CHAPTER THREE

3.0 METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Determining the system load is the initial step for any off-grid household PV system

designer. By calculating each appliance's power needs by the typical number of hours used

per day, one may estimate the load's energy consumption. Electrical loads are categorized as

resistive or inductive for design purposes. When powered, resistive loads like heaters and

light bulbs don't have a lot of surge current. In addition to their power ratings, the typical

electrical loads that may be encountered in an ordinary home were recognized. Based on the

loads' use, kind, and frequency, an estimate of their operating duration was made. This was

done in order to have a thorough understanding of the daily energy needs of the residence per

day. Large variable loads for cooking and hot water requirements are often not included in

the PV design; instead, they are either deleted or run off of a different power source

(Guda,H.A. and Aliyu U.O, 2015). The information obtained was used to designed the off

grid domestic PV system using Polysun application software.

3.2 ESTIMATE OF THE HOUSE'S ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION

As shown in table 2, the electric power consumption of household appliances has been

calculated and tabulated. To get the total power consumption for the residence, the power

consumption of each appliance was calculated independently. The overall average energy

demand in watt-hours for all domestic applications is calculated to create the residence load

profile by listing all of the applications together with their power ratings and hours of

operation during various seasons.

Appliance Rated power(w) Number (KW) Hours used/day KWh/ day

Energy bulbs 25 9 0.225 5 1.125

Home theater 35 1 0.035 6 0.21

42’’ plasma TV 250 2 0.50 6 3.00

Ceiling fan 100 4 0.4 8 3.20

Iron 1000 1 1.000 1 1.00

Decoder 30 1 0.03 8 0.24

Laptop 25 3 0.075 8 0.60

Refrigerator 400 1 0.40 16 6.40

Cell phone 4 5 0.02 3 0.06

Air conditioner 850 2 0.85 6 5.5

HP Printer 18 1 0.018 1 0.018

Inkjet printer 30 1 0.03 2 0.06

Washing machine 500 1 0.50 2 1.00

Total 32 4.393 22.359

3.3 DESIGN AND SIZING OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE

The operating voltage used for a household off-grid PV system is determined by the voltage needs of

the biggest loads. The dc system voltage should be chosen after researching the available inverter

characteristics when the loads call for ac power. The majority of DC loads are 12V or multiples of

12V. Due to the low current needed to generate the necessary power, systems running at higher dc

voltage have improved efficiency and power handling capability. Nevertheless, low DC voltage has

been advised against [Guda,H.A. and Aliyu U.O, 2015) since it will severely lower the inverter's

capacity even if it will be necessary to utilize expensive and difficult to find switches, fuses, and
connections. These elements influence the decision to choose 24V DC as the system's operating

voltage. The photovoltaic modules for the house were selected based on the voltage rating of

the modules so that the system will be able to produce the daily energy requirement of the

house. This was done with aid of Polysun application software. Table 3 shows the features of

the selected PV module. The house will contain 24 modules. The tilt angle of the PV modules

is 90 closer to the latitude of the location.

Name STP200S-18/Ud
Manufacturer Suntech power Co. Ltd
Data Source Photon
Number Of Modules 24
Number Of Modules Layout 24
Total Gross Area 46.57m2
Tilt Angle 90
Orientation 0
Total Nominal Generation Field 6.72kw
Module Type monocrystalline
Efficiency STC 0.144
Nominal Power STC 280w
Output Voltage Mpp-STC 35.2v
Output Current Mpp-STC 7.95A
Open Circuit Voltage 44.8v
Open Circuit Current 8.33A
Thickness 0.05m
Length 1.956m
Width 0.992m
Gross Area 1.94m2
Weight 16.8kg

Table 3: Features of the selected PV module

A crucial component of the planned solar home system is the battery, which must provide

enough power to run all the loads at night, on gloomy days, and on dusty days. All solar

systems' batteries are sized in ampere-hours under the industry standard test setting of 25 °C.

The maximum permitted depth of discharge (DOD) is often stated by battery manufacturers.

(DOD). The autonomy day has been taken into account.

