International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 21 Number 1 – March 2015
Design of Affordable and Effectual DIY Solar Kit
Mohammad Anas#1, Shrish Bajpai#2, Dr.S.Hasan Saeed#3
#
Electronics & Communication Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Integral University, Lucknow, India.
Abstract— Renewable energy sources have great potential to give
solar energy is consider to be most important and
sustainable for India. Direct electricity generation
India. Renewable energy sources can be an important part of from the sunlight is possible with the help of solar
India's plan to increase energy security, move towards green cells. Advantage of solar cells is they do not have
any mechanical parts which make them easy to use,
energy & address environmental concerns. Solar Energy is
maintenance free and leading to longer life. A solar
emerging renewable energy technologies and can be developed as
panel kit is not incredibly difficult to install
future potential option for electricity generation in India due to
depending on how handy someone is. The main aim
it’s geographical location on the world map. Various solar energy is to design a kit that doesn‘t need product service
technologies exist and they have different application techniques for installation. Solar panels basically work in day
in the generation of electrical power. Solar panel efficiency time but we can make it a night product also by
depends upon the intensity of sunlight and the angle of incidence introducing charge storage capacity. Solar cells
of the solar rays on semiconductor cells. As the earth rotate it convert sun‘s energy into electricity. They depend
on the photoelectric effect ability of the matter to
become impossible to maintain the panel exactly facing the sun.
emit electrons when light strikes its surface. The
It is the basic reason of reduced efficiency of solar panel. So to
photons radiated by the sun hit the atoms of the
get maximum efficiency of solar panel it is require that the panel
solar cells; they transfer their energy to loose
should always face the sun. Efficiency can be increased threefold electrons, knocking them clean off the atoms.
by adding grapheme, because the material was helping to rapidly Freeing up electrons is however only half the work
transport charges to achieve higher photocurrent. The most of a solar cell, they then need to herd these stray
efficient one solar panel is 19% efficient by using several electrons in an electric current. This involves
techniques, including a reflective coating that can capture more creating an imbalance in the circuit. Silicon is
widely used semi conductor material for solar cells.
light from an angle. In addition to efficiency and size, there are
Advantage of Si over the other semi conductor
other factors that affect how much power solar panels will
devices is due to well developed micro electronics
generate. It’s important to make sure panels are installed in the
industry which has considerable knowledge of
optimal position.
working with Si. This makes silicon a better
material for solar cells as compared to others.
Keywords—Renewable Energy System, Solar Energy, Scope, During the operation, the system could be damaged
Energy Device.
due to excessive heating of the system, so we can
use heat pipes to passively remove the heat. A
I. INTRODUCTION
The demand of energy is increasing day by day copper & water heat pipe can be selected, with an
due to heavy industrialization & increasing in aluminium saddle & aluminium fins [1-5].
population, in India but conventional energy
II. SOLAR INDUSTRY IN INDIA
sources are failed to fulfil the demand. Now a days,
An India is a energy deficient state and central
due to pollution around the world, governments are
government of country is planning to fulfil the
concentrating on the green energy generation
demand from renewable energy sources. Solar and
technologies such as solar energy, wind energy, bio
wind energy can fulfil 90% deficient energy of
mass energy etc to meet the demand. Renewable
India due to geographical location of India & one of
energy source can generate the energy from low
the world biggest cost line across the sea [6]. India
level (house hold level) to high levels (solar park or
was launched the more efficient energy produced
combination wind energy generation system) [1,3].
the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was
Among all the non conventional energy resources,
solutions to the longstanding energy problems being faced by
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 21 Number 1 – March 2015
launched on the 11th January, 2010. In which the
Mission has set the ambitious target of deploying
20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022
and aims at reducing the cost of solar power
generation in the country [7].
India is densely populated and more energy
consumed has high solar insulation, an ideal
combination for using solar power in India move to
renewable energy to solar energy. In the solar
energy sector, some large projects have been
proposed, and a 35,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi) area of
the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar power
projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 GW [8].
Many more solar parks will come to get more solar
energy & full fill the energy demand of country.
Central government is encouraging Indian citizens
to install solar panels at their top roof to generate
the energy for their household. Central government
is also planning to take the extra generated solar
power from household to put into it‘s grid [9].
