DESIGN OF SMALL SCALE SOLAR POWERED HOUSE

Smita Joshi,
Assistant Professor
G. H. Patel College of Engineering & Technology, India
Neha Upadhyaya
Assistant Professor
G. H. Patel College of Engineering & Technology, India

Abstract
Electrical Load calculation of a small size solar powered house has been done and the
components of the solar electrical supply like solar panels, charge controller, battery backup
and load has been explained briefly. The load, for small family, consists of lights, fans,
television, refrigerator and air conditioner. 3kVA invertor was required considering its
efficiency as 80%.The battery backup of 96V and 300Ah was sufficient to run the load. To
charge these batteries 16 solar modules each of capacity 250W is required for which 8m2
roof area is required. Estimated cost for electrification was approximately Rs. 1 lac.

Keywords
rooftop solar photovoltaic, Charge Controller, Battery backup, Solar PV module

Introduction

With conventional energy sources being limited in their availability, the search for alternative
renewable energy sources is inevitable. Solar energy, an inexhaustible renewable energy is
considered a vital source for a developing country like India, where there is a major deficit between
the demand and supply of electricity. Energy from the sun has been used to provide electricity for
many years. This form of renewable energy occupies less space compared to the space occupied
by hydropower projects [1]. Developing countries can cover all their demands for energy by solar
systems with 0.1% of the land area.
Figure 1 shows the bar chart of the energy utilization for home appliances (23%), water heating
(13%), lighting (11%), refrigerator (8%), space heating and AC (45%)[2].

Figure 1energy consumption in India

Electricity consumption of residential sector currently 23% is growing at the rate of 8% per annum.
This poses serious challenge for energy as well as climate security. Proper selection of materials
and architectural design can improve thermal efficiency of the building and can reduce the energy
use. The direct use of energy is different for commercial buildings and residential buildings. In
commercial buildings lighting, heating, ventilations and air conditioning dominate the energy
consumption. Only lighting and air conditioning can account for 80% of energy consumption in typical
commercial buildings. But in residential buildings more diverse use dominates- lighting, Air
conditioner, fans, refrigerator, television etc. Fans are the highest at 34% followed by lighting at 28%.
Air conditioner is still a small contributor given to the modest life style. Fairly energy saving is possible
form building construction and operation. The energy audits of the buildings so far carried out by
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) shows that the existing buildings have 30 to 50% energy saving
potential[3] .

To incorporate photovoltaic effect use of solar module can be done. Different methods for
fabrication of solar cell have been developed .So far the silicon solar cell with selective coating
pillars is fabricated by Cesium Chloride (CsCl) self-assembly lithography and UV- lithography. The
photovoltaic conversion efficiency (PCE) improves from 12.18% to 15.37% [4]. Dye synthesized
solar cells (DSSCs) incorporated with carbon nano-onions as counter electrodes have been
studied by Ian Y.Y.Bu [5] It was observed that DSSCs performance was comparable with the
conventionally used Platinum. Skoplaki et.al [6] has studied the efficiency and power correlations
temperature dependence of photovoltaic module.
The aim of the system is to achieve best output on small scale solar powered house.
Focussing load as fan, mobile charger & tube lights, fridge, refrigerator, television etc. Home
lighting systems are powered by solar energy using solar modules. The generated electricity is
stored in batteries and used for the purpose of lighting whenever required. These systems are
most widely used in non-electrified rural areas and as reliable emergency lighting system for
important domestic, commercial and industrial applications. The Solar Home Lighting system is a
fixed installation designed for domestic application. The system comprises of Solar PV Module
(Solar Cells), charge controller, battery and lighting system (lamps & fans)

Over all system design

Figure 2 shows the basic block diagram of a solar system, the main blocks are PV
modules, charge controllers, battery backup and load.
Basic Block diagram of solar system system:

Charge
PV MODULE Battery Back up Load
Controller

Figure 2 Block diagram of a solar system

PV Modules:
There are mainly three types of solar PV modules (1) Monocrystalline (Circular or pseudo
square) (2) Multi crystalline (Square or rectangular) and (3) Amorphous

Charge Controllers:
Charge controllers prevents the battery from over charging and deep discharging.
Types of Charge Controllers:
There are four types of charge controllers used in the circuits involving batteries. These
parameters are explained in detail as follows:
1. Shunt type charge controller
2. Series type charge controller
3. DC to DC type charge controller and
4. MPPT charge controller
Though abundant, solar insolation is an unreliable source of energy, it fluctuates as a function of
time and is not available during the nights or in cloudy sky. Therefore, when the PV systems are
used for stand-alone applications, a backup source of energy is necessary to compensate for the
balance power demand of the load. Batteries are, generally, used as a backup source in such
applications. To reduce the cost of the system, the ratings of the batteries are designed optimally.
Battery feeds the load when the PV output power is less than the load demand and is charged when
PV output power is more than the load demand. In applications, where batteries are used, it is critical
to prevent over-charging or deep discharging of the batteries to preserve their life and to ensure
good performance. This is achieved using what is called charge controllers. Figure 3 shows a basic
block diagram of a stand-alone PV system with battery and charge controller.

