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Design Considerations of Stand-Alone Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Conference Paper · November 2018

DOI: 10.1109/ICECUBE.2018.8610970

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 Design Considerations of Stand-Alone Solar
Photovoltaic Systems
Waqas Ali Haroon Farooq Ata Ur Rehman
Dept. of Electrical Engg. (RCET) Dept. of Electrical Engg. (RCET) Dept. of Electrical Engg. (RCET)
University of Engg. & Tech. Lahore University of Engg. & Tech. Lahore University of Engg. & Tech. Lahore
Lahore, Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Qasim Awais Mohsin Jamil Ali Noman
Dept. of Optoelectronic Engineering Dept. of Electrical Engineering Dept. of Electrical Technology
Chongqing University The Islamic University in Madinah Government College of Technology
Chongqing, China Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia Jhang, Pakistan.
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—The stand-alone solar photovoltaic (PV) systems photovoltaic (PV) technology as it is the best and reliable way
are a convenient way to provide the electricity for people far of converting solar radiation into electric power [2]. Due to the
from the electric grid or for people who want the electric power modular nature in comparison to other renewable technologies,
without any dependence on utility grid, to run their usual the solar PV technology emerges as an ideal solution for off-
activities either at homes or at businesses. The size of these grid power [3]. This technology has gained a great attention for
systems vary according to the available solar radiations and his successful attempts to supply electrical power to
different load conditions. Therefore, this paper takes an autonomous off-grid rural areas and since many
organized approach regarding the designing of these systems. implementations has been successfully done worldwide.
For this purpose, the detailed guidelines and technical
Moreover; owing to zero sound pollution and green house gas
considerations needed in the design process of a solar PV system
is presented for stand-alone application. The guidelines for the
emission, it highly contributes towards the sustainability of the
selection of appropriate site/location along with the method for environment [4]. In addition, its production capability can be
the assessment of solar energy resource at the chosen site is conveniently expanded as per need and low maintenance is
provided in this paper. The technical considerations for assessing required due to the absence of any moving parts [5].
the load energy demand on daily basis and sizing of the different Depending upon the consumer demands, a variety of
components of solar system including PV panels, charge configurations, ranges from few watts to hundreds and from
controller, storage batteries, inverter and other appurtenances hundreds to kilo-watts power systems and micro-grids can be
such as cables etc. required for the design configuration and designed using this technology for small housing and business
installation of a solar PV system are given in this work. So, this communities either in urban or in remote localities [3]. But, the
paper will be helpful for designing and installing a solar major problem with this technology is its high initial cost.
PV power system suitable for stand-alone operation in sustaining However, a dramatic reductions in prices of PV panels or
the small housing and business communities both in rural modules have been observed worldwide in the last few years
and urban areas. due to the growth in their demands and competitiveness of the
markets [3, 6].
Keywords—stand-alone, solar, considerations, PV, panel,
module, array, charge controller, battery bank, inverter. The stand-alone electricity generation systems using PV
technology has come up as a major and favored way to harness
I. INTRODUCTION the solar energy due to its multi-dimensional advantages such
as energy independence, safety, security, lack of electric bills,
The renewable energy has attracted a lot of attention all easier and timely installation, long-term back-up in case of
over the world in the recent times due to the growing energy storage system and power whenever and wherever you needed
demand, increased environmental sustainability concerns, and [7]. Therefore, the stand-alone solar PV system is an ultimate,
scarcity and increased prices of fossil fuels. The solar energy is convenient and self-sufficient alternative to provide electricity
the most prominent among all the renewable sources, as it is an for people living far from the electric grid in remote locations
inexhaustible and cleanest resource of energy and its utilization where grid extension is practically unviable or for people living
is also ecologically friendly. The current worldwide energy in metropolitan areas who want electric power without having
demands are fairly less than the available potential of solar a connection to utility grid [8]. So, the aim of this work is to
energy [1]. present the detailed guidelines and considerations for the
The exploitation of solar energy for electricity production design of such systems using an organized approach. Thus, this
in the last few years has been increasing substantially as paper gives the directions and technical procedures from site
compared to other renewable resources, majorly because of the assessment to the sizing of components needed in the design

