EE-452: ELECTRICAL ENERGY SYSTEMS (RENEWABLE)

E NO. 19
LECT UR

DR. TAHIR EJAZ

CLASS : EE
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ECONOMICS
We can now estimate the energy
delivered by a grid-connected PV system,
so the next step is to explore its economic
viability.
Two types of economic analyses need to
be made.
One helps to make decisions between
different system options—for example,
whether to use a tracking system or a
fixed mount, etc.
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ECONOMICS
The other helps a buyer decide whether
the investment is worthwhile.
System Trade-offs
To illustrate the decision between
system options, consider the trade-off
between the benefits of higher irradiance
with a tracking mount compared to a
simple fixed, roof mount.

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ECONOMICS

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ECONOMICS

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ECONOMICS

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ECONOMICS

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Since grid-connected systems use the
utility for back-up, there is no need for
battery storage unless power outages are
a problem.
This makes them relatively simple and
relatively inexpensive.
Having the grid right there, however,
means that they have to compete with
relatively inexpensive utility power.
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When the grid isn’t nearby, electricity
suddenly becomes much more valuable
and the extra cost and complexity of a
totally self-sufficient, stand-alone power
system can provide enormous benefit.
Instead of competing with 10-cent utility
power, a PV–battery system competes
with 50-cent gasoline or diesel-powered
generators.
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Figure 9.35 suggests a quite general
system that includes a generator backup
as well as the possibility for some loads to
be served directly with more-efficient dc
and others with ac.

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A combination charger–inverter is
shown, which has the capability to
convert ac to dc or vice versa.
The charger converts ac from the
generator into dc to charge the batteries;
as an inverter, it converts dc from the
batteries into ac needed by the load.
The charger–inverter unit may include
an automatic transfer switch.
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Off-grid systems must be designed with
great care to assure satisfactory
performance.
Users must check and maintain batteries,
they must adjust their energy demands as
weather and battery charge vary, they
may fuel and fix a noisy generator, and
they must take responsibility for the safe
operation of the system.
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Estimating the Load
The design process for stand-alone
systems begins with an estimate of the
loads that are to be provided for.
As with all design processes, a number of
iterations may be required.

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On the first pass, the user may try to
provide the capability to power anything
and everything that normal, grid-
connected living allows.
Various iterations will follow in which
trade-offs are made between more
expensive, but more efficient, appliances
and devices in exchange for fewer PVs and
batteries.
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Some loads are treated as essentials that
must be provided for, and others are
luxuries to be used only when conditions
allow.
A key decision involves whether to use
all dc loads to avoid the inefficiencies
associated with inverters, or whether the
convenience of an all ac system is worth
the extra cost, or perhaps a combination
of the two is best.
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Another important decision is whether
to include a generator back-up system
and, if so, what fraction of the load it will
have to supply.
The simplest of systems will incorporate
only devices that run directly on dc.
A rather large market already exists for
such dc equipment to meet the needs of
the boating and recreational vehicle
communities.
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Power needed by a load, as well as
energy required over time by that load, is
important for system sizing.
In the simplest case, energy (watt-hours
or kilowatt-hours) is just the product of
some nominal power rating of the device
multiplied by the hours that it is in use.
The situation is often more complicated,
however.
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For example, an amplifier needs more
power when the volume is increased, and
many appliances, such as refrigerators
and washing machines, use different
amounts of power during different
portions of their operating cycle.
An especially important consideration
for household electronic devices—TVs,
VCRs, computers, portable phones, and so
on.
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Many devices, such as TVs, use power
even while they are turned off since some
circuits remain energized awaiting the
turn-on signal from the remote.
Consumer electronics now account for
about 10% of all residential electricity,
and researchers at Lawrence Berkeley
National Labs conclude that almost two-
thirds of this energy occurs when these
devices are not actually being used.
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Table 9.10 lists examples of power used
by a number of household electrical loads.
Some of these are simply watts of power,
which can be multiplied by hours of use to
get watt-hours of energy.
Many of the devices listed in the
consumer electronics category show
power while they are being used (active)
and power consumed the rest of the time
(standby).
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The Inverter and the System Voltage
In the previous example, a calculation
was made for the average daily energy
consumption for appliances and loads
that were all assumed to run on ac power.
To figure out how much power the
batteries must supply, the calculation
needs to be modified to account for losses
in the dc-to-ac inverter.
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This can be tricky to do accurately since
the inverter’s efficiency is a function of
the magnitude of the load it happens to be
supplying at that particular instant.
Most inverters now operate at around
90% efficiency over most of their range,
as is suggested in Fig. 9.36.

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For calculations, an overall inverter
efficiency of about 85% is considered to
be a conservative default assumption.
When no load is present, a good inverter
will power down to less than 1 watt of
standby power while it waits for
something to be turned on that needs ac.

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When it senses a load, the inverter
powers up and while it runs uses on the
order of 5–20 W of its own.
That means those standby losses
associated with so many of our electronic
devices may keep the inverter running
continuously, even though no real energy
service is being delivered.

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In that case, that 5-to-20 watts of
inverter loss adds to the other standby
losses.

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Swapping out the ac refrigerator in the
above example for a dc one reduces the
total dc load that the batteries have to
supply by about 15%.
This can translate into a 15% reduction
in the size and cost of the photovoltaic
array as well as the batteries.

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System Voltage
Inverters are specified by their dc input
voltage as well as by their ac output
voltage, continuous power handling
capability, and the amount of surge power
they can supply for brief periods of time.
The inverter’s dc input voltage, which is
the same as the voltage of the battery
bank and the PV array, is called the
system voltage.
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The system voltage is usually 12 V, 24 V,
or 48 V.
Higher voltages need less current,
making it easier to minimize wire losses.
On the other hand, higher voltage means
more batteries wired in series, which
impacts the number of batteries that may
be needed to supply the load.

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Using a guideline results in the system-
voltage suggestions given in Table 9.11.

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For the house described in Example 9.14,
the total ac power demand with
everything turned on at once would be
1919 W (Table 9.12), which would draw
160 A if the system voltage is only 12 V.

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