Study of Solar Home System 86

Chapter 08
STUDY OF SOLAR HOME SYSTEM

08.1 Introduction

The "green" revolution is upon us. The term "going green" is starting to affect not only
young adults, but seniors and young children. Energy efficiency has ceased to become a
plus and is a complete necessity. Hybrid cars, reusable bags, wind energy, Earth-
friendly clothing, recycled home decor and low processed foods have contributed to our
generation's Earth defense. Alternative-fuel options are target platforms for politicians,
proving society's continued interest and desire to change the way we think about

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energy. Now, solar energy has come into play as one of the most central tactics used to
save energy, money and help the environment.

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People use energy for many things, but a few general tasks consume most of the energy.
These tasks include transportation, heating, cooling, and the generation of electricity.
Solar energy is often used to directly heat a house or building. Heating a building
C
requires much more energy than heating a building's water, so much larger panels are
necessary. Generally a building that is heated by solar power will have its water heated
by solar power as well. The type of storage facility most often used for such large solar
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heaters is the heat-of-fusion storage unit, but other kinds (such as the packed bed or hot
water tank) can be used as well. This application of solar power is less common than the
two mentioned above, because of the cost of the large panels and storage system
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required to make it work. Often if an entire building is heated by solar power, passive
collectors are used in addition to one of the other two types. Passive collectors will
generally be an integral part of the building itself, so buildings taking advantage of
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passive collectors must be created with solar heating in mind.

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Besides being used for heating and cooling, solar energy can be directly converted to
electricity. Most of our tools are designed to be driven by electricity, so if one can create
electricity through solar power, can run almost anything with solar power. The solar
collectors that convert radiation into electricity can be either flat-plane collectors or
focusing collectors, and the silicon components of these collectors are photovoltaic cells.

08.2 Systems [9]

PV systems fall into two basic categories: stand alone (off-grid) and grid linked. The
grid is the low AC voltage electricity supply network, also known as utility or the
mains.

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Due to variation in the solar resources some form of energy is required to be buffer or
stored when solar energy is available and later that can be used along with the national
grid when production from other means are not sufficient. A battery does this function.
It can store energy for later use. It may call grid-intertied with battery backup.

Grid linked or Grid Intertied Solar-Electric Systems

Also known as on-grid, grid-tied, or utility interactive (UI), grid-intertied solar-electric

systems generate solar electricity and route it to the electric utility grid, offsetting a
home’s or business’ electrical consumption and, in some instances, even turning the
electric meter backwards. Living with a grid-connected solar-electric system is no
different than living with grid power, except that some or all of the electricity we use
comes from the sun. In many states, the utility credits a homeowner’s account for excess

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solar electricity produced. This amount can then be applied to other months when the
system produces less or in months when electrical consumption is greater. This

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arrangement is called net metering or net billing. The specific terms of net metering
laws and regulations vary from state to state and utility to utility.
Four configurations of metering are possible for grid connected system

Parallel metering no demand offset

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Parallel metering with demand offset
Reversible or No metering with demand offset
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Series metering with demand offset

A grid connected backup system combines the grid

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The following illustration includes the primary components of any grid intertied solar
electric system.
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D

Fig 42: Grid Intertied Solar-Electric Systems

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The main disadvantage of this type of system is that the batteries requirements are large
and expensive to maintain also. Depending on the system design some energy will be
lost when the batteries are fully charged. The added advantage over a standalone PV
system is that providing the battery.

Grid-Intertied Solar-Electric Systems with Battery Backup

Without a battery bank or generator backup for our grid intertied system, when a
blackout occurs, our household will be in the dark, too. To keep some or all of our
electric needs (or “loads”) like lights, a refrigerator, a well pump, or computer running
even when utility power outages occur, many homeowners choose to install a grid-
intertied system with battery backup. Incorporating batteries into the system requires
more components, is more expensive, and lowers the system’s overall efficiency. But for
many homeowners who regularly experience utility outages or have critical electrical

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loads, having a backup energy source is priceless.

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The following illustration includes the primary components of any grid intertied solar
electric system with battery backup.
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N
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D

Fig 43: Grid-Intertied Solar-Electric Systems with Battery Backup

Off-Grid Solar-Electric Systems

Although they are most common in remote locations without utility grid service, off-
grid solar-electric systems can work anywhere. These systems operate independently

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from the grid to provide all of a household’s electricity. That means no electric bills and
no blackouts—at least none caused by grid failures. People choose to live off-grid for a
variety of reasons, including the prohibitive cost of bringing utility lines to remote
home sites, the appeal of an independent lifestyle, or the general reliability a solar-
electric system provides. Those who choose to live off-grid often need to make
adjustments to when and how they use electricity, so they can live within the
limitations of the system’s design. This doesn’t necessarily imply doing without, but
rather is a shift to a more conscientious use of electricity.

