Introduction to Solar Electricity

PV Hands-on 1
Take a PV panel and a Digital multimeter
(DMM) out in the sun

1) Facing the sun, measure Voc and Isc

(careful about how to use DMM for
Voltage vs Current!)
2) At different angles vs the sun,
repeat Voc and Isc measurements
3) Shade one or more cells, and
repeat Voc & Isc measurements
PV Hands-on 1, Part 2
4 ) Connect a PV panel directly to
the circuit with a light bulb and
observe
Ø what happens if orientation /
exposure of the panel change
Ø what happens for various types
of light bulbs: LED, CFL,
incandescent.
Ø measure voltage & current to the
bulb, compute power

5) If possible
Ø Connect 2 similar panels in
series, then in parallel.
Ø Measure Voc and Isc and
discuss.
Photovoltaic Effect
• PV cells produce electricity
from sunlight (photons)

• To work properly each cell

needs to receive sunlight

•Electrical energy needs to

be stored for use if needed
when there is not enough
light
Cells, Modules, Panels

• Most common modules are composed of solar cells

connected in series
• Each cell generates the same voltage (~.5 V)
regardless of size
• The current generated depends on the light intensity
and the cell size
• Many common solar panels are comprised of 2 modules
in one frame
• 1 m2 solar panel generates 60-120 Wp in ‘standard
conditions’ , depending on the technology
Types of Solar Radiation
The total radiation (sunlight) is comprised of:
Direct light: Straight from the sun
Diffuse light: Dispersed by clouds
Reflected light: From snow, water, etc.

On a completely cloudy day, all light may be diffuse.

Most PV panels produce the most power in direct radiation.

If one cell is shaded the panel electrical production (efficiency) drops drastically

PV panels are much more sensitive to shade than thermal collectors

Panel Orientation
Ø Maximum power is received when the
panel is facing the sun

Ø For a fixed panel, usually the best yearly

average power is received for an
angle = latitude + 0° to 15°

Ø The angle can be adapted according to

seasonal needs
Ø In some cases, the angle can be adjusted
every month, or even during the day

Ø Close to the equator, 10° is the

recommended minimum tilt angle to
allow rain to run off panels
PV Panels: Electrical Characteristics
· Shown on label:

· Isc = short circuit current

depends on solar power
received

· Voc = open circuit current

reduced for higher
temperature
·
Maximum power: Vmp, Imp

· All values are given for

“standard conditions”:
25°C    and  1kW/m²

Radiation effect (W/m²) Temperature Effect

Interpreting the I-V curve
Ø A 50W bulb
connected
directly to a
50Wp panel may
not consume
50W, even in
bright sun.
Small Photovoltaic Systems
Small PV System
• Produces electricity
during sunlight hours

• Typically light is used

when there is no sun

• Need to store electrical

energy in batteries

• A charge controller is
used to protect the
battery and regulate its
charge and discharge
Components of a PV System
Ø PV panels
Ø Batteries
Ø Controller
Ø DC loads
Ø Cables, switches, etc.
Ø If AC is needed a DC-
AC inverter is required
(bad efficiency, high
cost)
Battery Ø Stores electrical energy to use
when there is no sun

Ø 12 V is the most common for

small systems

Ø Use “deep cycle” models

designed for slow charge and
discharge and longer life

Ø Car batteries are designed to

supply quick bursts of energy
and only partial discharge.
They don’t last long in PV
systems.

Ø Among Lead-Acid types, Deep

cycle models have thicker
plates, so they are heavier
Common Types of Lead-Acid
Batteries
Sealed (no maintenance)

Flooded Not sealed

need regular addition of water
more risky in transportation
Lead Acid

Gel ( AGM)
Battery Capacity

Expressed in Amp-hours (Ah), is the product of discharge Amps x discharge time in

hours, e.g. 100 Ah = 5Amps x 20hrs

If the battery is discharged quickly with a high discharge current, its usable capacity is
lower.

Compare to a runner: a sprinter will use up his energy very quickly, vs a marathon
runner may expand more energy over a longer time.

Specifications usually show C/100, C/20, or C/10, capacities, respectively for 100hrs,
20hrs, or 10 hrs discharge.

For example, a battery with a C/100 capacity of 100 Ah, may have a C/20 capacity of
88 Ah

Note: battery capacity decreases when the temperature is low.