The house's off-grid PV system is created such that it won't require grid electricity. The

inhabitants will therefore have access to power even after the sun has set thanks to the

provisions that have been made. The number of batteries required for the system is six (6).

These batteries will be sufficient to power the house throughout the night, according to the

Polysun application's simulation. Table 4 is the name and features of the battery for the

project.

Table 4: Features of the selected storage battery

Name Rating

Nominal capacity 6kwh

Total nominal capacity 36kwh

Cumulative damage 12%

Lifetime 5years

Capacity ratio 0.316

Minimum manufacture SOC (state of charge) 0.3

Nominal voltage 2V

Battery rate constant 1.24

Charging efficiency 0.927

Discharging efficiency 0.927

Maximum charging power 1220w

Daily safe discharge 0.1

3.5 SELECTION OF INVERTER

The selected inverter must be able to handle the maximum expected power of the AC

loads. When specifying an inverter, it is necessary to consider the requirement of the DC

input and the AC output (Albuquereque, NM, 1991). The DC input voltage of the inverter

shall be compatible with the output of the storage bank voltage and should operate within

the range of charge controller voltage. The output will be either single phase or three phase

230V/440V and 50HZ compatible to the AC loads. In most cases, the capacity of the

inverter is taken to be the sum of the total power of all loads (inductive and resistive loads)

running simultaneously and 3.5 times the total power of all inductive loads with large surge

current. The total power output of all loads in the residential building is given as Therefore,

an inverter is a necessity for an off grid PV system (Assad A., 2010) . There are two types

of inverters based on the form of wave they produced. They are called pure sine wave and

modified sine wave. In this study, the pure sine wave inverter is preferred for its efficient

performance and ability to operate any type of load. The selected inverter using Polysun

application software is inverter 2900T with 98% efficiency and 1% cable losses. Two

inverters are required for the system.

3.6 DESIGN OF BATTERY CHARGE CONTROLLER

In a standalone PV system, the charge controller's job is to keep the battery at the greatest

possible level of charge while guarding it from both overcharging and overdischarging from

the loads. Alaje E, O, Yusuf A, Adeyemi W. A, Abioye, I O, Olawale, O K,(2021). Some stand-

alone PV systems can be developed without the use of a charge controller, but they must be able to

carry the short circuit current of the PV array. ( Wu, T., Xiao, Q., Wu, L., Zhang, J., Wang, M.,
2011). Since the control strategy of a battery charge controller impacts the efficiency of

battery charging and PV array utilization, the system's capacity to satisfy load demands, and

the battery's lifespan, a charge controller is necessary in this design. The size or capacity of a

charge controller, as well as its operating voltage, are typically taken into consideration

(Khaled Bataineh, Doraid Dalalah, 2012).

The following expression yields the charge controller's rated maximum current (IR).

𝐼r = 𝑁𝑀𝑃 x 𝐼sc x 𝐹𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦

= 24 x 8.33 x 1.25

= 249.9A

Based on this calculation using the polysun software application, The choice has been made

to purchase two SDC-150A SANDI charge controllers. The detailed specification is given in
Table 5.

Table 5. Charge controller specification

Parameter Voltage 360VDC

Max battery charge current 300A

rated maximum current

249.9
Number of voltage regulator required = =0.833
300

=1
Assad A. (2010) A standalone photovoltaic system, case study: A residence in Gaza’, journal
of applied science in environmental sanitation, 5, pp.81 – 91

Guda,H.A. and Aliyu U.O.,“Design of a Standalone Photovoltaic System for a Residence in

Albuquereque, NM, 1991 Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems: A Handbook of Recommended

Alaje E, O, Yusuf A, Adeyemi W. A, Abioye, I O, Olawale, O K,(2021) Design of a standalone

Wu, T., Xiao, Q., Wu, L., Zhang, J., Wang, M., 2011. Study and implementation on batteries
charging method of micro- grid photovoltaic systems. Smart Grid Renew. Energy 2 (4), 324–
329.

Khaled Bataineh, Doraid Dalalah, 2012 “Optimal Configuration for Design of Stand-Alone
PV System”,Smart Grid and Renewable Energy, 2012, 3, 139-147