978-1-5386-7939-5/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE

process for configuring and installing a solar PV system for of the site. Therefore, in planning a stand-alone solar PV
stand-alone deployments. system, the following points should be considered carefully
during the location assessment and surveying for a suitable
II. CONFIGURATION OF STAND-ALONE SOLAR selection of site [11].
PV SYSTEM  Selection of site/location either at roof or at ground
The general configuration of stand-alone solar PV power which has minimum shade.
system is given in Fig. 1. A stand-alone system based upon  Orientation and direction of the selected site/location.
solar power comprises of a PV panels array to collect solar  Total available land/surface area of the selected
energy, a charge controller as a control unit, a battery as a location/site.
storage device and an inverter for DC/AC conversion for AC  In case of roof, the type and structure of the roof.
loads [9]. Due to the simple, easier, uncomplicated and trouble-  Possible routes for cables, battery and inverter from
free nature of the stand-alone PV systems, they are rapidly the selected site/location.
prevalent throughout the world [10]. The working of stand-
alone solar system starts with the capturing of sunlight by tilted B. Solar Energy Resource Assessment
PV panels that is converted into electricity. The produced The solar energy resource assessment on the selected
electricity is then regulated by a charge controller. The site/location is extremely essential in planning an autonomous
electricity generated in excess of the demand can be stored in photovoltaic system from the sizing viewpoint to estimate the
the batteries to be utilized as backup during the night time or at output power. Therefore, when assessing the resource of solar
any other time when the sun-shine is not available due to energy, the mean daily insolation in peak-sun hours per day or
cloudy weather. The inverter converts the DC electricity to AC kilo-watt hours per square meter per day (kWh/m2/day) is
to run the AC loads (i.e. household appliances, lamps etc.). needed for all the months in a whole year [9]. This can be
obtain from the records of nearby meteorological station or can
III. PLANNING GUIDELINES FOR STAND-ALONE be found using internet resources for solar radiation data.
SOLAR PV SYSTEM Moreover, the following points should be considered
The characteristics of the site from the solar energy cautiously when finding the insolation data.
resource point of view is very important for the designing and  Do not use the sun-shine hours, as they are not the
installation of a stand-alone solar PV system. Therefore, it is same as insolation or peak-sun hours.
important to consider the following guidelines before the  Do not use the average annual sun-shine hours
planning of a solar system. equivalent to insolation and do not use the average
annual peak-sun hours as insolation for designing a
A. Location/Site Assessment and Surveying stand-alone PV system.
The selection of appropriate location/site based on solar  Use the lowest mean daily insolation value amongst
resource is very significant as the output of a PV system varies all the months over the year for the design of stand-
depending upon the time of the day and geographical locality alone solar system, so that when the sun is least

Sun-Light/Solar Stand-Alone Solar PV System

Radiation

AC Load
PV Modules

Charge Controller Battery Bank Inverter Distribution Board

Fig. 1. Configuration of stand-alone solar PV energy system.

