International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)

Volume 6 Issue 3, March-April 2022 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470

Design and Implementation of a Solar Power System

Sylvester Emeka Abonyi1, Kingsley Chibueze Obute1, Anthony Amaechi Okafor2
1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT How to cite this paper: Sylvester Emeka

Energy is a very important variable that its conservation is of Abonyi | Kingsley Chibueze Obute |
paramount interest to engineers of our time. As we know, the law of Anthony Amaechi Okafor "Design and
conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor Implementation of a Solar Power
System" Published
destroyed, but it can be transformed from one form to another. This
in International
helps in sustainable use and protection of natural resources. This
Journal of Trend in
research work the Design and Implementation of a Solar Power Scientific Research
System focuses on a technique of power generation from solar and Development
source. It provides simple basic theoretical studies of solar cell and (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-
its modelling techniques using equivalent electric circuits. Solar 6470, Volume-6 | IJTSRD49926
Photovoltaic (PV) power generation system is comprising several Issue-3, April 2022,
elements like solar cells, inverter, Battery charge controller and pp.2151-2156, URL:
single phase inverter for AC loads are implemented in hardware in www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd49926.pdf
simple manner.
Copyright © 2022 by author (s) and
KEYWORDS: Solar panel, power generation, inverter, charge International Journal of Trend in
controller Scientific Research and Development
Journal. This is an
Open Access article
distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

1. INTRODUCTION
Nigeria is among the tropical countries that fall becoming one of the most reliable sources of energy
between 4 degrees and 13 degrees and enjoys as a result of its surplus and environmentally friendly
sunshine of 6.25 hours daily. Presently, public [1]. Many people use solar inverters these days which
electricity covers only 40% of Nigerian homes and proves that its necessity has increased in the current
this is not still on a consistent basis. Due to lack of years.
constant power supply in Nigeria, people have started
The development of technology has been affecting
embracing the culture of generating their own power
solar generator system designs, dating back to early
supply. The use of fossil fuels as a means of
stage in which magnifying glass were used to
generating electricity has become expensive making
concentrate sun’s rays to make fire and to burn ants to
cost of living very high, especially in the rural part of
the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote
the country. Also the use of fossil fuel has brought
homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system [2].
about pollution to the environment which in turn is
Commercial concentrated solar power plants were
not safe for our health. It releases carbon dioxide
first developed in the 1980s. As the cost of solar
which causes the greenhouse effect. This brings about
electricity has fallen, the number of grid-connected
the deforestation of land and also the pollution of air
solar PV systems has grown into the millions and
and water. Further, it also causes the ozone layer to be
utility-scale photovoltaic power stations with
depleted. These mentioned phenomena can cause
hundreds of megawatts are being built [3].
several events to occur such as; acid rain, air
pollution, land pollution because of excavating The work of David I. and Thomas B. R [4] shows
operations, etc. Solar energy also known as green specific information for a solar powered battery
energy is gotten solely from the sun and as a result charger making use of the SEPIC DC-DC converting
does not emit carbon dioxide which prevents the technology. The converter uses a MOSFET which
green-house effect. Nowadays solar energy is operates as an electronic switch completely in an ON

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or OFF state. SEPIC converter was chosen because it type semiconductor material for generation of
can convert the input voltage to either a higher or electricity [8]. When light strikes on semiconductor, it
lower output voltage. generates electrons (-) and holes (+) pairs. when
electron and hole pair reaches between two different
[5] Explained the make-up of a solar battery charger,
type of semiconductor's joint surface then electron
a dc-dc converter connected between a solar panel
and hole are separated, electron is attached by N-type
and battery was used. The main components of the
semiconductor and hole is attached by P-type
solar battery charger are standard photovoltaic cells, a
semiconductor after that they are not rejoin due to
single ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC)
joint surface do not allow both way traffic.
and a controller. The SEPIC converter is a type of
DC-DC converter that is able to convert unregulated
input voltage into either a higher or lower output
voltage. This allows the solar panel to charge the
battery with a wider range of output voltage, thus
flexibility is increased. Experimental results of the
solar battery charger are evaluated while I used an
inverter and generally the SEPIC converter increases
the efficiency of conversion.
Trishan Esram and Patrick L. Chapman in [6]
presented the "Comparison of Photovoltaic Array Fig 1 P-N junction illustration of PV cell
Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques. The Now electrons are contained by N-type
Proposed system contains the two LDRs as sensors, a semiconductor and holes are contained by P-type
new Design of controller parts and the geared DC semiconductor, an electro motive force (emf) is
motor as Actuator. This system can successfully track generated in electrodes. When these electrodes are
the current Positions of the sun and can be used for connected together by a conductor electrons run
non-critical and Low power applications. The existing toward P-type semiconductor and holes run toward
tracking systems have complicated sensor strategies N-type semiconductor.
so has high cost and maintenance issues. Many
researchers from all over the world have developed
So many solar radiations sensing devices and tracking
Strategies but they contain large number of LDRs
which makes them complicated and very expensive.
So, cost effectiveness and portability are the objective
of this work.
A portable solar power inverter was designed and
constructed by Md. Rabiul Islam et.al [7] making use
of solar plates, an 8051 microcontroller, a solar
tracker, transformer, lead acid battery and an inverter.
The system proved to be a very good one as it is Fig. 2 Flow of current
portable and can be easily carried about, the battery 2.1. Solar Cell Connections
chosen for this project is a lead acid battery with 6 Solar cell connection is just like battery connection.
cells and 35Ah, which is manufactured by mart. The When positive terminal of one solar cell is connected
battery has a battery life of approximately to negative terminal of another solar cell then they
Over 100,000 operating hours and 450A max form series connection. In series connection current is
discharge surge current and minimum charge current same for all cells and voltage is added by each cell
of about 1 amp. While lithium-ion battery is used in shown in figure 3.
carrying out this project which has comparative And when all positive terminals of solar cells
advantages over deep cycle batteries. Part of which connected to one terminal and all negative positive
includes more operating life and lighter in weight terminals of solar cells connected to another one
when compared to lead acid battery. terminal then forms parallel connection. As shown in
2. Basic Theory of Solar Cell figure 4 here current is added and voltage is same for
Solar cells are made by two types of semiconductor all cells.
materials one is N-type semiconductor and other is P-