Central government also encourage educational
campus to generate energy from renewable energy
recourses. Solar industry in India is growing day by
day [10].
them) which can then be multiplied by the hours of
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
B. Determining the amount of sunlight received at
the location of panel installation
The performance of the solar thermal flat plate
collector depends on the amount of solar insulation
means a FPC with a tilt angle of 20 degree with the
horizontal. We can put a simple, inexpensive
(cheap), small solar PV system. We support
renewable energy [15]. In a solar electrical system,
all the components and parts relate to each other
and we have to understand the relationships, even
for a small setup.
There isn‘t a one size fits all solar energy system
and we need to learn solar electrical energy
―language‖. The setup might involve the following
steps :
A. Determine the power requirement
To begin with, choose the devices needed and
determined their cumulative power requirement.
uses to obtained the power consumed in watt-hours
(Wh) [11]. For example, if we are using a 15W
CFL (Compact florescent lamp) for 8 hours a day,
that gives us a total power consumption of 15W x
8h = 120Wh.
Fig 1.1 : Note, however, that ratings are usually higher than the
actual power consumption. To determine how much a device actually
draws, we can use a meter like the Kill-a-Watt [12].
The total amount of sunlight received by a panel a
situated at a particular geographic location depends
upon two factors,
a) The total no of hours sun is available
b) The total amount of time the panel is exposed to
unobstructed sunlight, ie, there are no shadow on
the panel.
Let‘s make it easier to comprehend by sampling a
problem.
Say, 12 hours of sunlight is available at a certain
geo location, out of which for 2 hours in the
morning the sun stays behind a building, thus
casting a shadow on the panel.
Due to this occurrence the total available time
reduces to 10 hours [12]. Thus, besides solar panels
efficiency and size, there are other factors that
affect how much power our solar panels will create.
The devices come with a wattage rating (most of
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 21 Number 1 – March 2015
1. Solar Panel azimuth and polar Orientation
Remember that if the solar panels are being
be reduced when making frequent
physical
inspections and spraying water on your modules.
installed on a roof, take into account the pitch of the
2. Temperature
roof. For maximum performance adjust your solar
panels twice a year. In the summer months the sun
is high overhead, catch more sunlight by tilting
solar panel at a lower angle. During the winter, the
sun moves across the sky at a lower angle, angle
solar panels higher during these months. Large
commercial systems have solar tracking systems
that automatically follow the sun‘s tilt through the
day. Due to their high costs, they are not typically
used for residential solar installs [18].
Fig 1.2: Relationship between efficiency and temperature [16].
High temperature can severely reduce the solar
1.1 Shadow
Shade is act as a obstacle for the solar power. For
designing the solar, it is to be noted that even a little
shade on one panel can shut down solar production
on all other the solar panels. Solar cells are
connected in series. The shade of the one solar will
adversely effects the output of all other cells. One
of the important point is that for implementing the
solar panels at a particular location, make sure there
will be no fall on the solar panel array during peak
sunlight hours. It means trimming a few trees.
panel‘s production of power. Higher temperature
increases the conductivity of the semi-conductor;
charges become balanced within the material,
reducing the magnitude of the electric field,
inhibiting the charge separation, which lowers the
voltage across the cell. Depending on the location,
heat can reduce the output by 10% to 25% [17]. In
the built environment, there are a couple of ways to
deal with high temperature. Install solar panels on a
mounting system a few inches off the roof; this will
help cool them by allowing air circulation. Use
1.2 Front surface deterioration
photovoltaic panels that are designed to be more
efficient in hotter climates. It should be kept in
When the surface of the solar panels are covered
with dust or bird‘s excreta even the rains are not
getting washed it, the absorbing power of the solar
is continuously getting decreased. The problem will
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mind that panels are constructed with light-coloured
materials, to reduce heat absorption. Inverters and
combiners can be moved into the shaded area
behind the array.
