Design of A 50 KW Solar PV Rooftop System
Design of A 50 KW Solar PV Rooftop System
Design of A 50 KW Solar PV Rooftop System
Abstract
Renewable energy resources become very popular and commonly used nowadays. An example of a clean renewable
energy resource is the energy generated using photovoltaic (PV) systems. As a result of using PV as a renewable
energy resource, components of PV such as an inverter become widely used for this purpose and in order to enhance
the maximum obtained power from PV, different methods were used to achieve the desired power, where it become a
very considerable to use different methods to achieve desired maximum power received from PV. The main goal of
this manuscript is to introduce the idea of using photovoltaic system, along with its components, (sizing of arrays,
charge regulator ratings, inverter ratings and other related information), for a specific load, (Majan Electricity
Company (MJEC) administration building – Sohar – Sultanate of Oman), to achieve a design generates power up to
50 kW from solar PV system. MJEC Company provided details of the available area of the rooftop. Solar irradiation
data will be utilized to estimate the annual energy output as well and the cost per kWh of electricity generated from a
specific PV system using RETSCREEN software. Economic indicators such as internal rate of return, the payback
period, the net present value, the annual life cycle savings, and the cost renewable energy production will be
considered as well.
Keywords: Renewable energy sources, PV, Inverter, Power system, Maximum power
1. Introduction
Nowadays many issues appear due to the fact of using fossil fuel as a primary resource in generating
electricity. The solution to such issues can be eliminated or reduced by means of using a renewable
energy such as a solar power system. The first issue that is related to use of fossil fuels is the global
warming, where the increase of using fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas in generating electricity
resulted several health and environmental problems. Natural gas gives off 50% of the carbon dioxide, the
principal greenhouse gas, released by coal and 25% less carbon dioxide than oil, for the same amount of
energy produced. Coal contains about 80% more carbon per unit of energy than gas does, and oil contains
about 40 percent more [1]. Global warming has many effects such as earth temperature increase, sea level
rise. Second issue is the air pollution. A lot of pollutants are produced by fossil fuel combustion that is
used to produce electricity such that Sulfur oxides, and hydrocarbons. In addition, total suspended
particulates contribute to air pollution can combine in the atmosphere to form tropospheric ozone, the
major constituent of smog. Third issue, is the cost of the fossil fuel, the electricity that produced by the
fossil fuel process is more expensive than the electricity produced by the renewable energy such that solar
power. In fact, the estimated costs of building new coal plants have reached $3,500 per kW, without
financing costs, and are still expected to increase further. This would mean a cost of over $2 billion for a
new 600 MW coal plant when financing costs are included [2]. Another issue that is noticeable nowadays
is the water and land pollution. Water spills causes harm to plants and animals life. Coal mining also
contributes to water pollution. Coal contains pyrite that is a Sulfur compound [3]. On the other hand,
Photovoltaic offers consumers the ability to generate electricity in a clean, quiet and reliable way [4]. To
increase the PV utility, dozens of individual PV cells are interconnected together in a sealed,
weatherproof package called a module. Modules are connected either in series or parallel. The flexibility
of the modular PV system allows designers to create solar power systems that can meet a wide variety of
electrical needs [4]. There are two broad categories of PV system: Grid-tied systems which are connected
to the public electricity grid and stand-alone systems which are isolated system [5]. The grid-tied PV
connected to the power grid at all times and do not require battery storage. A solar PV system can provide
power to a home or business, reducing the amount of power required from the utility; when the solar PV
system power generation exceeds the power needs, then the surplus power automatically will be pumped
back into the grid. A solar PV system will not operate during a power outage unless it has battery backup
[8]. Standalone systems are totally self-sufficient with no connection to the utility grid system. They
generate electricity during daylight hours, and store excess for night time use [9].
In this paper, a design up to 50 kW solar PV system to the rooftop of a head office of MJEC company
– Sohar – Sultanate of Oman is introduced where necessary components between the PV system and the
load for the required design are identified. The expected cost, engineering standards and realistic constraints of
the required design are studied by using RETSCREEN software for energy and cost model
2. Components of PV System
The PV system consists from main part which is PV cells which produces the power but there are other
components are also needed to, control, convert and store the energy such as PV modules, batteries,
charge controllers, and inverters. The PV system and its components are detailed in the block diagram
shown in Fig. 1.
Signal
Conditionning DC Bus Grid
DC-DC Converter
PV solar
Panel
2.3. Inverters
Inverters are used to convert the battery or solar panels output to ac quantity that can be used either to
be connected to the grid or used by electric devises. There are three main types of inverters, namely;
stand-alone inverters, it runs the electrical devices within the system but it cannot be connected to the grid.
