Cet l3 Fall 21 Solar System Design
Cet l3 Fall 21 Solar System Design
Cet l3 Fall 21 Solar System Design
LECTURE 3
CET
GROUP BASED COMPLEX ENGINEERING PROBLEM 10 Marks
(05 Marks report, 05 Marks for Presentation ,
Submission one week before midterm
Design an On-Grid wSolar Power System for Mechanical Lab. By using
Helioscope Software.
The report must not Exceed 10 pages and must include the following
1. Executive Summary
2. Full Specifications of the system including quantity, make (manufacturer)
and model number of the solar modules and inverter.
3. An estimate of the yearly energy output of the system. This should be
based on the available solar irradiation for the tilt angle and orientation of
the array.
4. The Rupee savings this represents based on existing electrical energy
pricing / payback period
5. Costing of all Equipment, Installation, Maintenance and other regulatories
6. the savings in CO2 / reduction in Carbon Footprints.
7. Helioscope report and Sketches
•
Major system components
Solar PV system includes different components that should be
selected according to your system type, site location and applications.
The major components for solar PV system are solar charge
controller, inverter, battery bank, auxiliary energy sources and loads
(appliances).
PV module � converts sunlight into DC electricity.
Solar charge controller � regulates the voltage and current coming
from the PV panels going to battery and prevents battery
overcharging and prolongs the battery life.
Inverter � converts DC output of PV panels or wind turbine into a
clean AC current for AC appliances or fed back into grid line.
Battery � stores energy for supplying to electrical appliances when
there is a demand.
Load � is electrical appliances that connected to solar PV system
such as lights, radio, TV, computer, refrigerator, etc.
TYPES OF SOLAR SYSTEMS
• On-grid - also known as a grid-tie or grid-feed
solar system.
• Off-grid - also known as a stand-alone power
system (SAPS)
• Hybrid - grid-connected solar system with
battery storage.
Electrical Grid:
• It is an electrical power network interconnecting the
load centers and energy providers.
• It is one of major parts of electrical power system
network acting as interface between power
generation plant, power transmission line, and
distribution lines.
• It transmits electric power that is generated using
any source (renewable or non-renewable) at a any
place and distributes finally to the consumers as per
the requirement
https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/323192760_On-
Grid_Solar_Photovoltaic_System_Compone
nts_Design_Considerations_and_Case_Stu
Grid-tied solar system components
• Solar Panels.
• DC Combiner Box.
• Inverters.
• AC Combiner Box. (Depends upon inverter
type)
• Interface Protection Device.
• Meters.
• Point of Connection (POC) AC Breaker.
Back-up generator for off-grid solar system
• Off-grid solar system components
• Solar Panels.
• DC Combiner Box.
• Solar Charge Controllers.
• DC Fuse Box.
• Batteries.
• Inverters.
• AC Breakers.
• Meters (Optional).
• Back-up Generators (Optional).
Where can we use an off-grid solar system?
• Army camps.
• Remote rural areas.
• Farms in remote areas.
• Mining areas.
• Communications towers.
• Street lighting.
Hybrid Solar Power System
VIDEO Surplus power
Your home is using more power than your
solar system is generating
Main components of On-Grid
Solar System
Photovolatic Modules:
Discussed Later in presentation
Junction Box:
Used majorly in two different places in PV
systems i.e.
1- at the interconnection to power converter.
Here all the PV strings are joined together.
2 at solar PV enclosure, here , it comprises of
bypass diodes thereby allowing the power flow
only in one direction i.e. from solar panel to the
utility system.
Junction Box:
On-Grid Inverter:
• On-grid inverter is the one which converts the
DC power to AC power.
• Inter connect with the present day power sector.
• various type of inverter available in the market
whose rating is from small kVA to larger kVA.
• Wiring
• Disconnect Switches
• Mounting System
• Inverter
• Solar Generation
Meter
PV MODULE
Terminology
Solar Technology: PV Components
Cell
• LOSS EVALUATION:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/
engineering/grid-connected-photovoltaic-
systems
String, Central and Microinverter
• A string inverter is connected to a series or “string” of solar
panels and converts the power from Direct Current (DC) in to
Alternate Current (AC) electricity,
• This is the most common type of inverter used in residential and
small / medium commercial systems
• A central inverter It is like large string inverter designed to
handle more power and offer efficiencies / economies of scale.