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 21 Number 1 – March 2015
optimum number of panels needed for the required
C. Divide your total power consumption by the
number of hours:
system output. Where space isn‘t an issue, like in
buildings with low base roofs, panels with more
If the need is 600Wh and we get 6h of sunlight, that
is- 600Wh / 6h = 100W. This is the amount of
power needed to generate per hour of sunlight to
meet our needs. To be safe, multiply that by at least
2 or more. This is to account for the fact that solar
panels only generate their rated output when
pointed directly at the sun, and if the solar panels
are fixed, they won't be facing directly at the sun
most of the time [8, 13].
of a photovoltaic panel? To begin with, let us
assume that the maximum power (Pmax) of say, a
200W panel is 200W regardless of the panel
efficiency. Now the size of the panel or technically
the area the solar panel utilizes to generate those
200W of electricity is the key to the efficiency of
power output of a panel per unit of area [11]. The
There are 3 types of solar panels (strictly speaking,
cells):
how should one determine the maximum efficiency
the panel. The panel efficiency determines the
D. Buy Solar Panels:
photovoltaic
efficiency are considered. Now the question arises,
amorphous
maximum efficiency of a solar photovoltaic cell is
silicon, given by the following equation.
polycrystalline, and mono-crystalline. Amorphous
silicon panels are relatively inexpensive, relatively
unaffected by small shadows, but are very
Efficiency formula [21]
inefficient in terms of space (for the same power
rating, amorphous silicon panels will be larger and
The term ‗incident radiation flux‘ could be better
heavier) [14]. Polycrystalline panels are more
understood as the amount of sunlight hitting earth‘s
efficient, cheaper than mono-crystalline, but also
less efficient. Mono-crystalline panels are the most
efficient, but also the most expensive [12].
surface per unit area (W/mt2). Under the standard
tasting conditions (STC) that manufacturers use,
Incident Radiation Flux is assumed to be 1000
W/mt^2.
E. Measuring PV Efficiency
This should however be taken into
consideration that the STC includes several of such
The process taking place in a panel that is used to
assumptions and strictly depends on the geographic
convert the available solar energy into more usable
location of the testing unit [20].
forms for human needs can be taken as the
efficiency
of
the
solar
panel.
The
exact Now, let us make a simple calculation to better
determination of the efficiency shown by a solar understand how the manufacturers determine the
panel is critical for effectively determining the
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Maximum Panel Efficiency under STC.
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 21 Number 1 – March 2015
Say, we have a system generating 400W of power
of the application. The Presented Solar Tracking
spanned over n area of 30 sqft, and we need to
and Efficiency improvement of Solar Panel System
obtain its maximum efficiency under STC. Now our will be really affluent and the overall power
first step would be to convert the area of the panels‘
collection efficiency which is about 30% in the
to units of square meters which is:
solar systems without tracker will definitely
increase due to two axis tracking. Also as we are
2
2
Am = Aft / 10.76 = 2.79m
2
going to implement the system with suitable and or
available concentrator it will also enhance the
Putting the above data into the equation of
maximum efficiency already stated above and
efficiency of the solar panel thus resulting in a net
increase in the total power output of the system.
taking the incident radiation flux as 1000W/mt^2
IV. CONCLUSIONS
we obtain,
Maximum efficiency = 14.3%. This would be the
maximum efficiency of your solar panel.
Fig 1.3: Relationship between efficiency & concentration [19].
Thus the experimental setup gives the firm idea of:1-IT work
2-How much power produced.
3-And the total power consumption by the number
of hours.
The economics of tracking systems for solar
concentrators depend directly on the precision
demanded in (DIY solar panel) KIT.
The required precision is determined by the
concentrator's performance sensitivity to the errors
in tracking and by the concentration requirements
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Besides solar panels efficiency and size, there are
other factors that affect how much power your solar
panels will create. Solar energy output is also
affected by weather and seasonal variations. The
angle of the sun to the solar panel changes with the
time of day and seasonal variations. Cloudy and
rainy days also contribute to less effectiveness of
the sunlight collection. The main purpose of this
research paper is to give of best alternative for
maximum performance of the DIY kit. Suppose we
have a roof with a large area that would be ideal for
the placement of solar panels, because it would
lower the cost and would not require more efficient
panels, but on the other hand If our rooftop area is
limited and we want to determine the extra
efficiency we will need for your panels to achieve
the desired power output over a limited area.
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