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4. Integration and system testing
5. Operational and maintenance phase
4. SYSTEM DESIGN ANALYSIS
The design of the project is in two subsystems
namely:
Portable solar generator subsystem
Smart Solar panel subsystem The block diagram
in fig.6 shows the various subsystems that make
up the system design, fig.7 shows their
interconnections
Fig 3 Series connection of solar cell

Fig. 4 Parallel connection of solar cell

2.2 Solar Cell, Solar Module or Panel and Solar Fig.6 Block diagram of the components of the
PV Array system.

In solar power generation system a number of solar

cells is required to produce high power so they are
connected in form of Solar Module or Solar panel and
for a higher capability form[9]. An Array as shown in
figure 5 is needed.

Fig 7 Schematic diagram our Solar Power

System
Portable Solar Generator subsystem has the
following sections
Battery bank. Two lead-acid cells were used, each
has a rating of 12V/9Ah. The lead-acid batteries were
connected in parallel to produce an output of 12V,
Fig.5 Formation of solar Module and solar PV 18A
Array Battery calculations;
Battery Power in watt
3. METHODOLOGY Battery runtime / Duration = (1)
Out of all the methods which include waterfall, Connected Load in watts
prototype, iterative enhancement, evolutionary But,
development, spiral and RAD (Rapid Application Battery Power in watt / Hour = Battery Voltage × Number of batteries
Development), the waterfall method was chosen as it Let battery runtime/duration = T C = Battery
met most of our necessary requirements. capacity in AH V = Battery voltage in volts N
As per the model implemented, it was the waterfall = Number of batteries in series/parallel as the case
model that have five phases, namely; may be.
1. Requirement analysis and specifications C ×V × N
2. System Design Pl = Connected load in watts ∴T = (2)
3. Implementation and subsystem testing PI

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For V = 12V, Pl = 200 watts, N = 2, C = 18Ah Using ohms law to find the current P = I ×V (3)
18 ×12 × 2 Where, P = Power (watts) I = Current (amps)
∴T = 2.16 hrs
200 V = Voltage (volts)
Solar Charge Controller Unit Now using a 120 watts panel and 12 volts battery to
The following calculations were made in selecting get the current needed
solar charge controller. The energy of the battery
bank is calculated. Here we made use of two lead acid I=
P
(4)
V
batteries of parameters 12V,18A
So we need a charge controller of output charging
Energy of the Battery
voltage greater than 10 Amps.
= 2(voltage× current ) Ah 2(12 × 9) = 216Ah
⇒ 2 (12 × 9 ) = 216 Ah
Adjusting the value by 25% to take into account any
special condition that might cause the panel to
Since the charging current should be 10% of the Ah produce more or less power than it is normally rated
rating of battery. for
Therefore, So we have 10 amps increased by 25%
 25 
Ch arg ing Current for Ah battery 10 + 10 ×  = 12.5 A
 100 
 10 
= 216 Ah ×   = 21.6 Ah Having this in mind, we need a solar charge controller
 100  of charging current greater than 12.5 amp. For this
Considering tolerance of 20%, we may take (3.0 – work, we chose a PWM solar charge controller of
5.0) Amperes for effective battery charging purpose charging current, 50A.
as the current determines the charging duration (i.e
the amount of time it takes to fully charge). Suppose The charging subsystem consists of the solar panel
we took 4.4 Amp for charging purpose, then, and a PWM solar charge controller which comes with
LCD display that can clearly indicate the status and
Charging time for Ah battery data of the battery and PV array. This controller can
21.6 only use photovoltaic panel as the charging source. It
= = 4.9 hours has a maximum charging and discharge current of 50
4.4
Amps. 12V panels have a varying output of 16V to
But this was an ideal case… 20V, so if there is no regulation the battery will
Practically, it has been noted that 40% of damage from overcharging.[18] PWM controllers
losses occurs in case of battery charging. work by slowly reducing the amount of power going
into your battery as it approaches capacity. When
 40  your battery is full, PWM controllers maintain a state
Then = 21.6 ×   = 8..64 of “trickle”, which means they supply a tiny amount
 100 
of power constantly to keep the battery topped up.
∴ = 21.6 + 8.64 = 30.2 Ah The solar charge controller works as an automatic
disconnect of non-critical loads from the battery when
Since Charging Time of battery = Ah / Charging the voltage falls below a defined threshold. The
Current charge controller stops the charging of the batteries
Putting the values; once these are sufficiently charged. This will prevent
30.2 over-charging. It also facilitates a unidirectional flow
∴ = 6.9 hrs of current from the solar panel to the battery, and
4.4 blocks the reverse voltage flow. This helps to prevent
Therefore, our 216Ah battery would take 6.9 hrs to batteries from unnecessary discharging and it
fully charge in case of the required 4.4A charging increases the battery uptime and blocks the reverse
current. flow during the night. Also an added features - two
external USB ports which accommodate the direct
To choose a suitable charge controller we need the
charging of other small and medium devices and a dc
following information.
jack as an alternative for charging the system when
The power (watts) of the solar panel
there is not enough sunlight.
The battery bank voltage

