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The Smart Grid is an advanced digital two-way power flow power system capable of self-healing, adaptive, resilient and sustainable with foresight for prediction under different uncertainties. In this paper, a survey on various Smart Grid enabling technologies, Smart Grid metering and communication, cloud computing in Smart Grid and Smart Grid applications are explored in detail. Opportunities and future of Smart Grid is also described in this paper. For Smart grid enabling technologies Smart meters, smart sensors, vehicle to grid, plug in hybrid electric vehicle technology, sensor and actuator networks are explored. Advanced metering infrastructure, intelligent electronic devices, phasor measurement units, wide area measurement systems, local area network, home access network, neighborhood area network, wide area networks and cloud computing are explored for Smart Grid metering and communication. Home and building automation, smart substation, feeder automation is explored for smart grid applications. Associations of initial studies for the next step in smart grid applications will provide an economic benefit for the authorities in the long term, and will help to establish standards to be compatible with every application so that all smart grid applications can be coordinated under the control of the same authorities. Therefore, this study is expected to be an important guiding source for researchers and engineers studying the smart grid. It also helps transmission and distribution system operators to follow the right path as they are transforming their classical grids to smart grids.

Concerns over environment and increased demand for energy have led the world to think about alternate energy sources such as the wind, hydro, solar and fuel cells. Out of these photovoltaic (PV) generation systems (PGS) become increasingly important all over the world due to its availability, cleanness, low maintenance cost, and inexhaustible nature. The probability of partial shading conditions (PSC) is also high for large PGS. Under PSC, the P–V curve of PGS exhibits multiple peaks, which reduces the effectiveness of conventional maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods. In this paper, an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) based MPPT algorithm for PGS operating under PSC is proposed. Conventional PSO is modified to meet practical consideration of PGS operating under PSC. Problem formulation, design details, and experimental results are discussed in detail. The proposed technique is independent of system, it is easy to implement, tracking efficiency is high and performance under PSC is good. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by analyzing the experimental results obtained from 110 W solar power generation systems.

Conventional maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms fails to track peak power from a solar photovoltaic panel (SPV) effectively under rapidly changing atmospheric and partial shading conditions (PSC). To track peak power more effectively under these conditions, low cost, powerful soft computing (SC) have been introduced by the researchers. Due to the ability to solve non-linear problems, flexibility and adaptive nature, SC based MPPT techniques can track peak power under varying atmospheric conditions. Various SC based MPPT techniques have been proposed by researchers till date. Comprehensive studies on all these techniques are not available. This work summarizes working principle of various SC-MPPT techniques and are compared each other based on the certain parameters like accuracy, tracking efficiency, SPV array dependency, convergence time, complexity of algorithm, hardware implementation, ability to handle PSC’s and variables used. The information that is gathered and summarized in this paper will help researchers for future studies in this area.

Crank Shaft is one of the important components of an IC Engine. As the mechanical property of the crankshaft directly influence the trustability and longevity of the engine, the rigidity of the crankshaft acted upon by the alternative loads must be guaranteed in design. So it is required very much to untangle the model of crankshaft through the stress analysis using ANSYS software. In this paper, first the 3D model of the engine parts are built in the software ‘CATIA V5’ and are then transferred to ‘ANSYS’. The analysis of crank throw distortion and stress provides a conceptual support to enhance the design by weigh reduction.

This study was aimed to develop the nanoform of a commercial fungicide Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50% (75 WG) with broad spectrum of action for improving its antifungal activity against Macrophomina phaseolina. The fungicide commercially available as Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50% (75 WG) was converted into its nanoform using ball milling method and assessed for its efficacy against the soil borne fungal pathogen M. phaseolina at various concentrations, namely 5, 10, 15, and 25 ppm using poisoned food technique. Nanoform of the fungicide was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Particle Size Analyzer (PSA). The average particle size of nano Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50% (75 WG) was about 108 nm. Fungicidal potential of nanoform was better in comparison to the conventional ones. Nanoform of the fungicide was effective at 10 ppm and it exerted hyphal abnormality, hyphal lysis and abnormality of sclerotial formation on M. phaseolina when tested under in vitro than control. This study suggests the possibility to enhance the antifungal activity of fungicide Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50% (75 WG) towards the control of M. phaseolina. Key words: Antifungal, nanoformulations, chilli, Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50% (75 WG), Macrophomina phaseolina.

In the present study, inorganic bulk and nano nutrients of zinc oxide, titanium oxide, and silver nanoparticles were synthesized using the chemical reduction method and invigourated with chilli seeds cv. PKM 1 each at 750, 1000 and 1250 mg kg−1 by using template-free aqueous solution. After nanoparticles invigouration, the seeds were analyzed for various parameters such as germination (%), shoot length, root length, and seedling vigour. Other important parameters, such as electrical conductivity and antioxidant enzyme activity (catalase and lipid peroxidase), were also analyzed, which in turn reflected the enhancement of seed quality of chilli seeds when they were invigourated with ZnO, TiO2 and silver nanoparticles. The results indicated that the chilli seeds invigourated with ZnO nanoparticles at 1000 mg kg−1 enhanced the germination and seedling vigour in aged seeds.