A simplest stand-alone system consists of a module supplying a load directly. Such a

system could be used to power a pump or to charge a battery. Beyond a certain size of a
system a charge regulator is necessary to protect the battery from over charging. This
forms of the basic DC PV system and is illustrated in figure, as loads are added the
charge regulator would also serve the service of protecting the battery from being over

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charged or from being deep discharged.

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The following illustration includes the primary components of any off grid solar electric
system.
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D

Fig 44: Off-Grid Solar-Electric Systems

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LUX METER

08.3 Instrumentation [18]

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A lux meter is a device for measuring brightness. It specifically measures the intensity

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with which the brightness appears to the human eye. This is different than
measurements of the actual light energy produced by or reflected from an object or light
source.
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The lux is a unit of measurement of brightness, or more accurately, illuminance. It
ultimately derives from the candela, the standard unit of measurement for the power of
light. A candela is a fixed amount, roughly equivalent to the brightness of one candle.
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While the candela is a unit of energy, it has an equivalent unit known as the lumen,
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which measures the same light in terms of its perception by the human eye. One lumen
is equivalent to the light produced in one direction from a light source rated at one
candela. The lux takes into account the surface area over which this light is spread,
which affects how bright it appears. One lux equals one lumen of light spread across a
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surface one square meter.

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A lux meter works by using a photo cell to capture light. The meter then converts this
light to an electrical current. Measuring this current allows the device to calculate the
lux value of the light it captured.

08.4 Balance of System

The balance of system or BOS components consists of everything in a v system except

for the PV array and its mechanical mounting. The BOS includes: wiring, battery
storage, PV controllers, battery charge regulators and inverters from dc to ac.

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Cabling

The basic building block of PV system is the low voltage PV module which is installed
in the open air and exposed to weather 24hrs.

Cables and fuses

Obviously the system should use weather proof cable specially cable with resistance to
degradation from ultra violet radiation and wide variation of temperature. The cable
should also be robust in terms of the voltage and current handling capacity.
Fuses are generally used to protect the electrical appliances from passing short circuit
current in the event of malfunction and are sized to allow a reasonable margin above
the expected peak current.

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Earthing and lightning protection

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Although PV arrays are metallic structures exposed to the element, they are generally
installed on or near the ground or building and so present no additional risk of
lightning strike to the area. Hence unless installed in a remote location there is no need
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to include a lightning conductor in a PV arrays.

Batteries
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Batteries are used in stand-alone PV system to buffer the energy between the varying
supplies from the PV array to a varying load demand. Though cost and performance
considerations a balance is made between the average generating capacities of the PV.
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The battery storage capacity and load demand. Two types of battery technology are
used in PV system. The lead acid battery and nickel cadmium battery.
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Charge Regulation
D

In a stand-alone system to prolong battery life over charge and deep discharge should
be avoided. As indicated above battery state of charge can be roughly determined by
measuring by thermal measurement condition. In the case of over charge the rise in
voltage is used to control the charging by shunt regulation or by series regulation. With
over discharge the drop in voltage is used to disconnect loads.

Inverters

An inverter converts the dc voltage from the batteries or PV system to ac voltage to

power conventional appliances or to couple the main grid. There are two basic types’
inverters stands alone and grid connected. Each has different operation char and
performance. The objective is to deliver various ac loads from the dc battery.

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08.5 System Sizing

In order to design a PV system to meet a particular need in the most cost effective way
information is required on the expected resources, the expected daily load and array
and BOS characteristics. This data is used to size the PV array and the BOS components
in several systems configuration to determine the optimum design.

Standalone Systems

Due to the high cost of batteries systems using battery storage should be designed
taking into account the daily load pattern as well as the PV module and battery
characteristics to optimize the system design. Hence the load assessed first then the

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array and the battery are sized in several configuration.

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Assessing the Load

The expected load is assessed as followed: C

List the loads: grouping the type and operating voltage, quoting the power
demand and monthly mean daily operating hours
Total the monthly mean daily power demand and operating hour for each group.
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For each group calculate the monthly mean daily load demand in kWh per day
from the monthly mean daily power multiplied by the total operating hours.
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Determine the nominal dc voltage the voltage of the biggest load for dc only
systems; the input voltage of the inverter for ac or dc/ac systems
Calculate the monthly mean daily load current in the Ah per day for each group
from the monthly mean daily load demand divided by the nominal operating
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voltages.
Determine the annual mean daily load demand and load and load current at the
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nominal operating voltage.

Sizing the PV Array

Determine the mean ambient temperature of the site.

