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DESIGN OF A PV SYSTEM

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DESIGN OF A PV SYSTEM
1
Makinde Kayode and 2Amao Enock
1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal Polytechnic Bida, Niger State, Nigeria
2
Department of Physics, Federal Polytechnic Bida, Niger State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Solar energy has incredible potential to power our daily lives. This paper presents the design of a
PV system. The main objective of using the PV system is to power the Federal Polytechnic
Medical Centre Bida utilities in the case of light out. In emergency cases, it is not required to
power the whole clinic utility but some selected important loads that shouldn’t go off during
light out especially when some specific test or minor operations are ongoing. The required load
(665W) to be powered by the PV system was completely determined. The proposed PV system
for powering the predetermined load was introduced. Each part of the system was designed and
sized based on the load requirement and a block cell of 800AH was used to backup for 10 hours,
having a total load of 665W. Finally, the practical implementation for the overall PV system for
powering the required clinic was obtained as 1600Wp. The implemented system works in an
efficient way.

Keywords: Design, Sizing, Implementation, PV system, DC loads, Battery

1. INTRODUCTION

A photovoltaic system, also solar power system is one of the renewable energy systems which
use PV modules to convert sunlight into electricity. The electricity generated can be stored or
used directly, fed back into grid line or combined with one or more other electricity generators or
more renewable energy source [1]. Solar PV system is very reliable and clean source of
electricity that can suit a wide range of applications such as residence, industry, agriculture,
livestock, clinic etc.

Several works have been done in the area of PV design system, one of such work is the one done
by Obi, and he researched on the use of renewable energy as an alternative power supply to new
faculty of management science building in Rivers State University. a comparative analysis was
carried out using Microsoft excel and PVsyst V6.55 and the software indicates that the
comparative analysis between the 400KW solar panels and batteries, PHED (port Harcourt
electricity distribution) and the 500KVA generator set, for duration of 25 years shows that
Generator set and solar system is cost effective over PHED and solar system. This combination

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shows that, there is still larger percentage of gas emission to the immediate environment and
maybe hazardous to the immediate habitant. The new design has no gas emission [2].

Similarly, Ali developed an application for off-grid solar PV system for power processing unit.
The design was meant to charge solar batteries effectively. It employs a combination of a voltage
controlled voltage source inverter (VCVSI) and a current controlled voltage source inverter
(CCVSI), connected in series on the DC side and in parallel on the AC side. This Power
Processing Unit was able to provide an uninterruptible power supply feature and load voltage
stabilization. The physical design was a prototype work whereas the project at hand is
0.665KVA off-grid[3].

Kehinde also presented a paper design of grid-connected and stand-alone photovoltaic systems
for residential energy usage. The paper presented the design analysis of both a grid-connected
and an off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems for household users in the highly residential city of
Ogbomoso in Nigeria using PVGIS software. The depth of discharge chosen is not healthy for a
solar battery (70%). The depth of discharge for this work is 80% [4].

2. SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS

Recent researches focus on renewable energy recourses. This is because the already existed
energy sources, which mainly based on fuel, are going to run out. There are many types of
renewable energy resources. Solar energy is considered the most attractive renewable energy
source. This is because it is mainly the source of all other energy sources [5].

There are four main configurations of Solar PV systems you can choose from when creating a
solar electricity installation. These are: Off-grid (or standalone), Grid-connected (or grid-tied),
Grid-tie with backup (or grid interactive) and Grid fall back solar PV systems.

2.1 Stand-alone/off-grid
Off-grid PV systems have no connection to an electricity grid [6]. Worldwide, stand-alone solar
photovoltaic installations (figure 1) are the most popular type of solar installation. It is what solar
photovoltaics were originally created for: to provide power at a location where there is no other
source easily available. Whether it is powering a shed light, providing power for a pocket
calculator or powering a complete off-grid home, stand-alone systems fundamentally all work in
the same way: the solar panel generates power, the energy is stored in a battery and then used as
required. In general, stand-alone systems are comparatively small systems, typically with a peak
power generation between one kilowatt to four kilowatt. Almost everyone can benefit from a
stand-alone solar system for something, even if it is something as ordinary as providing an
outside light somewhere. Even if you are planning on something much bigger and better, it is
often a good idea to start with a very small and simple stand-alone system first. Learn the basics
and then progress from there [7].

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Figure 1: Off-Grid PV system [6]

2.2 Grid-tie
A grid-connected (figure 2) small solar electric or photovoltaic (PV) system receives back-up
power from a utility's grid when the PV system is not producing enough power. When the system
produces excess power, the utility is required to purchase the power through a metering and rate
arrangement. Net metering is the best arrangement. Under this arrangement, the power provider
essentially pays you retail price for the electricity you feed back into the grid [8].

