CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this work, “Design and Implementation of 5kVA PV

Power System Inverter”, was carried out by the group of ELEZUA,
EMMANUEL OBINNA (20111771443) in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the award of the Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) degree in Electrical and
Electronic Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

Approved By:

…….……………………… ……….…...…………….

Engr Dr. Ifenyinwa Achumba Date

(Project supervisor)

………………………..……. ………………………….

Dr Damian Dike Date

(Head of Department)

……………………………... ………………………….

External Examiner Date

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 DEDICATION

We dedicate this work to all individuals and organizations involved in climate

advocacy, the fight against global warming, and other conservation efforts.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success of this work was not without the immense help and encouragement
from many people who in their various contributions enhanced the successful
completion of this project work. Firstly, our special appreciation goes to our
dearest supervisors for the solar group project: Engr. Prof. GLORIA
CHUKWUDEBE, Dr. I. E. ACHUMBA, Engr. Dr. O. J. ONOJO, Engr. Dr. F. I.
IZUEGBUNAM, Engr. Dr. NKWACHUKWU CHUKWUCHEKWA, Engr. JOE
C. K. UZUEGBU and Engr. R. O. OPARA for their relentless and constructive
efforts and guidance throughout the process of this project.

Our special appreciation goes to the Head of Department, Engr. Dr. D. O. Dike for
his visionary leadership and efforts to further the cause of the department.

We are not forgetting our dearest course advisor in the person of Engr. I .F.
EZEBILI who in his fatherly love never ceased to encourage and support us
throughout the entire period; Engr. (Mrs) EHINOMEN ATIMATI and the entire
members of staff of the department of Electrical/Electronic Engineering for their
immense support and contributions towards the growth and development of the
department.

Finally, we are indebted to our beloved parents and guardians for their generous
support to us in all our endeavours especially during the period of this project, and
to our friends and course mates for their own contributions in making this project a
reality and success; to you all we say a very big Thank You and God bless you all.

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 ABSTRACT

This report presents the Design and Implementation of 5kVA Photovoltaic Power
System Inverter for the department of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Federal
University of Technology Owerri. This project was carried out to fill the void
created by the erratic power supply which has crippled major activities in the
department and university as a whole over the years. It also builds on the efforts of
the previous year to solarize the department. The power system comprises different
modules: PV modules, charge controller, inverter and battery bank, all working in
tandem to transform the sun’s energy into useable AC electrical power. This
system was designed to supplement power from the mains and from the backup
AC generator the department previously relied solely on. The photovoltaic power
system was designed with a homemade 5kVA pure sine wave inverter, 19200Watt-
hour battery bank that is made up of eight 12V/200AH deep cycle lead acid
batteries. The battery bank was designed to be charged with power from the mains
power supply or a standby power generator, as well as the PV modules. At the end
of design, implementation and testing, all the measured outputs reflected the
desired results as indicated in the design specifications. Practical experience in the
design, analysis and construction of components of the photovoltaic power system,
as well as their installation was gained.

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 TABLE CONTENTS

COVER PAGE i
CERTIFICATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF TABLES xii
CHAPTER ONE 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 2
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 3
1.3 OBJECTIVE 3
1.4 IMPORTANCE 4
1.5 JUSTIFICATION 4
1.6 SCOPE OF WORK 5
CHAPTER TWO 6
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. BACKGROUND OF STUDY 6
2.2 CLASSIFICATION OF PV SOLAR SYSTEM 6
2.2.1 GRID – CONNECTED (GRID – TIED) SYSTEM 6
2.2.2 STAND ALONE SYSTEM 7
2.2.3 HYBRID SYSTEM 8

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2.3 REVIEW OF THE EXISTING THEORY IN HYBRID PV POWER SYSTEM
9
2.4 REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE SUBSYSTEMS OF A PV SYSTEM 10
2.4.1 SOLAR MODULES 12
2.4.2 ARRAY MOUNTING RACKS 12
2.4.3 GROUNDING EQUIPMENT 13
2.4.4 COMBINER BOX 14
2.4.5 SURGE PROTECTION 14
2.4.6 INVERTER 15
2.4.7 METERS 16
2.4.8 DISCONNECT 17
2.4.9 BATTERY BANK 17
2.4.10 CHARGE CONTROLLER 18
2.5 REVIEW OF INVERTER SYSTEMS 19
2.6 INVERTER 22
2.6.1 SQUARE WAVE 23
2.6.2 SINE WAVE 25
2.6.3 MODIFIED SINE WAVE 31
2.6.4 AREAS OF APPLICATIONS 38
2.6.5 STAGES OF OPERATION 35
2.6.5a BATTERY CHARGER UNIT 36
2.6.5b OSCILLATORY UNIT 36
2.6.5c SWITCHING UNIT 36
2.6.5d TRANSFORMER UNIT 36

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2.7 BATTERY 37
2.7.1 CLASSIFICATION OF BATTERIES 37
2.7.2 BATTERY LIFESPAN 39
2.7.3 STARTING, MARINE, OR DEEP-CYCLE BATTERIES 40
2.7.4 AMP-HOURS RATING 41
2.7.5 WHY AMP-HOURS ARE SPECIFIED AT A PARTICULAR RATE
41
2.7.6 PEUKERT’S LAW 42
2.7.7 PEUKERT EXPONENT FOR A PARTICULAR BATTERY 43
2.7.8 PEUKERT’S LAW LIMITATIONS 43
2.7.9 BATTERY CHEMISTRY 44
2.7.10 BATTERY DISCHARGING 45
2.7.11 BATTERY CHARGING 45
2.7.12 BATTERY AGING 47
CHAPTER 3 48
DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.0 METHODOLOGY 48
3.1 DESIGN OBJECTIVES 48
3.2 DESIGN CONSIDERATION 48
3.3 DESIGN SPECIFICATION 50
3.4 THE DESIGN OF 5KVA PURE SINE WAVE INVERTER SYSTEM 50
3.4.1 THE OSCILLATOR/PWM CONTROLLER (THE SIGNAL
GENERATOR) 51
3.4.2 MOSFET DRIVERS 54
3.4.3 THE H-BRIDGE 55
3.4.4 OUTPUT FILTER 57

