only a trend to promote the development of electrified railways toward high-efficiency and resilience but also an inevitable requirement to achieve carbon neutrality target.On the basis of sorting out the power supply structures of conventional AC and DC modes,this paper first reviews the characteristics of the existing TPSs,such as weak power supply flexibility and low-energy efficiency.Furthermore,the power supply structures of various TPSs for future electrified railways are described in detail,which satisfy longer distance,low-carbon,high-efficiency,high-reliability and high-quality power supply requirements.Meanwhile,the application prospects of different traction modes are discussed from both technical and economic aspects.Eventually,this paper introduces the research progress of mixed-system electrified railways and traction power supply technologies without catenary system,speculates on the future development trends and challenges of TPSs and predicts that TPSs will be based on the continuous power supply mode,employing power electronic equipment and intelligent information technology to construct a railway comprehensive energy system with renewable energy.

A Tutorial Review of the Solar Power Curve: Regressions, Model Chains, and Their Hybridization and Probabilistic Extensions

Owing to the persisting hype in pushing toward global carbon neutrality,the study scope of atmospheric science is rapidly expanding.Among numerous trending topics,energy meteorology has been attracting the most attention hitherto.One essential skill of solar energy meteorologists is solar power curve modeling,which seeks to map irradiance and auxiliary weather variables to solar power,by statistical and/or physical means.In this regard,this tutorial review aims to deliver a complete overview of those fundamental scientific and engineering principles pertaining to the solar power curve.Solar power curves can be modeled in two primary ways,one of regression and the other of model chain.Both classes of modeling approaches,alongside their hybridization and probabilistic extensions,which allow accuracy improvement and uncertainty quantification,are scrutinized and contrasted thoroughly in this review.

Cascade utilization of full spectrum solar energy for achieving simultaneous hydrogen production and all-day thermoelectric conversion

Solar-driven photocatalytic water/seawater splitting holds great potential for green hydrogen production.However,the practical application is hindered by the relatively low conversion efficiency resulting from the inadequate utilization of solar spectrum with significant waste in the form of heat.Moreover,current equipment struggles to maintain all-day operation subjected to the lack of light during nighttime.Herein,a novel hybrid system integrating photothermal catalytic(PTC)reactor,thermoelectric generator(TEG),and phase change materials(PCM)was proposed and designed(named as PTC-TEG-PCM)to address these challenges and enable simultaneous overall seawater splitting and 24-hour power generation.The PTC system effectively maintains in an optimal temperature range to maximize photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen production.The TEG component recycles the low-grade waste heat for power generation,complementing the shortcoming of photocatalytic conversion and achieving cascade utilization of full-spectrum solar energy.Furthermore,exceptional thermal storage capability of PCM allow for the conversion of released heat into electricity during nighttime,contributing significantly to the overall power output and enabling PTC-TEG-PCM to operate for more than 12 h under the actual condition.Compared to traditional PTC system,the overall energy conversion efficiency of the PTC-TEG-PCM system can be increased by∼500%,while maintaining the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency.The advancement of this novel system demonstrated that recycling waste heat from the PTC system and utilizing heat absorption/release capability of PCM for thermoelectric application are effective strategies to improve solar energy conversion.With flexible parameter designing,PTC-TEG-PCM can be applied in various scenarios,offering high efficiency,stability,and sustainability.

Analysis of Current Research and Future Development Trends of Applying Solar Energy in Street Lighting

In the context of promoting green energy transition and addressing climate change globally,solar energy,as a clean and renewable energy source,has gradually become a hot topic for research.Solar streetlight systems realize energy self-sufficiency and environment-friendly lighting by integrating photovoltaic power generation technology and efficient LED lighting technology.By comprehensively analyzing the current status of the application of solar streetlights at home and abroad,this paper discusses its technical advantages,market penetration,and challenges in its development.In terms of technical characteristics,this paper focuses on analyzing the key technologies such as energy conversion efficiency and intelligent control systems of solar streetlights.