 Battery capacity is not fixed
Ø A cold battery has less capacity than a warm one

Ø A battery stored in a warm place will self-discharge

faster than a cold one – may be dead before using it
Depth of Discharge

Ø This term indicates how much of the battery capacity is

depleted
Ø The battery life expectancy is reduced if the battery is
discharged a lot on a regular basis
Ø A battery which is never more than 50% discharged can last
twice as long as one that is regularly discharged 80%
Ø To keep the discharge around 50%, use a battery rated to
store 2x the daily energy use

V > 12.6 – 12.7 volts 1= fully charged

~12.5V

~12.3V

~11.9 - 12V

~11.3 - 11.7V = almost dead

State of charge over time - example
Life expectancy
in cycles vs. Depth of Discharge
Dangers and Precautions
Aggressive chemicals

Flammable gas Electricity

Charge Controller
Ø Controls proper charging of the battery
when sun is shining
Ø Protects battery against overcharge
Ø Recommended protections
§ Low Voltage Disconnect (LVD)
§ Overcurrent
§ Reverse polarity
§ Short circuit
§ Blocking diode to avoid current flowing to
panels at night
§ Equalization cycle to remove stratification
in battery

Ø LEDs or display give information on the

state of charge of the batteries
Hands-on Lab 2: using controller & battery
Ø Each group:
1 PV panel, 1 12V battery, 1 circuit panel board,
assortment of incandescent light bulb, and/or
CFL, and/or LED,
1 or 2 multimeter, 1 clamp meter (shared)

Ø Connect circuit panel to battery and PV panels

§ Respect instructions for connection order
§ Observe controller lights or display

Ø Check:
§ Continuity of connections before turning on
§ PV panels Voc vs. Voltage with light on
§ Isc vs.current with light on
§ Battery voltage
Hands-on Lab 2 - examples

Example of overall setup

Measuring voltage to bulb Measuring current to bulb

Inverter
Ø Transforms direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC)
Ø Must provide not only nominal power rating of the AC load, but also
surge power (can be 2.5x the nominal rating for motors)
Ø Efficiency <90%, some power is lost
Ø Uses low but continuous power if left on when not in use
Ø Three types of waveforms
§ Square wave, modified sine wave, sine wave
§ True sine wave is most expensive but necessary for some sensitive
electronics

•Always test the inverter with the load before field implementation
AC types
Demo: Using an inverter
Ø Allows to use AC light
bulbs, which are easier to
find than DC bulbs
Ø The inverter is connected
directly to the battery (clips
are temporary, a
permanent connection is
better)
Ø The battery consumes
electricity even the light
bulb is not ON
Ø Warning: this may
discharge the battery too
fully and reduce its life
expectancy
PV System Sizing

Find out
1. How much energy is needed?
2. How much is available from the sun?
3. How much will be lost in the system?
Then calculate
1. What size panels are needed
2. How much battery capacity is needed
The Solar Resource
1400
· “Perfect Solar Hours” or “Peak
1200
Sun Hours” (PSH) are used to
1000
express the energy received in
800
terms of equivalent hours at the
kW/m2

600
“standard power” of 1000 W/m2
400

200
· Solar Maps / weather data can
0
be expressed by the same
Perfect day: maximum PSH number, either in PSH or kWh/
1400
m2
1200
· 1 PSH @ 1 kW/m2 = 1 kWh/m2
1000

800 · Common PSH values In

kW/m2

600 tropical zones:

400 · Up to 7 on sunny days
200 · From 2-4 on cloudy days
0 · 4-6 as a monthly average
Cloudy day: poor PSH
Yearly average kWh/m2 on a horizontal surface
Seasonal Variation – incident angle
June March & September December
equinox
23° 23°
December June
Latitude South Latitude South
Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere

Equatorial Zone
Step 1: Evaluation of the Load
Quantity W Inverter Hours/day Wh / day
Efficiency
CFL 4 11W n/a 4 176 Wh
4 20W 3 240 Wh
LED 2 1.5W n/a 11 33 Wh
Other DC 1 35W n/a 1 35 Wh
loads
(sound / tv)
other

AC load 1 110W 85% 1.2 157 Wh

(TV + DVD)