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 3.4.5 MOSFET DRIVERS AND FULL H BRIDGE 58
3.4.6 FILTER AND BOOST TRANSFORMER 59
3.4.7 THE COMPLETE SINE WAVE INVERTER CIRCUIT 61
3.5 DESCRIPTION OF INVERTER COMPONENTS 62
3.5.1 TRANSFORMER 62
3.5.2 CAPACITORS 64
3.5.3 RESISTORS 64
3.5.4 RELAY 65
3.6 THEORY, DESIGN PROCEDURE AND CALCULATION ON THE
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM 65
3.6.1 ARRAY MOUNTING RACKS 65
3.6.2 GROUNDING EQUIPMENT 66
3.6.3 SYSTEM GROUNDING 66
3.6.4 COMBINER 66
3.6.5 SURGE PROTECTION 67
3.6.6 BATTERY BANK 67
3.6.7 CHARGE CONTROLLER 68
3.6.8 DISCONNECTS 71
3.6.9 PROJECT CALCULATION ANALYSIS 73
CHAPTER 4 75
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 RESULTS 75
4.1.1 THE OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT TEST RESULTS 75
4.1.2 TESTING THE COMPLETE INVERTER CIRCUIT 76
4.2 DISCUSSION 79

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 4.2.1 THE FINAL OUTPUT SIGNAL OF 5KVA PURE SINE WAVE
INVERTER 80
CHAPTER 5 82
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 CONCLUSION 82
5.2 PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED 82
5.2.1 LIMITATIONS OF PROJECT 83
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 83
REFERENCES 85
APPENDIX A 87
APPENDIX B 92

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 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 2.1: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF GRID- CONNECTED PV SYSTEM 8

FIGURE 2.2: DIRECT COUPLED PV SYSTEM 9
FIGURE 2.3: DIAGRAM OF A STAND-ALONE PV HYBRID SYSTEM WITH
BATTERY STORAGE POWERING DC AND AC LOAD 9
FIGURE 2.4: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF HYBRID PV SYSTEM 10
FIGURE 2.5: SEVERAL TYPES OF SOLAR MODULES 12
FIGURE 2.6: ARRAY MOUNTING RACKS 13
FIGURE 2.7: PV GROUNDING SYSTEM 13
FIGURE 2.8: PV COMBINER BOX WIRING 14
FIGURE 2.9: PV SURGE PROTECTOR 15
FIGURE 2.10: PV INVERTER 16
FIGURE 2.11: PV SMART METER 17
FIGURE 2.12: 600W PURE SINE WAVE INVERTER 20
FIGURE 2.13: DC/AC PURE SINE WAVE INVERTER 21
FIGURE 2.14: INTELLIGENT DC/AC CONVERTER SYSTEM 22
FIGURE 2.15: SQUARE WAVEFORM 24
FIGURE 2.16: SQUARE WAVE INVERTER CIRCUIT DIAGRAM 24
FIGURE 2.17: PURE SINE WAVE FORM 26
FIGURE 2.18: PWM SINE WAVE MODULATION 27
FIGURE 2.19: 3 LEVEL PWM TECHNIQUE 28
FIGURE 2.20: PWM INVERTER BLOCK DIAGRAM 29
FIGURE 2.21: LOW VOLTAGE PWM INVERTER CIRCUIT DIAGRAM 30
FIGURE 2.22: HIGH VOLTAGE PWM INVERTER CIRCUIT DIAGRAM 31

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FIGURE 2.23: MODIFIED SINE WAVEFORM 31
FIGURE 2.24: MODIFIED SINE WAVE INVERTER CIRCUIT DIAGRAM 32
FIGURE 2.25: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF 5kVA INVERTER 35
FIGURE 2.26: PRIMARY CELL TYPES 38
FIGURE 2.27: INTERNAL MAKE-UP OF LEAD ACID BATTERY 44
FIGURE 3.1: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A BASIC INVERTER 51
FIGURE 3.2: PIC16F876A PIN-OUT 52
FIGURE 3.3: FLOWCHART OF THE PWM PROGRAM 53
FIGURE 3.4: MICROCONTROLLER SIGNAL GENERATOR 54
FIGURE 3.5: MOSFET DRIVER CONNECTION 55
FIGURE 3.6: H-BRIDGE CONFIGURATION AND CURRENT FLOW
PATTERN 56
FIGURE 3.7: LC LOW PASS FILTER 57
FIGURE 3.8: MOSFET DRIVER AND FULL H-BRIDGE CONNECTION 59
FIGURE 3.9: LOW PASS FILTER AND TRANSFORMER CONNECTION 59
FIGURE 3.10: LOW PASS FILTER DESCRIPTION 60
FIGURE 3.11: COMPLETE DIAGRAM FOR THE MICROCONTROLLER-
BASED PWM INVERTER 61
FIGURE 3.12: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF BATTERY CONNECTION 67
FIGURE 3.13: MULTI-STAGE CHARGING 71
FIGURE 4.0: THE RESULT OUTPUT SIGNALS OF THE OSCILLATOR
CIRCUIT 76
FIGURE 4.1: THE MODULATED AND FINAL OUTPUT SIGNALS 77

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 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 4.1: INPUT SPECIFICATION PARAMETERS 77

TABLE 4.2: QUALITY TEST REPORT OF THE 5KVA INVERTER, 48VDC 77

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