Electrical characteristics of new three-phase traction power supply system for rail transit

A novel three-phase traction power supply system is proposed to eliminate the adverse effects caused by electric phase separation in catenary and accomplish a unifying manner of traction power supply for rail transit.With the application of two-stage three-phase continuous power supply structure,the electrical characteristics exhibit new features differing from the existing traction system.In this work,the principle for voltage levels determining two-stage network is dissected in accordance with the requirements of traction network and electric locomotive.The equivalent model of three-phase traction system is built for deducing the formula of current distribution and voltage losses.Based on the chain network model of the traction network,a simulation model is established to analyze the electrical characteristics such as traction current distribution,voltage losses,system equivalent impedance,voltage distribution,voltage unbalance and regenerative energy utilization.In a few words,quite a lot traction current of about 99%is undertaken by long-section cable network.The proportion of system voltage losses is small attributed to the two-stage three-phase power supply structure,and the voltage unbal-ance caused by impedance asymmetry of traction network is less than 1‰.In addition,the utilization rate of regenerative energy for locomotive achieves a significant promotion of over 97%.

Research on Reduction of Solar Power Curtailment with Grid Connected Energy Storage System Based on Time-Series Production Simulation

Due to the variable output of renewable energy (RE) generation, difficulties of dispatching RE for power system operators could not be avoided. One of possible solutions is the energy storage technology, especially the battery storage system. The large-scale energy storage system is available to support power system reliable flexibility for load following and system frequency regulation. In this paper, the bottlenecks of large-scale solar power generation dispatching and operation in Qinghai grid are discussed, and a new PV-energy storage coordinated dispatching method is proposed for reduction of PV curtailment in Qinghai. Moreover, the validation based on the time-series production simulation is provided using real data from Qinghai. The results indicate that the proposed method can effectively decrease the curtailment of solar power and future vision of large-scale solar power coordinated operation with energy storage system is also presented.

Low Carbon Economic Dispatch of Integrated Energy System Considering Power Supply Reliability and Integrated Demand Response

Integrated energy system optimization scheduling can improve energy efficiency and low carbon economy.This paper studies an electric-gas-heat integrated energy system,including the carbon capture system,energy coupling equipment,and renewable energy.An energy scheduling strategy based on deep reinforcement learning is proposed to minimize operation cost,carbon emission and enhance the power supply reliability.Firstly,the lowcarbon mathematical model of combined thermal and power unit,carbon capture system and power to gas unit(CCP)is established.Subsequently,we establish a low carbon multi-objective optimization model considering system operation cost,carbon emissions cost,integrated demand response,wind and photovoltaic curtailment,and load shedding costs.Furthermore,considering the intermittency of wind power generation and the flexibility of load demand,the low carbon economic dispatch problem is modeled as a Markov decision process.The twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient(TD3)algorithm is used to solve the complex scheduling problem.The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified in the simulation case studies.Compared with TD3,SAC,A3C,DDPG and DQN algorithms,the operating cost is reduced by 8.6%,4.3%,6.1%and 8.0%.

Solar Energy Resource Characteristics of Photovoltaic Power Station in Shandong Province

[Objective] The aim was to analyze characters of solar energy in photo- voltaic power stations in Shandong Province. [Method] The models of total solar radiation and scattered radiation were determined, and solar energy resources in pho-tovoltaic power stations were evaluated based on illumination in horizontal plane and cloud data in 123 counties or cities and observed information in Jinan, Fushan and Juxian in 1988-2008. [Result] Solar energy in northern regions in Shandong proved most abundant, which is suitable for photovoltaic power generation; the optimal angle of tilt of photovoltaic array was at 35°, decreasing by 2°-3° compared with local latitude. Total solar radiation received by the slope with optimal angle of tilt exceeded 1 600 kw.h/（m2.a）, increasing by 16% compared with horizontal planes. The maximal irradiance concluded by WRF in different regions tended to be volatile in 1 020-1 060 W/m2. [Conclusion] The research provides references for construction of photovoltaic power stations in Shandong Province.

Statistical Analysis and Energy Planning of Electric Power Supply Systems with Intelligent Control

The study presents possibilities for reconstruction of electric power supply systems in Bulgarian Black Sea resorts and possibilities to use statistical methods in energy planning. The paper shows the use of classic statistical methods in combination with advanced digital measurement systems in order to obtain the correlation dependencies, nature of energy consumption and opportunities for energy forecasting. The main purpose of the study is to obtain statistical dependencies of the nature of power consumption and correlations between electricity consumption and ambient temperature in order to improve the accuracy of energy planning. The analysis includes application of energy management systems for proper energy planning, improving economical efficiency and reducing power and energy losses.