 available due to weather conditions, the solar system Whereas:
can work [8].  Et represents the total energy demand in per day of all
the load in watt-hours.
IV. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS OF STAND-ALONE
SOLAR PV SYSTEM B. Sizing of the PV Array
The technical design considerations for a stand-alone or The different size of PV panels or modules produce
off-grid solar photovoltaic system differs from those adopted different amount of power according to their market
for a grid connected system. A stand-alone PV system is availability. Generally, they are rated in peak-watts which
supposed to meet the daily demand of a household rather than depends on their module size and the weather conditions of the
meeting the respective demand per annum. The photovoltaic selected location of site [15]. Therefore, to calculate the size
system must have capacity to charge the battery bank enough and number of PV modules needed for specific loads, the rated
so that the appliances and/or lights keep operating. Therefore, peak-watts produced by the chosen panel is required.
it should incorporate an adequate amount of battery storage to Thus, the total size of solar panels or PV array against
provide the power at nights, other low sun-shine times and for specific load demand is calculated as [15, 16]:
a certain number of days and nights in a row when the sun is
not available. So, without the utility back-up as a supplemental
electricity source, the sizing of a solar system’s component and Et
its integration with each other are technically a critical part of Pt − pv = × 1.3 (3)
PGF
the designing stage which should be done very cautiously for
reliable operation of the designed system [12]. A mismatch
Whereas:
among operational features of the various parts of the system
 Pt-pv represents the complete size of PV array in watts.
may result in the reduction of the output energy.
 PGF represents the power generation factor.
Therefore, the following technical considerations for the  The value 1.3 represents the scaling factor.
sizing of photovoltaic array, charge controller, battery bank
The power generation factor in (3) is taken to account for
inverter and cable for the connection of these components are
the impact of climate conditions at different site locations [16].
very important for designing an optimal solar PV system for
However, the most common mathematical relationship use to
stand-alone application.
calculate the total size of PV array by utilizing the mean daily
insolation in peak-sun hours to run the required load is given as
A. Calculation of the Energy Demand follow [13, 17].
This is the fundamental step in designing a stand-alone
solar PV system for a home or office or any other building is to Et
Pt − pv = ×1.2 (4)
calculate the total energy demand on daily basis [13]. For this Tpeak − hours
purpose, the load of each lamp or appliance is measured in
watts and the time of use or operation of that appliance is Whereas:
considered in hours. Load and the running time vary from  Tpeak-hours represents the lowest daily average peak-sun
appliance to appliance. Therefore, be careful in measuring and hours of a month in an year.
considering the load of appliances or any other devices along  The value 1.2 represents the scaling factor same as
with their time of use as the size of stand-alone PV system in (3).
totally dependent on this step [14]. The energy consumption
Hence, the number of PV modules or panels required
demand of individual load in Wh (watt-hours) is calculated by
against the total size of PV array in (3) or (4) is computed
multiplying the appliance’s load power with its time of use as:
using the peak-watts of the chosen panel size on market
availability as [15]:
Ei = Pi × Tu (1) Pt − pv
N modules = (5)
Wpi
Whereas:
 Ei represents the energy demand per day of individual Whereas:
load in watt-hours.  Nmodules represents the total number of modules.
 Pi represents the rating of individual load in  Wpi represents the rating in peak-watts of selected
watts. panel or module in watts.
 Tu represents the time of use of that load in per day in
hours. C. Sizing of the Charge Controller
Thus, the total energy demand in Wh on daily basis is
calculated by adding the individual load demand of each Generally, two major problems with the batteries are
appliance in per day, mathematically expressed as: overcharging and undercharging [18, 19]. These problems can
be overcome by balancing the charging of batteries by utilizing
a solar charge controller of accurate size between the batteries
Et =  Ei =  ( Pi × Tu ) (2) and solar array [20]. The solar charge controller also called
solar charge regulator is basically a voltage and/or current
regulator that controls the current and voltage from PV panels Et
to batteries and rejects the back current toward the solar ( Ah)bank = × Tbackup × 0.05 (8)
Vdc − sys
modules [13, 21].
The size of a solar charge controller is rated in current and Whereas:
voltage. The value of current rating is calculated using the  Tbackup represents the total time required for backup in
short circuit current rating of selected PV modules. While, the hours.
value of voltage rating is the same as the nominal voltage of  The value of 0.05 represents derating factor.
batteries or a battery. Thus, the ampere size or current rating of
solar charge controller is calculated mathematically as [14, 15]: Thus, the number of batteries required to construct the size
of battery bank in (7) or (8), is calculated as follow using the
size of single battery as per market availability.
I scc = I sc ×1.3 (6)

