SOLAR POWER SYSTEM UNIT

Solar power system is a form of renewable energy system which converts sunlight into electricity using

PV modules. The electrical energy generated can be stored, use directly or combining the two as the

case may be. Solar PV system is a reliable and clean source of electricity that can suit a wide range of

applications such as residence, industrial, agriculture etc.

1.1.1 Major components of solar system

Solar power system comprises of different components in which their selection is guided by system

type, site location and applications. The major components of solar system are; solar panel(s), solar

charge controller, battery bank, inverter and load(s).

i. Solar panel: This performs the magic of converting sunlight into DC electricity.

ii. Solar charge controller: To prevent overcharging and prolong the battery life, solar charge

controller is used to regulates the DC voltage and current coming from the solar panels going into

the battery bank.

iii. Battery bank: This stores the energy to be supplied to the electrical appliances at the period

when there is no sunlight.

iv. Inverter: The DC output from the solar panel or the battery bank in converted into clean AC by

the use of an inverter.

v. Load: This represents any electrical appliance that is connected to the solar system.

1.1.2 Solar power system sizing

Although there are various ways of calculating solar power requirements, the one used in this work

seems to be the simplest method.

In summary, the sizing sSolar power system of this work, takes the following simple procedures;
I. Energy needed

The power consumption of electrical appliances are usually given in Watts, to calculate the energy

needed over a time, for every appliance, its power consumption is multiplied by its period of intended

usage.

For water pump; 40W ‘ON’ for 2 hours per day

= 80WH per day

For servo motor; 20W ‘ON’ for 30seconds (1/2minute = 1/120 hour) per day

= 0.167WH per day

For control Circuit; 30W ‘ON’ for 24hours per day

= 720WH per day

For temperature sensor: 5W ‘ON’ for 24hours per day

= 120WH per day

For image sensor: 10W ‘ON’ for 24hours per day

= 240WH per day.

For PH sensor: 15W ‘ON’ for 24hours per day

= 360WH per day.

For water level sensor: 5W ‘0N’ for 24hours per day

= 120WH per day.

TOTAL = 80+ 0.167+720+120+240 +360+120

= 1,640.167WH per day

Solar panel size

Based on 6hours sunshine per day, the size of the solar panel will be;

1 , 640 .167 WH
=273. 36 W
6H
However, from the standard sizes of solar panels, 300W solar panel is recommended for this system.

II. Battery size

Also, from the figure of the total energy needed, the Ampere Hour of the battery was determined as;

1 ,640 .167 WH
=136 .68 AH
12V

Where 12V is the terminal voltage of the battery used.

From the standard, 200AH Lion battery is used because it has 80% usable power which is 160AH and

this can handle 136.68AH from the calculation.

III. Choice of charge controller

To calculate the of the charge controller, the Ampere Hour figure of the chosen battery is divided by its

terminal voltage.

200
=16. 67 Amps
i.e. 12

From the standard ratings of charge controllers, a 20Amps charge controller is recommended for the

system.

Note that this system does not require any inverter as all the expected loads are made to be DC loads.