Grid-tie inverters, it can be connected to the grid and they are designed to automatically disconnect and
shut down when there is a loss of utility supply but they do not provide backup power during power
outages [15]. Battery backup inverters, it is a combination of the previous two types. They provide the
electricity needs by the system and they can also be connected to the grid [15].
In order to improve the efficiency of solar cells and generate Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
should be used. It is an electronic system that operates module of the PV in a way such that it allows the
module to produce all capable power. MPPT increases electrical efficiency of PV and helps to reduce
number of solar panels, required area for installing PV arrays for producing the desired output. Regarding
the Maximum Power Point (MPP), an experiment was conducted and the main objective was to determine
the characteristic curve of the PV module, and to be able to locate the MPP of the PV module, by means
of using PV module cells. The open circuit voltage of the PV is measured and followed by measuring the
PV short circuit current. A variable resistance which resembles the load across PV panel was varied in
steps, and for each corresponding value of the load, the voltage across the load and current through the
load was measured. These results were used to obtain the characteristic curve of the PV module. Fig. 2
shows PV characteristic curve. As the resistance of the load increases, the produced current decreases and
the output voltage across the PV panel increases. Hence, the relationship between the produced voltage
and current is inversely proportional as it can be noticed in the characteristics curve of PV from Fig. 3. It
can be noticed from Fig. 3 that there is a point in the curve where the output voltage and output current
produces the maximum output power which represents MPP (12.1 V, 2.9 A, 35 W).
Fig. 3: Voltage VS Power Curve According to Different Values of the Load Resistance
404 International Journal of Smart Grid and Clean Energy, vol. 3, no. 4, October 2014
(a) (b)
Fig. 4. Flow charts: (a) RETSCREEN software of data obtaining process and (b) constant voltage method for MPP
algorithm to be used for design process.
A. PV module selection
The selected PV module is BYD-250P6-30 manufactured by BYD solar company [14], where the
module parameters and ratings is included in Table 1. This module agrees with MJEC requirements [14].
The maximum power of this module is found to be 250 W, hence it requires 200 module to design 50 kW
PV power system. This module is able to be used for on grid utility systems [14]. More specified
information is illustrated in Table 2 [14].
B. Inverter selection and manufacture type
The module name of the selected Inverter is called TRIO-27.6-TL-OUTD a three phase grid-tied type
of inverter manufactured by Aurora company [15]. Table 3 describes some of the parameters of this
inverter where it contains two independent MPPTs and the efficiency is as high as 98.2 %. In addition, the
maximum dc input power for each MPPT is 16 kW, so each inverter can receive up to 32 kW as a
maximum input dc power, while its capacity is 30000 kW. Hence, for a 50 kW design it may require two
inverters of such module type [15].
Table 3. Inverter parameters and ratings [15]
Number of Independent MPPT 2 Maximum efficiency 98.2 %
Maximum dc input power for each MPPT 16 kW Rated ac power 27.6 kW
Maximum ac output power 30 kW Rated ac grid voltage 400 V
Maximum ac output current 45 A
modules. The cost per inverter unit is 2053 OMR but in the proposed system two inverters are required so,
inverters cost is 4108 OMR. The cost of mounting structure is necessary to be considered as well. It was
found the price of mounting and installation is 0.55 $/W which is equivalent to approximately 0.210
OMR/W [18]. Hence, it will cost approximately 10550 OMR to install 50 kW PV modules. The total cost
for 200 modules and two inverters are calculated under power system cost which is 37832 OMR. Hence,
the total initial cost including mounting and structure is 48382 OMR. The Panels may require annual
maintenance and service so the labor charges were assumed to be 200 OMR per year. According to MJEC
the average electricity production rate is nearly 0.025 OMR/kWh [19]. Hence the exported electricity
income can be calculated by multiplying the electricity production rate per kWh times the annual energy
exported in which was found to be 2125 OMR. The GHG reduction credit rate in OMR/ tCO2 is found to
be approximately 7.7 [20]. Based on the net annual GHG reduction which is approximately 74 tCO2/year,
the two resulted annual GHG reduction incomes are approximately 567 OMR. While, the net GHG
reduction over 25 years was found to be 1842 tCO2.Therefore the total annual income and savings is
2692 OMR. Based on the obtained incomes from both exported electricity and GHG reduction, the
financial viability results are summarized and included in Table 5.