Study on green power supply modes for heavy load in Remote Areas

In this study,the present situation and characteristics of power supply in remote areas are summarized.By studying the cases of power supply projects in remote areas,the experience is analyzed and described,and the applicability of related technologies,such as grid-forming storage and power load management,is studied,including grid-connection technologies,such as grid-forming converters and power load management.On this basis,three power-supply modes were proposed.The application scenarios and advantages of the three modes were compared and analyzed.Based on the local development situation,the temporal sequences of the three schemes are described,and a case study was conducted.The study of the heavy-load power supply mode in remote areas contributes to solving the problem of heavy-load green power consumption in remote areas and promoting the further development of renewable energy.

Energy Blockchain in Smart Communities: Towards Affordable Clean Energy Supply for the Built Environment

The rapid growth of distributed renewable energy penetration is promoting the evolution of the energy system toward decentralization and decentralized and digitized smart grids.This study was based on energy blockchain,and developed a dual-biding mechanism based on the real-time energy surplus and demand in the local smart grid,which is expected to enable reliable,affordable,and clean energy supply in smart communities.In the proposed system,economic benefits could be achieved by replacing fossil-fuel-based electricity with the high penetration of affordable solar PV electricity.The reduction of energy surplus realized by distributed energy production and P2P energy trading,within the smart grid results in less transmission loss and lower requirements for costly upgrading of existing grids.By adopting energy blockchain and smart contract technologies,energy secure trading with a low risk of privacy leakage could be accommodated.The prototype is examined through a case study,and the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed mechanism are further validated by scenario analysis.

Current State of Energy Production in Cameroon and Projection for 2035

The low electricity supply rate is a major cause of underdevelopment in Cameroon. To address this issue, Cameroon outlined a strategy in 2003 aiming for a production capacity of 3000 MW by 2020. However, by 2020, production had only reached 1040 MW, leading Cameroon to devise a new national energy sector development strategy targeting 5000 MW by 2035. This paper provides an overview of the current state of energy production and projects future output by 2035. Scientific articles and investigative reports on energy production in Cameroon have enabled an assessment of the current electrical energy production. The 2035 production estimate is based on the Energy Sector Development Projects (PDSEN) report in Cameroon. The current production is estimated at around 1600 MW. Considering the ongoing construction of power plants, future projects, and financing delays, achieving the 5000 MW goal by 2035 appears challenging. Nonetheless, diversifying energy production sources could bring Cameroon closer to this target.

Intelligent Solar Chasing Street Light System Design and Fabrication Summaries

This project adopts an advanced microcontroller as the core control unit,which accurately commands the servo drive,realizes the real-time light chasing and charging function of the solar panel,and effectively manages the power supply system of the street light.At the same time,the system is able to continuously monitor the operation status of the servo within the range of 0°to 180°to ensure that it is trouble-free and not offline.The hardware system construction consists of five modules:a power module,solar panel module,servo module,street light module,and Organic Light-Emitting Diode(OLED)display module.Each module works together to support the stable operation of the whole system.The system workflow is to accurately determine the direction of the light source by collecting real-time light intensity data through four precision photoresistors.Subsequently,the microcontroller intelligently controls the helm module based on these data to drive the solar panel to rotate within a range of 180°to accurately track the sun’s orientation.The street light provides two lighting modes,automatic and manual,to meet the needs of different scenarios.During the daytime,the solar panels work actively to monitor and collect solar energy efficiently in real-time,meanwhile,when night falls,the solar panels switch to standby mode and the streetlights light up automatically,illuminating the road ahead for pedestrians.Compared with the traditional solar street lights on the market,the intelligent solar light chasing road system introduced in this project has significant advantages.Its unique light-chasing algorithm enables the solar panel to continuously track the light source from sunrise to sunset,thus significantly improving the charging efficiency.Compared with traditional street lights,the biggest advantage of this project is the proposed light-chasing algorithm,which can always charge from sunrise until sunset,making the charging efficiency increase by 38%to 47%.The charging efficiency is 20%to 38%higher than that of traditional street lamps.Simultaneously,the biggest advantage of this project is that the power storage capacity is higher than 35%of the traditional solar street light.Bringing users a more durable and stable lighting experience.