Using the proposed module IV data at 1kW/m2 determine the working voltage
and the peak current at the maximum power operating point.
Determine the number of series connected modules from the sun of the nominal
operating voltage plus diode volt drop divided by the module working voltage.
Determine the monthly mean daily string output in Ah by multiplying the
module peak current by the monthly mean daily irradiance.

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Determine the minimum number of parallel strings by dividing the annual mean
daily load current by the annual mean daily string output and rounding days of
group.
Calculate the monthly surplus or deficit from the difference between the
minimum monthly output and the monthly mean daily load demand multiplied
by the number of days in the month.

Sizing the Batteries

The battery is sized by follows:

Calculate the battery capacity required for seasonal storage by dividing the
winter deficit by the maximum depth of discharge multiplied by the temperature
correction co-efficient.

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Determine the longest period of consecutive cloudy days likely to be experienced

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at the site, with a probability based on the required the level of security.
Check that the battery capacity determined in a sufficient to cater for this period,
increasing the capacity as necessary.
Determine the number of batteries in a series string by dividing the dc operating
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voltage by the nominal voltage of the selected battery.

Costing the Standalone System

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The stand-alone PV system costing is determined as follows:

Determine the life cycle cost of the system

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Repeat the sizing PV arrays sizing the batteries and assuming more than the
minimum number of module strings in the array and two alternative tilt angles.
Select the cheapest configuration of array and battery.
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Grid Connection System

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Grid connected PV system consists of an array and an inverter and a grid connection
the expected daily load does not have to be known to determine the size of the system
as with stand-alone pv system. It is usually determine by cost consideration and the
system physical installation. Although with knowledge of the expected load pattern the
proportion supplied by the PV system can also be assessed and the system economics
determined in comparison with other energy supplies. Grid connected solar home
system could be any size in range from 100W-5kW.

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Sizing the Grid Connection System

The steps involved in sizing the grid connected PV system could be as follows:

Calculate the maximum area available for the PV array taking into account
shading and mounting arrangements.
Determine the maximum number of modules in the PV array by dividing the
maximum area by the module area and rounding to the nearest number. b =
a/A.
Determine the maximum number of inverters by multiplying the maximum
number of modules by the module peak power and by dividing 1.2 the selected
inverter power ratings and rounding to the nearest number. c = (b × Pp × 1.2) /
Pinv
Calculate the inverter peak rating by multiplying the number of inverter by the

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selected inverter power rating. d = c/ Pinv

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Determine the module peak power voltage.
Determine the number of series connected modules by dividing the middle of the
selected inverter input voltage range by module peak power voltage and
rounding to the nearest number. f = ((Vmax− Vmin ) / 2+ Vmin) / Vmpp
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Calculate the string peak power voltage by multiplying the number of series
modules by the module peak power voltage. g = f×e.
Calculate the string peak power by multiplying the number of series modules by
the module peak power. h = f×.Pp
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Determine the number of parallel strings per sub-arrays/inverter by dividing
selected inverter power rating by string peak power, dividing by 1.2 and
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rounding to the nearest number. Pinv /(h × 1.2).

Calculate the sub-array peak power by multiplying the number of string per sub-
array by the string peak power. j = i×h.
Calculate the sub-array peak power current by dividing the sub-array peak
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power by the string peak power voltage. k = e/g.

Determine the total number of sub-arrays.
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Re-determine the total number of modules. m = c×i× f.

Calculate the array peak power by multiplying the total number of modules by
the module peak output. n = m×Pp.

Costing the Grid Connected System

The steps involved in costing the grid connected PV system are being as follows:

Determine the total number of modules and the inverter in the system using the
above sizing methodology.
Determine the total module and mounting cost by multiplying the number of
modules by the unit module plus mounting cost.

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Determine the cabling, inverter and grid connection costs.

Determine the total installed system cost by summing the above.
Calculate the average annual energy generation by multiplying the peak power
in kW by 750-1000 to give energy in kWh/year.
Calculate the unit energy cost over twenty years by dividing the total system cost
by twenty times the annual system generation.

The economics of grid connected PV system can be accessed from the daily or monthly
irradiance data, the average of the array, the daily load pattern and the buying and
selling price for grid electricity.

08.6 Experimental Data

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Table 8

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Daytime Data

Time Angle Panel Load Battery

(˚C) Voltage Voltage Voltage
C (V) (V) (V)
12:45 pm 51 13 12.8 12.8
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12:52 pm 49 13.3 13.1 13.1
01:00 pm 47 13.4 13.1 13.1
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01:10 pm 45 13 12.8 12.8

01:20 pm 43 13.6 13.3 13.2
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01:33 pm 41 13.4 13.1 13.1

D

01:40 pm 39 13.1 12.8 12.8

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