Photovoltaic System Design

NEEDS ASSESSMENT /
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM DESIGN

Outcome
• Design a PV system
Introduction
• The PV solar system requires high initial cost to put
up the infrastructures.
• As a result it is imperative to determine a cost-

effective design.
• The lifespan of PV panel is 25 – 30 years, thus solar

power will be available within this period with
minimal maintenance cost.
• In many cases, the return on investment for solar

infrastructures is usually on the long term, which
may leverage out the initial cost of infrastructures
typically within 5 years.
Design steps
• Energy / Power audit
• Sizing of the PV modules
• Inverter sizing
• Battery sizing
• Solar charge controller sizing
• Cable sizing
Energy and Power Audit
• The first step in the design of a solar PV
system is to determine the total power and
energy consumption of all loads that need to
be supplied by the solar PV system.
• This is known as Energy and Power Audit

Energy and Power Audit
1. Power Audit: Determine the total power in
(Watts) of all appliances in your home
2. Energy Audit: Determine total energy

consumption (Watt-hour) per day required by all
the appliances in your home.
3. You should take losses into account, the total

energy to be supplied by the panel per day
≈ Watt-hour × 1.3
Sizing of the PV Modules
• Determine the total Watt peak (Wp) from the
panels
• Determine the number of panels required

Sizing of the PV Modules: Watt-peak
Total _ Energy _ in _ Watt  hour
Wp Peak _ sun _ hour
• A peak sun-hour, specifically, is the hour during which the
intensity of sunlight is 1,000 Watts per square meter.
• Peak sun hour can be estimated from the data generated

on NASA database (https://power.larc.nasa.gov/)
• Peak sun hour can directly be obtained empirically using a

solar power meter (insolation meter) that measures the
solar irradiance. Peak sun hour is approximately 5 hours in
the South West Nigeria. Can be up to 7 hours in the North.
Sizing of the PV Modules: Number of
Panels
• Choose the availabe single panel you want to
use e.g 300 Watts, 200 Watts
Total _ Watt _ peak

Number _ of _ panels 
Rating _ of _ sin gle _ panel _(Watts)
• Approximate to nearest whole number

Inverter sizing
• The inverter rating should never be lower than the total
power of all devices in your home ! You may destroy the
inverter with surge current !
• For homes with only resistive load (without refrigerator or

pumping machine)
Inverter size ≈ 1.3 × total power (Watts)
• For homes with both resistive and inductive load (with

pumping machine or refrigerator)
Inverter size ≈ 3 × total power (inductive load) + 1.3 × total
power (Watts) (non-inductive load)
Battery sizing
• Deep cycle battery is recommended
• Battery rating (Ah) :
• DOD = depth of discharge

• Factor 0.85 takes battery losses into account
• The days of autonomy is the number of days in
which the battery bank can supply power without
being recharged by the PV panels.
Solar charge controller sizing
• The solar charge controller is typically rated against
amperage and voltage capacities.
• It should have capacity to handle the total short

current from the PV array.
• For ordinary controllers (PWM –type), the standard

practice is:
Current rating = Total short circuit current of PV array x
1.3
Input voltage rating = Open circuit voltage of PV array
Cable sizing
Cables with high conductivity and large cross

sectional area are recommended
Design example
Energy / Power Audit
Typical house hold power consumption
Rating (Watt) Hour Energy (Watt-hour)
2 Decoders 30 8 240
LCD/LED TV 60 8 480
1 Laptop computer 70 8 560
1 Deep freezer 200 8 1600
Energy saving lighting (10 X 15W Bulb) 150 10 1500
1 Phone charger 10 4 40
520 4420
PV module sizing
• Energy to be supplied by panel = 1.3 × 4420 =
5746 Watt-hour
Watt peak =
Number of 200 W panels =

Inverter size
• Inverter size:
Battery sizing
• Suppose 200 Ah battery, 12 V is chosen as the
single deep cycle battery unit
• Battery size (Ah) =

(for 1 day of autonomy)
• Number of 200 Ah batteries, 12 V needed
• 4 times 200 Ah batteries, 12 V is required

Charge controller sizing
• Suppose the short circuit current for 200 W panel
is 4.7 A (please check the panel rating)
Since 6 panels are required, total Isc = 4.7×6 = 28.2

A
Considering the factor of safety 1.3
Charge controller rating = 1.3 × 28.2 = 36.6
In this case, I will choose 40 – 50 A controller
Input voltage more than 40 V
Cable sizing
• Generally use at least 6 mm square cable for
dc voltage connection to minimise lossed
• DC are more prone to losses than AC

The End
Questions ??
Practical Task
• Connect solar charge controller, battery and
solar panel
• Power a dc bulb
• On the charge controller, set the load on to

12.5 V, load off to 10 V and PV off to 13.9 V

Photovoltaic System Design

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Photovoltaic System Design

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Photovoltaic System Design

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NEEDS ASSESSMENT /

PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM DESIGN

• As a result it is imperative to determine a cost-

• The lifespan of PV panel is 25 – 30 years, thus solar

• In many cases, the return on investment for solar

• Sizing of the PV modules

• Solar charge controller sizing

• This is known as Energy and Power Audit

2. Energy Audit: Determine total energy

3. You should take losses into account, the total

• Determine the number of panels required

• Peak sun hour can be estimated from the data generated

• Peak sun hour can directly be obtained empirically using a

Total _ Watt _ peak

• Approximate to nearest whole number

• For homes with only resistive load (without refrigerator or

• For homes with both resistive and inductive load (with

• DOD = depth of discharge

• It should have capacity to handle the total short

• For ordinary controllers (PWM –type), the standard

Cables with high conductivity and large cross

Number of 200 W panels =

• Battery size (Ah) =

• 4 times 200 Ah batteries, 12 V is required

Since 6 panels are required, total Isc = 4.7×6 = 28.2

• DC are more prone to losses than AC

• On the charge controller, set the load on to

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.