TOTAL 641 Wh

Slide 31
Step 2: Weather Data (PSH)
Mindanao,
Philippines

http://www.retscreen.net/ and NASA database

Losses & Efficiency
Watt-Hours
Watt-Hours Needed for
Lost From Loads
Panel

Watt-Hours
Watt-Hours Lost From
Lost From Battery
Wires
 Example
Temperature Loss:
10%

100 Watt x 3 Hours x .90

= 270 Watt-hrs

Solar Panel Available

Rating: for DC
100W Load: 223
PSH = 3
Wh

223 Wh x 85%
= 190 Wh

Loss from Wiring: 270 Watt-hrs x .97 Available

3% = 260 Watt-hrs Losses from in AC: 190
Inverter: 15% Wh
i.e. 63% of
Loss from Battery: 15%
300Wh
260 Watt-hrs x .85
= 223 Watt-hrs
Step 4: Simplified Panel Sizing

Ø The amount of energy available from the battery (in Wh) is:
Peak panel power (Wp) x PSH (hrs) – losses, or
Peak panel power (Wp) x PSH (hrs) x combined efficiencies
Conservatively, you can use a 50% efficiency factor, i.e. 0.5

Ø To meet the average electricity load, we then need:

Peak panel power (Wp) = ____Load (Wh)____

PSH (h) x 0.5

Ø Use the PSH value for the worst month of the year, found through
RETscreen / NASA, or regional maps
Panel Sizing - Example

Using the load from Step1 slide (641Wh)

and weather data from RETscreen for Chirinos, Peru (34.5ºC , 4.23PSH)

Power needed (Wp) =

__641 Wh___ = 303 Wp

4.23h x 0.5
This needs to be rounded to a number of commercially available solar
panels,
e.g. 4 panels of 80 Wp each; or 3 panels of 100 Wp, etc.
Step 5: Battery Sizing
The main design parameters are:
Ø Number of days of autonomy (to use system during cloudy days,
typically 2-5 days)
Ø Depth of Discharge (usually 50%)
Ø Battery and system voltage (for example a 12 V system could be
supplied with 2 batteries of 6 V in series)
Ø In terms of energy supply:

Battery Capacity (Wh) = daily load (Wh) x days of autonomy

depth of discharge (%)

Battery capacity is usually provided in amp hours (Ah)

Amps = Watts/Volts so:

Capacity (Ah) = __Capacity (Wh)____

System voltage (V)
Battery Capacity Sizing Example
For the same Chirinos load lets use:
Ø 3 days of autonomy
Ø 50% depth of discharge
Ø 12V system and battery
Ø To meet 641Wh daily load with 85% battery efficiency,

The battery needs to store: 641Wh / 85%= 777Wh

Needed Capacity (Wh) = 777 (Wh) x 3 days of autonomy = 4665 Wh

50%

In Amp hours this will be:

Capacity (Ah) = 4665 Wh = 389 Ah
12V
Rounding up to a multiple of what’s available on the market;
4 x 104Ah = 416 Ah,
2 x 200Ah = 400 Ah, etc.
Battery Charge Management
To maintain charge level and increase battery life:
1.) make sure design load values are not exceeded
2.) Every cloudy / rainy day try to reduce energy use
3.) if possible use a capacity 20-50% larger than calculations suggest (safety
factor)

When the charge controller Low Voltage Disconnect switches the system off it
means that the whole reserve, including days of autonomy, is exhausted. It will
take the same number of days with full sunshine and no load use to fully recharge
the batteries
Sizing Exercises
Sizing Exercises – Panels and Batteries

Groups A
Ø Size a home system for Huancayo, Peru, using previous demand analysis
values

Groups B
Ø Size a similar system for a clinic in Huancayo replacing TV/DVD with a
refrigerator, and eliminating the sound system

Ø Try 2 scenarios with different depth of discharge and days of autonomy

Homework: Reverse Sizing Exercise
In many countries, vendors sell pre-packaged domestic
systems, e.g.
1. 50Wp
2. 75Wp
3. 100Wp

Select one of those and see how many hours of use it would
give for three 11W CFLs and a 40W TV in various
climates:
A. 4PSH (Amazon or Thailand)
B. 5PSH (Philippines)
C. 6 PSH (Cuzco, Peru)
D. 7 PSH (Mauritania)