Since the overall cost of this project is very high, so in duration of 25 years with discount rate of 7.5%
[20] and based on the incomes the net present value will be -21405 OMR. While the internal rate of return
(IRR) was found to be less than the discount rate which is 1.7 %. In addition, the benefit to cost ratio (B-
C) is found equals to 0.56. Since the discount rate is higher than IRR and the (B-C) is less than 1, this
project is not considered as a feasible project. Hence, it is not economical project. According to Fig. 5, it
takes nearly 19.4 years of project operation to start receiving pay back and the cumulative cash flows
becomes positive by then.
Table 5. Financial visibility summary results for discount rate equals to 7.5 %
IRR 1.7 % Annual life cycle savings -1920 OMR/yr
Payback 19.4 years Benefit-Cost (B-C) ratio 0.56
Net present value (NPV) -21405 OMR Energy production cost 47.56 OMR/MWh
Fig. 5. Cumulative cash flows (OMR) of 50 kW PV power system operating for 25 years.
Table 6. Financial visibility summary results for discount rate equals to 7.5 %
IRR 11.2 % Annual life cycle savings 1480 OMR/yr
Payback 8.2 years Benefit-Cost (B-C) ratio 1.34
Net present value (NPV) 16494 OMR Energy production cost 47.59 OMR/MWh
For a purpose of comparison, a study case was conducted by assuming the average electricity
production rate to be $0.17/kWh [21] which is equivalent to 0.065 OMR/kWh, this is the price of
electricity generated by crystalline type of PV in early 2012 in USD [21]. Based on that, the exported
electricity income becomes 5525 OMR. Then, keeping the annual GHG reduction income the same which
is 567 OMR, the total annual income and savings will be 6090 OMR. Then, the new financial viability
results are summarized in Table 6, where the net present value is found 16494 OMR. While the internal
rate of return (IRR) was found to be more than the discount rate which is 11.2 %. The benefit to cost ratio
(B-C) is found equals to 1.34. Since the IRR is become higher than discount rate and the (B-C) is more
M. H. Albadi et al.: Design of a 50 kW solar PV rooftop system 407
than 1, the new results showed an improvement of this project in economical point of view. It is much
more economical and more feasible compared to the previous results. This means, the low electricity
production rate which was 0.025 OMR/kWh was causing the project to be considered non feasible. In
addition Fig. 6 shows that pay back duration becomes 8.2, which indicates feasible results compared to
previous financial viability.
Fig. 6. New cumulative cash flows OMR of 50 kW PV system for 0.065 OMR/kWh
the rooftop was kept at 1.5 m. This results in an available area of 360 m2. The PV panels were arranged
and it was found only 124 panels can be accommodated on the estimated area when making
considerations of this iteration, which produces a total of 31 kW.
Few more iterations were carried in order to see if 50 kW is applicable to be designed on that rooftop.
The most possible minimized limitation was performed for having the spacing distance equals to 0.1 m,
while the edge distance was set at 1 m. The separation distance was selected to be 0.5 m, and the distance
avoids the shading caused by storage room was kept the same (3 - 4 m). Based on that, the available area
was found to be 402 m2 for 8 sectors with 171 modules. It seems for this iteration, 29 modules cannot be
installed; hence this will result of having a design of 42.750 kW which is an output of 171 modules for
250 W per module.
5. Conclusion
As requested from MJEC, It is required to design a 50 kW solar PV power system located or mounted
on the rooftop of MEJC head office building by means of determining the engineering standards and
realistic constraints of the design. RETSCREEN software was used to provide necessary data regarding
the cost and financial analysis to determine the annual energy produced and the amount of GHG
reduction according to the produced clean energy. From the energy module, required area for installing
such system was verified; however after several iterations it was found designing such system on the
given rooftop area was not possible and difficult to approach due to limitations and constraints that
considers separations, spacing distances and shadowing effect. From financial viability results, this
project is not considered as an economical project due to IRR was found to be less than discount rate, and
the simple payback period was found to be very long. However, electricity production controls the
feasibility of this project.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Majan Electricity Company for supporting and
providing the necessary data.
A.1. PV Module
PV generator (Polycrystanline Module technology)
Efficiency level 15 %
Power class 245 Wp
MC4 connector
Anodized Aluminum alloy frame with front technologies.
It must have certificate approval from ISO9001: 2008, ISO4001:2001 and IEC61215, IEC61730,
UL1703
Corrosion resistance, ammonia & salt, with positive power deviation of 0 – 3 %
Product warranty 10 years
The module will be mounted on the flat roof top with a 1.5 m distance of each raw to avoid shadow
losses.
Certificates
and approvals from EN 50178, AS/NZS3100, AS/NZ 60950, EN61000-6-1, EN61000-6-3,
EN61000-3-11, EN61000-3-12.
Enel guideline VDE 0126-1-1, G59/2, EN 50438, RD 1663, AS 4777.
Product warranty => 10 years.
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