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A 200watt converter modifies DC12V into AC 220V
50Hz, and USB output is DC 5V was used.
Rated output power of the product is 200W, which
can be widely used to power all kinds of electrical
equipment such as mobile phone, TV sets, Laptops,
digital cameras, DVD player, PSP, iPad, and other
digital equipment. This 200 watts converter used has
the following features; Input voltage: DC12V (10.5-
Fig 8 Circuit diagram for charge controller 14.5V)/DC24V (19-32V), Output voltage:
AC220V/AC110V ±8%, Peak power: 400W,
Continuous power: 200W, Output frequency: 50HZ
or 60HZUSB output: 5V, 2.1A+1A+2.1A+1A
6. RESULT ANALYSIS
Load Analysis
The designed project was tested with the following
load:
Figure 9 Image of PWM charge Controller Table 2: Load test
5. IMPLEMENTATTION AND HARDWARE S/No Load Wattage
TESTING 1 Mobile phone 5
The solar panel designed has six solar cells connected 2 Laptop 30
in parallel as shown in fig. The Maximum power of 1
3 Electric fan 50
smart solar cell = 20Watts given a total 120watts.
4 Electric bulb 20
5 LED television (42 inches) 120
Inverter system behavior at maximum load (i.e., 200
watt) each of the battery cell is rated 9Ah, 12 volts.
With 2 batteries in parallel
System Voltage = 12 volts.
System capacity = 9 Ah + 9 Ah = 18 Ah
Total Energy = IV (5)
The solar panel has the following ratings, Pmax = 20 = 12 ×18 = 216 WAh
Watts, Vmax = 12V, Ip max = 1.66A, VOC = 14V, Isc =
Working Energy = (80% of total power)
1.96A. Maximum power of smart solar panel (six
solar cells) = 120 Watts. Inverter Efficiency = 80%
Photo of hardware solar panel is shown in fig. This Total Energy × η = 216 × 0.8 = 172.8WAh
solar panel consists of six solar cell. A continuity test Actual Energy =η × working Energy
was done across each path of the system. A multi- = 0.8 ×172 .8 = 38 .24 WAh
meter in buzzer mode was connected to the terminals
across the path that needed to be checked. There was Since inverter rating = 200 watts.
no inhibition to the flow of current hence continuity is At max load = 80% of 200watts
achieved, and a beep sound was heard.
0.8 × 200 = 160 watts
Time of operation on max load
= ratio of actual energy to max load
138.24
Time of operation on max load = = 0.864 hrs
160
Inverter system behavior at other loads; 150, 100, and
50 were also calculated. Table 3 shows the results.

Figure 4.2: Quality test of our smart solar panel

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Table 3: Load-Time relationship of the battery Array Characteristics and Fabrication of
duration Microcontroller Based MPPT", 6th
Load (W) Time (Hr) International Conference on Electrical and
200 0.86 Computer Engineering ICECE
150 1.2 [8] L. Zhang, W. G. Hurley and W. Wolfle (2010),
100 1.8 “A New Approach to Achieve Maximum
50 3.7 Power Point Tracking for PV System with a
Variable Inductor,” 2nd IEEE International
7. CONCLUSION Symposium on Power Electronics for
The implemented system was tested and the result Distributed Generation Systems, pp. 948-952.
was excellent. No-Load test was carried on the
inverter and as well as Load Test. Both results were [9] P. K. Sahu and M. Manjrekar (2015), "Control
very okay. The packaging of the inverter was done so strategies for solar panel companion inverters,"
that the Portable Solar PV Generator would look in IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference
presentable. These achievements serve as the criteria and Exposition (APEC),, pp. 3075-3082.
to regard this project work a success. [10] V. Agarwal H. Patel (2008). Maximum power
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