Whereas: ( Ah)bank
N batteries = (9)
 Iscc represents the size of solar charge controller in ( Ah)battery
amperes.
 Isc represents the short circuit current rating of Whereas:
selected PV unit.  Nbatteries represents the total number of batteries
 The value 1.3 represents the safety factor. required against the size of (Ah)bank.
 (Ah)battery represents the capacity of single battery in
D. Sizing of the Battery Bank ampere-hour.
To ensure the availability of energy at night and under
cloudy conditions, the photovoltaic modules must store energy E. Sizing of the of Inverter
in some type of storage during the peak sunlight hours. The The inverter is a device that is used to convert the DC
different types of rechargeable batteries are available in market power to an AC power. Normally, the household appliances
but the most commonly used type is lead-acid because they are operate on AC power. While, the solar modules generates DC
readily available, cost-effective, longevity and more suitable power that is stored in batteries. Therefore, an inverter of
for stand-alone solar electric power systems [8, 22]. optimum size is used in between the batteries and AC loads to
The capacity of batteries are expressed in ampere-hour convert the stored DC power in batteries to AC power to run
(Ah). The various factors are considered during the selection the AC home appliances.
and sizing of batteries or battery bank. These factors include Usually, an inverter is chosen considering different
the appliances total load, inverter size and efficiency, days of parameters including cost, maintenance requirements,
autonomy, discharge depth and the battery nominal voltage reliability, frequency and voltage regulation and efficiency
[13]. However, among all factors, the factor of autonomy days [20]. The size of the inverter is optimized based upon PV array
is very important one. These days represents the number of output which considers the total load. There must not be a
cloudy days in a row that might occur and for which the mismatch among the battery bank and inverter voltage. The
batteries will need to supply energy to the load. Usually, 3 days output capacity of the inverter, for a stand-alone system, must
is considered as a standard for number of autonomy days [23]. be high enough to support the peak load power demand.
Thus, the battery size or capacity should be increased to 1.5-3 Therefore, its size should be 20-30 % higher than the total
times more to make it oversize rather than undersize [21]. The power of all the running load for ensuring safety [11, 21].
simplest relationship used to determine the size of batteries or Moreover, in the case of an appliance has a motor or a
battery bank for a certain load demand is as follow [14]: compressor for its working, then the size of inverter should be
considered 3-5 times greater than the power demand of that
appliance [13]. Thus, the size of inverter is mathematically
Et
( Ah)bank = × Daut × 1.25 (7) calculated as [14]:
Vdc − sys

Whereas: (VA)inv = (VA)t − load × CF . (10)

 (Ah)bank represents the size or capacity of battery bank
in ampere-hour. Whereas:
 Vdc-sys represents the solar system voltage in DC.  (VA)inv represents the rating of inverter in volt-ampere.
 Daut represents the days of autonomy.  CF represents the correction factor for safety whose
 The value of 1.25 represents the factor to account for value is 3 for motor loads and 1.25 for simple loads
the efficiency. without motor.
 (VA)t-load represents the total electrical load in volt-
However, another way to calculate the capacity of battery ampere and calculated by summation of the VA rating
bank is as follow: (VA)i of all the individual loads as:
 Pi decentralized stand-alone solar PV system in order to supply
(VA)t −load =  (VA)i =  (11) the energy for small housing and business communities.
pf
Whether the requirement is a cabin in the woods, a rural or
urban house, a business center, a cruising sailboat or a garden
 pf is the power factor of each individual load. shed. Based on the daily utilization and load demand, the
capacity sizing of PV array, solar charge controller, backup
F. Sizing of the Cables battery storage, DC/AC inverter and connecting cables is
The size of cables is very important for stand-alone solar provided in this work. This paper will be useful for designing
system as they are used to connect the different components of and installing the solar PV system for stand-alone task either
the PV system with each other and to the electrical load. In for replacing the conventional source or for providing the
general, their size depends on the maximum current carrying sustainable source.
capacity and should be sufficient in order to minimize the
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