Figure 2: Simplified Grid Connected PV System [9]

In Nigeria, this is not encouraged as there is no provision for that. In a grid-tie system, your
home runs on solar power during the day. Any surplus energy that you produce is then fed into
the grid. In the evenings and at night, when your solar energy system is not producing electricity,

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you then buy your power from the electricity companies in the usual way. The benefit of grid-tie
solar installations is that they reduce your reliance on the big electricity companies and ensure
that more of your electricity is produced in an environmentally efficient way. One disadvantage
of most grid-tie systems is that if there is a power cut, power from your solar array is also cut.
Grid-tie can work especially well in hot, sunny climates, where peak demand for electricity from
the grid often coincides with the sun shining, thanks to the high power demand of air
conditioning units. Grid-tie also works well where the owners use most of the power themselves.

2.3 Grid-tie with backup or a grid interactive power system

A grid interactive solar power system (figure 3) is also connected to the traditional utility power
grid and adds battery-backup to the system. The addition of a battery backup enables the system
to balance production and demand and protects against power outages. Solar electric system
production depends on the available sunlight. When sunlight is abundant, production can exceed
demand. When production exceeds demand, the excess power can charge the batteries, which
store the electricity. When the system is producing less electricity than demanded by the home,
the batteries can make up the shortfall. Grid interactive systems are also connected to the utility
power grid. This enables the homeowners to draw from the grid during periods of excess demand
and to sell power to the grid when there is excess production. While grid interactive systems
offer more flexibility, they are not without disadvantages. Charging and discharging batteries
reduces the overall efficiency of the system and these systems are more complex to design and
install and therefore more expensive. The cost of a grid-tie system with power backup is higher
than a standard grid-tie system, because of the additional cost of batteries and battery controllers.
Typically, having power backup will add 12–20% of additional costs over a standard grid-tie
system.

Figure 3: Grid Connected PV System with Battery Storage [9]

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The additional cost of installing a grid interactive system over a standard grid-tie system is more
than offset by the low running costs and ease of use of the system. Farmers do not need to buy
and run generators and the system is almost entirely maintenance-free.

2.4 Grid fallback is most reliable and stable system mainly used for electrifying smaller
households. Here solar modules charge a battery bank which in turn supplies distribution boards
through an inverter. When the batteries are discharged to a pre-specified level, the system
automatically switches back to the grid power supply. The solar modules then recharge the
batteries and after the batteries are being charged up to a pre-specified level again the system
switches back to solar power. We do not sell electricity back to the electricity utility companies
through this system. All the power that we produce is utilized for ourselves only.
There is another type of PV system configuration, this is call grid failover

Grid failover
Alternatively, you can configure a grid fallback system as a grid failover system. A grid failover
system kicks in when there is a power failure from your main electricity supply. In effect, it is an
uninterruptable power supply, generating its power from solar energy. The benefit of this
configuration is that if you have a power cut, you have contingency power. The disadvantage of
this configuration is that you are not using solar power for your day-to-day use. In Africa and in
many parts of Asia, grid failover systems reduce the reliance on power generators for lighting
and basic electricity needs. However, in most cases, customers have found that a grid fallback or
grid interactive system is more suitable for their needs. There are two types of grid failover
systems that have been installed in the past: both of these have since been reconfigured as grid
fallback systems.

3. DETERMINATION OF DC LOAD

The main objective of this paper is to design a PV system to power Polytechnic Medical Centre
in the case of light out at the clinic vicinity. In emergency cases, it is not required to power the
whole clinic but some points designated for DC loads. The designated DC load as a case study in
this paper is tabulated in table 1. The system was designed to power the required loads for 10
hours per day

Table1: Total DC Loads

S/N Appliances Quantity Actual Total Operating Watts-Hour/Day
load in load in time
Watts Watts (Hours/Day)
1 LED Lights 10 5 50 10 500
2 LED TV 3 25 75 10 750
3 Cell Phone 5 4 20 10 200
4 Fans 5 20 100 10 1000
5 Imaging 1 400 400 10 4000
Diagnostic

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Equipment
6 Genotype 2 100 20 10 200
Machine

Total Load (Watts) 665

Total Watt-Hour Per Day 6650

4. BACKUP DESIGN

In selecting the size of back up within the time frame per day, the formula in equation 1 was
used. A block type of battery was assumed to be used for this design and it’s of the rating of
200AH Quanta product.
Edb × DOA
CBAh = [10] 1
DOD × ƞBA × VB

Where

Edb = Daily energy required from battery

CBah = Battery capacity

AD = DOA = Autonomy days or Days of autonomy

DOD = Depth of discharge = 80%

ƞinv= Inverter efficiency = 95% (1.0 if there is no inverter)

ƞBA= Ampere efficiency of battery = 80%

VB = Selected nominal DC Voltage of the block battery (12V)

To calculate the number of series and parallel batteries needed for this design, the formula by
Ayaz was used as we have it in equation 2 and 3.
Total Capacity of battery (AH) Ctb
𝑁𝑁𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 = Total Number of Batteries = = [11] 2
Battery Capacity (AH) Cb
𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉
𝑁𝑁𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = = 3
𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉
Where, Nsb and Npb are number of series and parallel batteries respectively
6650 ×1
Recall from equation 1 that, CBAh = 0.8×0.9×12 = 769.7AH

Therefore the backup battery would be 800AH.

