Lecture 4
Lecture 4
Lecture 4
The first step in designing a solar PV system is to find out the total power and
energy consumption of all loads that need to be supplied by the solar PV system :
b. Add the Watt-hours needed for all appliances together to get the total Watt-
hours per day which must be delivered to the appliances.
Solar PV system sizing
ii. Calculate total Watt-hours per day needed from the PV modules.
• Multiply the total appliances Watt-hours per day times 1.3 (the total
energy lost in the system is about 30%) to get the total Watt-hours
per day which must be provided by the panels.
iii. Size the PV modules
• Different size of PV modules will produce different amount of power. To find out the
sizing of PV module, the total peak watt produced needs.
a.The peak watt (Wp) produced depends on size of the PV module and climate of site
location.
b.We have to consider panel generation factor which is different in each site location.
a. Divide the answer obtained in the above item by the rated output
Watt-peak of the PV modules available to you.
b. Increase any fractional part of result to the next highest full number
and that will be the number of PV modules required.
Inverter sizing
• The inverter must have the same nominal voltage as your battery.
• For grid tie systems or grid connected systems, the input rating of the
inverter should be same as PV array rating to allow for safe and
efficient operation.
Battery sizing
• The battery type recommended for using in solar PV
system is deep cycle battery.
• Depth of Discharge is defined as the capacity that is discharged from a fully charged battery,
divided by battery nominal capacity.
4.4 Divide the answer obtained in item 4.3 by the nominal battery voltage.
• 4.5 Multiply the answer obtained in item 4.4 with days of autonomy (the number of days that you need
the system to operate when there is no power produced by PV panels) to get the required
Ampere-hour capacity of deep-cycle battery.
• Battery Capacity (Ah) = Total Watt-hours per day used by appliances x Days of autonomy
(0.85 x 0.6 x nominal battery voltage)
Solar charge controller sizing
• Select the solar charge controller to match the voltage of PV array and
batteries and then identify which type of solar charge controller is right
for your application.
• Make sure that solar charge controller has enough capacity to handle
the current from PV array.
Solar charge controller sizing
• Solar charge controller rating = Total short circuit current of PV array x 1.3
Example:
• One 75 Watt refrigerator that runs 24 hours per day with compressor run 12
hours and off 12 hours.
• The system will be powered by 12 Vdc, 110 Wp PV module.
Solution
1,092 Wh/dayTotal PV
PV module specification
Pm = 110 Wp
Vm = 16.7
VdcIm = 6.6
AVoc = 20.7 AIsc = 7.5 ASolar charge controller rating = (4 strings x 7.5 A) x 1.3 = 39
A