An overview of the policies and models of integrated development for solar and wind power generation in China

Under the goal of “Carbon Emission Peak and Carbon Neutralization”, the integrated development between various industries and renewable energy(photovoltaic, wind power) is of great significance in China. This paper summarizes the relevant policies, integration schemes and typical cases of the integrated development between renewable energy and other industries. First, the development status of wind and solar generation in China is introduced. Second, we summarize the relevant policies issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, National Energy Administration and other departments to promote the integrated development in photovoltaic and wind power generation in China. Third, eight kinds of photovoltaic three-dimensional development models are described, including “photovoltaic + agriculture, industry, environmental protection, transportation, architecture, communication, hydrogen and ecology”. Fourth, eight kinds of wind power threedimensional development models are summarized, including “Offshore wind power + marine ranch, marine energy, marine tourism, marine oil and gas, hydrogen, communication, Energy Island” and “Onshore wind power+ courtyard”. In the future, the promotion and application of the above integrated development projects will be accelerated. This overview aims to provide reference for the design in photovoltaic and wind energy systems and help potential investors to make decisions.

Solar Power Plant Network Packet-Based Anomaly Detection System for Cybersecurity

As energy-related problems continue to emerge,the need for stable energy supplies and issues regarding both environmental and safety require urgent consideration.Renewable energy is becoming increasingly important,with solar power accounting for the most significant proportion of renewables.As the scale and importance of solar energy have increased,cyber threats against solar power plants have also increased.So,we need an anomaly detection system that effectively detects cyber threats to solar power plants.However,as mentioned earlier,the existing solar power plant anomaly detection system monitors only operating information such as power generation,making it difficult to detect cyberattacks.To address this issue,in this paper,we propose a network packet-based anomaly detection system for the Programmable Logic Controller(PLC)of the inverter,an essential system of photovoltaic plants,to detect cyber threats.Cyberattacks and vulnerabilities in solar power plants were analyzed to identify cyber threats in solar power plants.The analysis shows that Denial of Service(DoS)and Manin-the-Middle(MitM)attacks are primarily carried out on inverters,aiming to disrupt solar plant operations.To develop an anomaly detection system,we performed preprocessing,such as correlation analysis and normalization for PLC network packets data and trained various machine learning-based classification models on such data.The Random Forest model showed the best performance with an accuracy of 97.36%.The proposed system can detect anomalies based on network packets,identify potential cyber threats that cannot be identified by the anomaly detection system currently in use in solar power plants,and enhance the security of solar plants.

Research progress on protective coatings against molten nitrate salts for thermal energy storage in concentrating solar power plants

Concentrating solar power(CSP) has garnered considerable global attention as a reliable means of generating bulk electricity, effectively addressing the intermittent nature of solar resources.The integration of molten salt technology for thermal energy storage(TES) has further contributed to the growth of CSP plants;however, the corrosive nature of molten salts poses challenges to the durability of container materials, necessitating innovative corrosion mitigation strategies.This review summarizes scientific advancements in high-temperature anticorrosion coatings for molten nitrate salts, highlighting the key challenges and future trends.It also explores various coating types, including metallic, ceramic, and carbon-based coatings, and compares different coating deposition methods.This review emphasizes the need for durable coatings that meet long-term performance requirements and regulatory limitations, with an emphasis on carbon-based coatings and emerging nanomaterials.A combination of multiple coatings is required to achieve desirable anticorrosion properties while addressing material compatibility and cost considerations.The overall goal is to advance the manufacturing, assembly, and performance of CSP systems for increased efficiency, reliability, and durability in various applications.

Hybrid Power Bank Deployment Model for Energy Supply Coverage Optimization in Industrial Wireless Sensor Network