The series and parallel backup are calculated as ths:

12 800
From equation 2, 𝑁𝑁𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 12 = 1 and 𝑁𝑁𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 = 200
=4

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5. PV SYSTEM DESIGN AND SIZING

In this section, the design of the various part of the PV system is presented. Figure 3
shows the required PV system to be implemented for powering the Polytechnic Medical
Centre Bida, Niger Sate Nigeria. To calculate the wattage of the Solar Panels, the method
adopted by Bhatia was used.
E
WPV = [𝟔𝟔] 𝟒𝟒
PSH × ƞsys

Where

WPV = Peak wattage of the array, Wp

E = is the daily energy required, Wh

PSH = Average daily number of peak sun hours in the design month for inclination orientation of
the PV array (6.2kwh/m2).

ƞsys = total system efficiency = 95%

𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑃𝑃𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 (𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊)
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷, 𝐼𝐼𝑡𝑡 = 5
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉(𝑉𝑉𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 )

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉(𝑉𝑉𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 )
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀, 𝑁𝑁𝑆𝑆 = 6
𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀. 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 (𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑆𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉)

It
Number of Paralell Module, NP = 7
Im

Where Im = Module Current or PV Current

𝑁𝑁𝑡𝑡 = 𝑁𝑁𝑆𝑆 × 𝑁𝑁𝑃𝑃 8

6650
Therefore, Peak wattage of the array (4), WPV = 6.2×0.95 = 1129𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊

Obtaining the total DC current, equation 5 was adopted;

665
It = 12
= 55.4A

Similarly number of series module, parallel modules and total number of panels can be obtained
as follows from equation 6, 7 and 8 respectively.
12
𝑁𝑁𝑆𝑆 = = 0.4
30
This result translated to 1 number of panel to be connected in series (no series connection) and
for parallel,
55.4
𝑁𝑁𝑃𝑃 = 7.9
= 7.1 and the total number of panels would be;

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𝑁𝑁𝑡𝑡 = 1 × 7.1 = 7.1

From equation 4, peak wattage of the array was obtained to be 1129Wp, equation 7 give a total
of 7.1 numbers of parallel panels, and equation 8 produced a round figure of 7panels in total.
therefore, for a good yield, a total number of 8 panels was selected each rated at 200Wp. The
electrical specification of the solar panel used is shown in table 2

Table 2: Electrical Characteristics of Solar Panel used:

Item No. XRM-200W

Maximum power (Pmax): 200 Watts

Open circuit voltage (Voc): 30.0 Volts DC

Maximum power point voltage (Vmpp): 25.5 Volts DC

Short circuit current (Isc): 7.83 Amps

Maximum power point current (Impp): 7.9 Amps

Module efficiency: 17.89%

Power sorting: -0Wp / +5Wp

Maximum system voltage: 1000 Volts DC

Cells per module: 60

Cell type: mono crystalline

Connector: PV wire (UL4703) with Amphenol UTX

interlocking connectors

6. SELECTION OF CHARGE CONTROLLER

Calculate PV Array Current (Minimum Controller Input Current)

PV Array Current = ISC x PVP x Safety Factor 9

ISC = Module short circuit current = 8.7 amps

PVP = PV modules in parallel = 8 no.

Safety Factor = 1.25

PV Array Current = 7.8 x 8 x 1.25 = 78A

Therefore, a 12V/100A charge controller was selected.

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7. SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM AND SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

Overall block diagram and schematic diagram of 665W PV system is as shown in figure 3.1 and
3.2 respectively

Solar PV Combiner Service Box Charge

Inverter
(DC Lightening Arrestor, DC Breaker)

Battery

Battery Monitor
LCD

Figure 3.1: Block Diagram of 665W Solar PV System

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Solar PV Array
Arrangement
4X2 Solar PV Charge Controller 2X2 Battery Bank
PV BATT LOAD
+
+ - + - + - -
+ _ + _ + _ + _
+
-

SD
+ - + - DC Load
DCB

Service box
Combiner box Battery Level Monitor LCDX4

Figure 3.2: Schematic Diagram of 665W Solar PV System

8. CONCLUSION

A PV system for powering the Federal Polytechnic Medical Centre Bida was implemented. The
Dc loads was used instead of the normal loads. It consumes less power. Thus it reduces the
overall cost of the PV system. The required load is completely determined. Each part of the PV
system is designed and sized. The implemented system was tested. It works effectively. It
powers the required load for ten continuous hours when light goes out.

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[3] Ali S. M, Arupananda P, Lipsa N, and Naina M. (2012). Application Of Off Grid Solar PV
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 GSJ: Volume 10, Issue 6, June 2022
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[4] Kehinde A. M., Oludamilare B. A., Abraham O. A. and Oyetunde A. A. (2021). Design of
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