University of Puerto Rico

Physic & Chemistry Department

Arecibo

RENEWABLE ENERGY 101

By
Hirohito Torres Daz, PhD,PE
Renewable Energy Program
UPR-ARECIBO
September 20, 2014

Main Objectives
Solar Cell
Energy vs. Power
Energy Audit
Grid Tie System
Off Grid
Battery Backup
Sizing a Photovoltaic Array
Sizing a Battery Backup for Off Grid System
Inverter
Deep Cycle Battery
Charge Controller

How Solar Cells Work

Energy and Units

ENERGY = CAPACITY TO MAKE WORK
UNITS:
Newton-Meter = N-M = Joule = J => 1KJ = 1000 J
Calories => 1 KiloCalories = 1 kcal
British Thermal Unit (BTU)
Kilo-Watt-Hours (KWH) => 1 KWH = 1000 WH
Conversion
1 Kilo-Joule = 1000 J
1 Mega-Joule = 1,000,000 J
1 KWH = 3214 BTU

Power and Units

POWER = CAPACITY TO MAKE/CONSUME WORK IN A GIVEN
AMOUNT OF TIME

UNITS:
Joule/second = J/s = Watts (vatios)
1 Kilo-Watt (KW) = 1000 watts
British Thermal Unit per unit of Time => BTU/hr, BTU/sec,
BTU/min
Horsepower (HP)
Conversion

Porche 911

Engine = 383 KW
HP = ?

More Terms
Voltage: electrical potential
measured in Volts (V) or Mili-Volts (mVolts)
Current: flow of electrons

measured in Amperes (A) or mili-Apms (mAmps)

Power: rate of doing work - product of current

flowing at given voltage

Measured in Watts (W) [equal to joules/second]

Energy: Power x Time

Commonly measured in Watt-hours (Wh) or KiloWatt-Hour (KWH)
Common prefixes: kilo(k) = 1,000 and Mega

(M) = 1,000,000 Ex: 1kWh = 1,000Wh

Appliance Use Chart

Appliance Use Chart

Appliance Use Chart

Now What???
You have the total KWH per month = x?
Calculate KWH/ PER DAY = X/30.5
Estimate the amount of solar radiation (Hrs)
Estimate the derate factor (about 77 to 85 %)
Calculate the Photovoltaic Array:
= (see calculation)

AVERAGE INSOLATION IN
PUERTO RICO, HRS PER DAY

Sizing the Photovoltaic Array

Shadow PathFinder

AVERAGE SUN PATHS

(SHADOW CALCULATION)

Simple Solar Equipment

for 12 Volts System

Simple Solar Equipment

for 24 Volts System

SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER

INSTALLATION

Off-Grid Solar Panel

Grid/Solar Backup System with

Transfer Switch

GRID-TIE SYSTEM WITH BATTERY BACKUP

GRID-TIE PV SYSTEM

PV SYSTEMS

http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/calculators/pvwatts/version1/

http://solarpanelsphotovoltaic.net/find-best-solar-panel-angle-tilt-angle/

For a latitude up to 25 take your latitude and multiply it by 0.87

For a latitude between 25 to 50 take your latitude multiply by 0.87 after that you will
add 3.1 degrees
For a latitude over 50 the most ideal angle will end up being approximately 45
degrees

THE INCENTIVE FORCE

WITH NO INCENTIVE:

RETURN ON INVESTMENT = $ 100,000 / $

5,379 =18.9 YEAR
WITH 50 % INCENTIVE:
RETURN ON INVESTMENT = $ 50,000 /
$ 5,379 = 9.5 YEAR
WITH 100 % INCENTIVE:
A quin le amarga un dulce?

SOLAR PANEL SPECs.

QU
EST
I

ON
S

???
?