Energy supply is one of the most critical challenges of wireless sensor networks(WSNs)and industrial wireless sensor networks(IWSNs).While research on coverage optimization problem(COP)centers on the network’s monitoring coverage,this research focuses on the power banks’energy supply coverage.The study of 2-D and 3-D spaces is typical in IWSN,with the realistic environment being more complex with obstacles(i.e.,machines).A 3-D surface is the field of interest(FOI)in this work with the established hybrid power bank deployment model for the energy supply COP optimization of IWSN.The hybrid power bank deployment model is highly adaptive and flexible for new or existing plants already using the IWSN system.The model improves the power supply to a more considerable extent with the least number of power bank deployments.The main innovation in this work is the utilization of a more practical surface model with obstacles and training while improving the convergence speed and quality of the heuristic algorithm.An overall probabilistic coverage rate analysis of every point on the FOI is provided,not limiting the scope to target points or areas.Bresenham’s algorithm is extended from 2-D to 3-D surface to enhance the probabilistic covering model for coverage measurement.A dynamic search strategy(DSS)is proposed to modify the artificial bee colony(ABC)and balance the exploration and exploitation ability for better convergence toward eliminating NP-hard deployment problems.Further,the cellular automata(CA)is utilized to enhance the convergence speed.The case study based on two typical FOI in the IWSN shows that the CA scheme effectively speeds up the optimization process.Comparative experiments are conducted on four benchmark functions to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the ABC and gbest-guided ABC(GABC)algorithms.The results show that the proposed energy coverage optimization method based on the hybrid power bank deployment model generates more accurate results than the results obtained by similar algorithms(i.e.,ABC,GABC).The proposed model is,therefore,effective and efficient for optimization in the IWSN.

Analysis of Power Matching on Energy Savings of a Pneumatic Rotary Actuator Servo-Control System

When saving energy in a pneumatic system,the problem of energy losses is usually solved by reducing the air supply pressure.The power-matching method is applied to optimize the air-supply pressure of the pneumatic system,and the energy-saving effect is verified by experiments.First,the experimental platform of a pneumatic rotary actuator servo-control system is built,and the mechanism of the valve-controlled cylinder system is analyzed.Then,the output power characteristics and load characteristics of the system are derived,and their characteristic curves are drawn.The employed air compressor is considered as a constant-pressure source of a quantitative pump,and the power characteristic of the system is matched.The power source characteristic curve should envelope the output characteristic curve and load characteristic curve.The minimum gas supply pressure obtained by power matching represents the optimal gas supply pressure.The comparative experiments under two different gas supply pressure conditions show that the system under the optimal gas supply pressure can greatly reduce energy losses.

Reliability Assessment Considering the Coordination of Wind Power, Solar Energy and Energy Storage

风光储联合发电系统并网后必须采取策略与系统之间实现协调调度与运行才可在保证可靠性的前提下最大化利用可再生能源，但现有的可靠性评估中还缺少对大规模风光储联合发电系统协调运行的考虑。针对此问题，基于序贯蒙特卡罗仿真方法，建立了风电、光伏和储能系统的发电可靠性评估模型，并提出了新的协调调度策略。模型综合考虑了风速、太阳光辐照度、环境温度以及2种新能源发电技术的能量变换特性和储能系统的充放电约束等因素。这些模型被应用到IEEERTS79中，通过在Matlab中编制程序进行仿真计算，考察不同的协调运行策略、联合发电系统容量配置以及储能特性对于系统裕度的影响。评估结果可为联合发电系统并网规划与设计提供参考。

Energy efficiency performance of multi-energy district heating and hot water supply system

A district heating and hot water supply system is presented which synthetically utilizes geothermal energy,solar thermal energy and natural gas thermal energy.The multi-energy utilization system has been set at the new campus of Tianjin Polytechnic University(TPU),A couple of deep geothermal wells which are 2 300 m in depth were dug,Deep geothermal energy cascade utilization is achieved by two stages of plate heat exchangers(PHE) and two stages of water source heat pumps(WSHP).Shallow geothermal energy is used in assistant heating by two ground coupled heat pumps(GCHPs) with 580 vertical ground wells which are 120 m in depth.Solar thermal energy collected by vacuum tube arrays(VTAs) and geothermal energy are complementarily utilized to make domestic hot water.Superfluous solar energy can be stored in shallow soil for the GCHP utilization.The system can use fossil fuel thermal energy by two natural gas boilers(NGB) to assist in heating and making hot water.The heating energy efficiency was measured in the winter of 2010-2011.The coefficients of performance(COP) under different heating conditions are discussed.The performance of hot water production is tested in a local typical winter day and the solar thermal energy utilization factor is presented.The rusults show that the average system COP is 5.75 or 4.96 under different working conditions,and the typical solar energy utilization factor is 0.324.