Figure 3 Block diagram of standalone PV system with battery and charge controller

INTRODUCTION TO BATTERIES:
Battery is an electrochemical device that converts the chemical energy contained in its active
material directly into electrical energy and vice versa by means of oxidation-reduction reactions.
Batteries are used for storing energy. Batteries are one of the most sensitive components of a PV
system and expensive too. Accounting for nearly 20% to 40% of the total cost of the PV system.
They also need regular maintenance.
Battery Classification
The batteries may be classified into the following two major categories: (a) primary batteries
and (b) secondary batteries.
 Primary batteries :
The primary batteries are non-rechargeable batteries. These batteries cannot be recharged
once they have discharged and must be discarded. The primary batteries are also called dry
batteries as often electrolyte is absorbed in the separator (no free liquid electrolyte). The primary
batteries are cheap, light weight and commonly used for portable electronic devices. They have high
energy density (energy/weight of battery) and a relatively long shelf life for moderate discharge
current. The examples of primary batteries include zinc-chloride, zinc-carbon, alkaline and the lithium
batteries.
 Secondary batteries:
Secondary batteries are rechargeable batteries. These batteries can be charged and
recharged several times. They are used as a storage device for electrical energy and, therefore, also
referred to as storage batteries. Secondary batteries are characterized by high power density, high
power per unit weight of battery (but poor energy density as compared to primary battery) and high
discharge rates. Their charge retention period is poor resulting in poor shelf life. The examples of
secondary batteries include the lead•-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries and nickel-cadmium (Ni-
Cd) batteries. Secondary batteries are more expensive than the primary batteries and are used in
applications which involve a number of charge and discharge cycles, such as in solar PV systems
[7].
LOAD:

Description of calculated load is given under table 1 below:

Table 1 Load calculation of a small solar powered house

Sr. Equipment Number of Wattage Total Working Watt

No. Name Equipments Wattage Hours hours

1. Tube light 3 40 120 10 1200

2. Fan 3 80 240 10 2400

3. Television 1 150 150 5 750

4. Fridge 1 350 350 12 4200

5. Air Conditioner 1 1500 1500 5 7500

Total 2120 2360 16,050

Calculations:

• If Inverter Efficiency = 80%, power required will be 2360/0.80= 2950VA ≈ 3kVA

• System voltage = Inverter voltage= 96V
• Battery Selection: Lead acid battery is the suitable for solar power storage.
• Amp-hour required= 16050/96*0.85*0.80*0.70= 351.23 ah
• No. of batteries in series N1 = System voltage/ Single battery voltage=96/12=8 batteries
• No. of batteries in parallel N2 = System Amp-hr/ Single battery Amp-hr =350/150=2.3≈ 2
batteries
• Total batteries= No. of batteries in series N1 * No. of batteries in parallel N2 = 8*2=16 batteries
 Figure 4 Battery connection
Figure 4 shows Battery backup in which 8 batteries are connected in series and parallel
combination as per the calculations.

IF the peak sun hour of a given area is taken as 5.9kW/m2 then system kWh= 16050Whr
The wattage= Energy/ Peak sun hour = 16050/4=4kW
No of PV modules required=4000/250 = 16
Voltage of single PV module = 24 W
No. of PV module in series= Inverter voltage/ single PV voltage=96/24=4
No. of PV module in parallel= Total no of panel/ no of PV module in series=16/4=4
Area Requirement for PV module for 1K power plant

Total Power =Total Area* Solar irradiance*Conversion efficiency =1000W

Conversion efficiency=18%
Solar irradiance= 1000W/m2
Area required=5.56m2 (Considering 20% walking area) =6.67 m2
Spacing between PV panel is 10mm
Considering all these parameters the required area is tabulated for power pant of different
capacities.
Table 2 Area requirement of small scale solar power pants
Sr.No. Plant Capacity(kW) Area Requirement (sq. feet)
1 1 12
2 2 24
3 3 36
4 4 48

Per day power generation calculations:

Units= System size* no. of days* Peak sun ours = 1kW* 1*4 = 4kW
Power generation per annum= 300* 4 =1200kW (Considering 300 sunny days per year)
Cost analysis of power plant for 1kW :
Table 3 Cost analysis of small scale power plant of capacity 1kW
Sr. N0 Component Rates in Rs.
1 Mounting structure 5000
2 PV module 50000 (Rs.50/ W)
3 Inverter + charge controller 12000
4 Battery 25000
5 Wires and labor 8000
Total 100000/-

Conclusion
In this paper we are utilising sun power on small scale. So, the described design is only for
calculated load power. By utilizing solar power the consumption of conventional grid
supplied power is reduce drastically and energy saving can be done.

References

[1] H. J. Corsair, “Clean energy and extreme poverty: The cost burden of
donated solar home lighting systems,” Conference Proceeding, IEEE
Power and Energy Society General Meeting, pp. 1-6, 2009.
[2] [email protected]
[3] Sakshi C Dasgupta, buildings: earthcrapers, Environment impact
assessment of buildings, Sustainable Building Program, 2011.Center of
Science and Environment, New Delhi
[4] Jing Lui at.al “The performance of silicon solar cell with selective pillars
fabricated by Cesium Chloride self-assembly lithography and UV-
lithography”, Solar Energy Volume 105, July 2014, 274–279.
[5] Ian Y.Y. Bu, “Synthesis of graphitic carbon nano-onions for dye
sensitized solar cells”: Solar Energy, Volume 105, July 2014.
[6] Skoplaki, E., Palyvos, J.A. On the temperature dependence of
photovoltaic module electrical performance: A review of efficiency/power
correlations, Solar Energy 83 (2009) 614–624.
[7] Solanki C. “Solar Photovoltaic Technology and systems, A manual for
Technicians, Trainers and Engineers” (PHI Learning Private , New
Delhi,2013) p.75