Central inverters are not used for residential solar systems
• In a micro inverter system, each panel has its own micro-inverter
attached to the rear side of the panel. The panel still produces DC,
but is converted to AC on the roof and is fed straight to the
electrical switchboard
Micro inverters
• Micro inverters are a great alternative to the
common 'string' solar inverter and are used in
over half of all solar installations in North
America. Micro inverters, also known as micros,
have several advantages over string solar
inverters but a marginally higher upfront cost..
• Enphase Energy founded in 2006 has long been
regarded as the world leading micro inverter
manufacturer.
advantages when using micro Inverters:
Time
<Examples of harmonic source>
Representative example is equipment using transistor, diode.
Workshop
• Salt and/or lightning damage, wind condition – collect all the possible
obstacles
Average loss in N
energy produced
W 75% 75% E
90
%
90
%
100%
S
Design: Shading
10% shading of an
array can lead to a 50%
decline in efficiency
BASICS
Line voltage VL= voltage between lines
BALANCED STAR
Line Voltage,
VL=√3Vph
Line current, IL = Iph
THREE PHASE SYSTEM
BALANCED DELTA
Line Voltage VL= Vph
Line current IL = √3 Iph
Difference between Star and Delta Starters
for motors
• The speed of the star-connected motors is
slow as they receive 1/√3 of the voltage but
the speed of the delta connected motors is
high because each phase gets the total of the
line voltage.
• Star/Delta working is old hat, these days VFD
drives are used to start motors and run them
at what ever power, speed is required
Power Factor
• kVA: apparent power
• kVA is a measure of apparent power: it tells you the total amount of power in use in a
system. In a 100% efficient system kW = kVA. However electrical systems are never 100%
efficient and therefore not all of the systems apparent power is being used for useful work
output.
• kW: actual power
• kW is the amount of power that is converted into a useful output. kW is therefore known
as actual power or working power.
• Power Factor: a measure of electrical efficiency
• You can convert between kVA and kW if you know the efficiency of the electrical system.
Electrical efficiency is expressed as a power factor between 0 and 1: the closer the power
factor is to 1, the more efficiently the kVA is being converted into useful kW. Generators
have a power factor of 0.8.
• The formula for converting kVA into kW is:
• Apparent power (kVA) x power factor (pf) = actual power (kW)
• e.g. 100 kVA x 0.8 = 80 kW
https://powerelectrics.com/blog/the-
difference-between-kw-and-kva
String Sizing
• Why Does String Sizing Matter?
Total
System
• Financing
Soft Costs Cost
• Permitting
• Customer Acquisition
• Installation
• Maintenance
SOLAR SYSTEM DESIGN
SOFTWARES
More than 10 softwares
Most Popular among them
• Helioscope
• PVSyst
• PV*Sol
Sketch made by Helioscope
VIDEO OF ROOF SOLAR PANELS
• Folder solar system design
Helioscope Solar Simulation Software
• String sizing calculations depend on the specific voltage of your panels and inverter, as well as
outside factors like temperature.
• Each panel has an output voltage. This is the voltage the panel sends to the inverter.
• Open circuit voltage (Voc): The voltage supplied when the circuit is open—that is, when
current isn’t passing through the circuit. This state occurs when the inverter isn’t powered on.
• Max Power voltage (Vmp): The voltage of the panel after it is turned on and operating
normally under load (current is flowing through the circuit).
• Find these numbers on the panel spec sheet. It’s different for every panel.
• On the inverter spec sheet, look for the rated MPP voltage range. This is for ideal operation
String Sizing
• Also take note of the max DC input voltage. We’re
especially concerned about this, because if you exceed the
max operating voltage, you’ll overload the inverter and
potentially fry the equipment. Going over the max
operating voltage will void the warranty on your inverter.
check that this falls under the top end of the MPP range,
i.e., below Max MPP Voltage then it is OK.
If we had arrived at a number above the MPP range in this
step, we would reduce the max string size by 1 and
recalculate until we successfully fall within the MPP range.
String Sizing (Temperature)
• Step 4: Account for temperature in your
location
• We use the coldest day on record to account
for the worst-case scenario in our string sizing
calculations
String Sizing
• The temperature coefficient on these panels is
0.280%/°C. This means that for each degree
Celsius away from the NOCT, the panel will
produce .28% more voltage.
• Extreme heat will affect minimum string size, though, and you may
want to check that your minimum string size still falls within the MPP
range for optimal efficiency. To do that, you follow the same
calculations as above, but you need to use different values: