Vardhan Consulting Engineers Internships

Solar PV Power -
Simulation and Designing

Smart Task 04

Submitted by
Kazi Sahariar Rahi
B.Tech Electrical Engineering
National Institute Of Technology Silchar
Email id: srahi00000@gmail.com

Contents
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1
➢ Preface

➢ Acknowledgement

➢ Sources of energy-Renewable and Non-Renewable

➢ Solar Energy in India

➢ Solar Resource Assessment

➢ Solar Power plants and its types

➢ Solar PV Panels

➢ Inverters and Charge-controllers

➢ Batteries

➢ Other factors

➢ Softwares used

➢ Losses in the Solar PV power plant

➢ Executive Summary

➢ Conclusion

2
 Preface
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The following report contains a summary of all the information gathered during the
internship for Solar PV Power Plant - Simulation and Design. This report includes a brief
overview of all forms of energy that are used for the production of Electrical Energy. Further,
the report entirely focuses its discussion upon Solar Energy and ways to harness and convert
it into Electrical Energy. Various elements involved in the Solar PV Power plant are
described briefly in the report. At last, an economic study regarding the investment and
returns in Solar PV power plants was performed in order to understand the overall benefits in
setting up the Solar Power Plant.

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 Acknowledgement
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I would like to thank Vardhan Consulting Engineers for giving me this opportunity to
work upon such an interesting topic. This experience was enriching and I got to learn many
new things from it. Also, I would like to thank Ashish Kumar Sir for being a great mentor.
His lectures from the CSD program and all the group calls were quite informative and I
greatly benefitted from them. At last, I would like to thank Neha Kumari Mam for her
continuous support and guidance in completing the internship.

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 Sources of Energy
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The sources of energy are mainly classified as two- Non-Renewable Energy

Resources and Renewable Energy Resources. Since there was not much development in
technology in earlier centuries, Non-Renewable Resources were the major source of energy
for conversion into electrical energy. The fossil fuels were mainly used for generation on
electrical energy. Crude Oil, Coal, Natural Gas, etc. are used in Power Generation Plants and
even now make up for a huge chunk of energy generated. But, due to the overconsumption of
these resources, insecurity of supplies over the next few decades, global environmental
concerns caused by these resources like Global Warming, we have been forced to move
towards other forms of energy.

Renewable sources of energy are the resources that are replenished naturally over a
period of time. These resources are abundantly available in nature. Some of the renewable
resources are Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Hydroelectric Energy, Geo-Thermal Energy, Tidal
energy, etc. Different technologies have been developed to harness these energies.

Solar Energy is one of the prime sources of renewable source energy. Solar PV power
plants and Solar Thermal Power Plant are set-up for converting solar energy into electrical
energy. While windmills of different scales are erected at various places to convert wind
energy into electrical energy. Wind energy is not prominently used in residential areas but is
popular in the areas where solar energy is not available but experience harsh weather
conditions like regions near the Polar region. Dams are set-up along with the flow of a river
or water reservoirs, where energy conversion units are set-up for generating hydro-electric
energy. This technology has low maintenance cost but requires a huge one-time investment
initially. Geothermal Energy is the thermal (heat) energy trapped inside the mantle of the
earth which is generated due to pressure, radioactive decay, etc. This energy is sometimes
released in the form of volcanic eruptions or geysers which are used to generate steam,
further fed to the generators to produce electricity. Tidal energy is generated by the tides
drifting up to the shores. Using turbines and other mechanical support this energy is trapped
and converted into electrical energy. Bioenergy is a form of energy that is produced from the
biomass available in the environment.

There are many other sources of Renewable sources of energy but here we will
concentrate upon the conversion of Solar Energy into Electrical Energy using Solar PV
Power Plant.

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 Solar Energy in India
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Solar Energy is the energy received to the surface of the earth in the form of radiation
travelling at great speed. As per a study conducted, earth approximately receives about 174
Petawatts of solar energy each year on the upper surface1. This energy obtained is responsible
for many phenomenons occurring on earth such as photosynthesis, changes in climate, etc.
Although, a great portion (30%) of the solar energy received is reflected backwards in the
atmosphere and rest is entirely available to be absorbed and converted into various other
forms of energy.

Solar energy is one of the emerging resources of energy in India. The country's solar
installed capacity reached 34.404 GW as of 29 February 2020 2. In 2015, India raised the
target power production using solar power plants from 20 GW to 100 GW with an investment
of 100 billion USD. From this, we can conclude that India’s capacity to harness solar power
has exponentially increased in the last few years. And with the help of government policies
and schemes, it is determined to grow at a much faster rate. The cost of setting up a domestic
solar system in India has reduced drastically. According to a ET article 3, The benchmark cost
of a typical 1 kW off-grid system generating 4-5 units of electric power can vary between Rs
1 lakh and 1.25 lakh. Similarly, the benchmark cost of a similar grid-connected system is
generally between Rs 75,000 and Rs 90,000. The difference is due to the cost of batteries and
other accessories like charge controllers.

Kamuthi Solar Power Project and NP Kunta Ultra Mega Solar Park are the two largest
projects that made its place in the top 10 largest solar projects in the world according to an
article in The Economic Times 4. Kamuthi Solar Power Project 5 is a photovoltaic power
station spread over an area of 2,500 acres (10 km2) in Kamuthi, Ramanathapuram district, 90
km from Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The project was commissioned by Adani
Power with a generating capacity of 648 MWp at a single location. While, The NP Kunta
Ultra Mega Solar Park6, also known as Ananthapuram Ultra Mega Solar Park, is a solar park
spread over a total area of 7,924.76 acres (32.0704 km 2) in Nambula Pulakunta Mandal in the
Anantapur district of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The first phase of the park was
commissioned on 9 May 2016 with a capacity of 200 MW. An additional 50 MW capacity
was commissioned on 29 July 2016. A further 750 MW was planned to have been
commissioned by March 2018 in the second phase.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy - Solar Energy (Wiki)

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_India - Solar Energy in India
3 Domestic household solar plant
4 Top 10 largest solar power plants in the world
5 NP Kunta Ultra Mega Solar Park
6 Kamuthi Solar Power Project
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 Solar Resource Assessment
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Solar resource assessment7 can be defined as the systematic collection of data related
to various parameters which will help us to accurately estimate the amount of energy that can
be generated in a year from the solar plant to be set-up. This process is just like measuring the
amount of fuel present in the car before starting it. After this assessment, we can determine
the number of solar panels required for setting up a Solar PV Power Plant of specific output
power.

During Solar assessment, there are various other factors considered along with the
solar irradiation. These factors include wind speed, humidity, particulate contents in
atmosphere, ambient temperature, etc. Because these factors also have considerable effect on
the production of electrical energy from solar power plants. Solar Resource Assessment is
done using mainly two methods - 1. Using satellite derived data and 2. Using ground
mounted instruments.

The first method involves a large amount of data collected through satellites across a
long duration of time (about a year or more) and stored in the form of large databases like
SolarGIS, Meteonorm 7.2, etc. The information about various aforementioned factors for a
specific region can be obtained from such databases and using this information we can draw
conclusions about the design of solar plant for required power output. The second method
involves setting up various instruments around the plot where the solar power plant is
planned to set-up. These instruments are employed for a short time duration in which the data
of various factors is collected in real time and studied to define the parameters of the plant.
Some of the instruments employed for measuring these factors are - Pyrheliometer8 to
measure direct normal irradiation (DNI) and Pyranometer to measure global and diffuse
irradiation (GHI and DHI). Sun Tracker with installed pyrheliometer for direct normal
irradiation measurement (DNI) or with installed pyranometer including shadow ring / ball for
diffuse horizontal irradiation measurement. Anemometer to measure wind speed and wind
vane to determine the wind direction. Temperature humidity sensor and barometric pressure
sensor to measure the humidity and density of air. Using this detailed set-up we can create a
small database which would be precise to the specific plot location. Hence, this is a very
important step in designing a solar power plant.

7 https://energypedia.info/wiki/Resource_Assessment_-_Solar
8 https://www.ammonit.com/en/wind-solar-messsysteme/solarmesssysteme/407-solar-resource-assessment
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 Solar Power Plant
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Solar Power Plant helps in conversion of solar radiation into electrical energy. But
solar power plants can also be of different types 9 depending on the energy generation method
as - Photovoltaic power plant, Concentrating power plant and Solar Thermal power plant.

Photo-voltaic Solar Power Plant is the most common and popular technology that is
used in solar power plants. In this technology, solar panels convert sunlight into electric
current by using photoelectric effect. The process of energy conversion is clean and simple
and it does not involve injecting any kind of smoke or harmful chemicals into the
atmosphere. It is used on a small scale above rooftops and terraces for powering up
household appliances as well as on a large scale in small industries and factories for running
heavy machineries.

Concentrating solar power plant10 can be assumed as an extension of a Solar

Photovoltaic power plant. The working principle of both types of plants is the same but the
only difference is that concentrating solar power plants use lenses, mirrors and tracking
systems to focus a large amount of sunlight into a small beam and this focused light is
directed towards the photovoltaic cells and they convert this heat energy into electrical
energy.

Solar Thermal power plants11, on the other hand, focus or collect sunlight in such a
manner as to generate steam to feed a turbine and generate electricity. These kinds of solar
thermal power plants work by focussing sunlight from long parabolic mirrors onto receiver
tubes that run the length of the mirror at their focal point. This concentrated solar energy
heats up a fluid that continuously flows through the tubes. This heated fluid is then sent to a
heat exchanger to boil water in a conventional steam-turbine generator to generate electricity.
It is also possible to make use of this energy for cooking purposes.

Solar Power Plants can also be differentiated based on the distribution behaviour of
the power station:

1. Stand Alone or Off Grid type Solar Power Plant

2. Grid Tie type Solar Power Plant
3. Grid Interactive or Hybrid type Solar Power Plant
4. Grid Fallback type Solar Power Plant.

In a standalone system the solar modules are used to produce electric energy which is
utilized to charge a storage battery bank and this battery bank delivers electricity to the

9 https://kenbrooksolar.com/solar-power-plants
10 https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/solarpowerplantstypes.php
11 https://interestingengineering.com/how-does-a-solar-power-plant-work
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connected load. This is the most commonly used photo-voltaic installation used to provide
localized electricity in absence of conventional sources of electric power at certain locations.

In Grid Tie type Solar Power Plant, the array of solar panels are directly connected to
the grid distributing the energy to the load. In a grid-tie solar system, consumers consume
electricity produced by solar power plants during sunny day time and also export surplus
energy to the grid but at night while the solar plant does not produce energy, they import
electric energy from the grid for consumption. In some countries facilities are available for
selling power to the local or national grid. This is gaining popularity in Europe and the
United States. The main disadvantage of this system is that if there is a power cut in the grid,
the solar modules should be disconnected from the grid.

Grid Interactive or Hybrid type Solar Power Plant is an improvement upon the above
mentioned type of solar power plant. It eliminates the disadvantage of the Grid Tie type Solar
Power Plant by including a battery bank along with the grid connected to the power plant. So,
when there is a power cut and the solar power plant needs to be cut out, the battery bank
supplies the power to the load. Thus, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of power to the users.

Grid fallback12 is the most reliable and stable system mainly used for electrifying
smaller households. Here, solar modules charge a battery bank which in turn supplies
distribution boards through an inverter. When the batteries are discharged to a pre-specified
level, the system automatically switches back to the grid power supply. The solar modules
then recharge the batteries and after the batteries are being charged up to a pre-specified level
again the system switches back to solar power.

12 https://www.electrical4u.com/types-of-solar-power-station/
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 Solar PV Panels
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The major component of Solar PV Power Plants is the solar panels. The Solar panels
are made up of a large number of solar cells. A solar cell is a semiconductor device that
converts sunlight energy into electrical energy directly without going through any
intermediate energy conversion steps. Many such solar cells are connected mainly in series
to make an array of solar cells, and many such solar cell arrays connected together make up a
Solar PV Module or Panel. The solar panels can be divided in mainly three types depending
on the type of material used in production of these Solar PV panels - 1. Monocrystalline
panels13, 2. Polycrystalline (also known as Multi-crystalline) Panels, and 3. Thin-Film
Panels.

Monocrystalline silicon panels are made up from a single crystal of purest form of
silicon which give the panels dark uniform colour and rounded edges. Due to the pure form
of Si, these types of panels reach a high efficiency of about 20%, high power output, occupy
less space, and last the longest. These are also slightly less affected by high temperatures
compared to polycrystalline panels.

Polycrystalline solar cells are composed of fragments of silicon crystals that are
melted together in a mold before being cut into wafers. They are characterized by the blue
speckled look and have sharp square cut edges. These panels reach upto the highest
efficiency of 18% and provide about similar output as compared to the monocrystalline
counterparts. They cost less than the monocrystalline solar panels.

Unlike monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels, thin-film panels are made
from a variety of materials. The most prevalent type of thin-film solar panels are made from
materials like Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) and Copper Indium
Gallium Selenide (CIGS). These types of solar panels have a thickness of about 1 micrometre
(one millionth of a metre). Thin-film solar panels have significantly less efficiency than other
counterparts of 7% but also they cost significantly less than others.

Although less used but there are certain types of solar panels used in setting up a solar
energy farm. Cadmium Telluride, which enables the production of solar cells at relatively low
cost and thus a shorter payback time (less than a year). Of all solar energy technologies, this
is the one requiring the least amount of water for production. Keeping the short energy
payback time in mind, CdTe solar cells will keep your carbon footprint as low as possible.
The only disadvantage of using Cadmium Telluride is its characteristic of being toxic, if
ingested or inhaled.

Concentrated PV cells (CPV)14 are another type of cells that are under research but
have a capability to reach high efficiency of 41%. These work the same as other types of
solar cells, but have additional components like mirrors, lens, glass frames, etc. For high

13 https://www.energysage.com/solar/101/types-solar-panels/
14 https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2015/09/types-of-solar-panels
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efficiency of the CPV cells they must always be properly oriented towards the sun. For this,
they are equipped with solar trackers and actuators for maintaining optimum orientation of
the solar panels.

Concentrated PV cells with lens for focusing the solar rays

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 Inverters & Charge-controllers
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Besides solar panels, other major components to be concerned about is Inverters and
charge-controllers15. Most of the appliances used in our regular household run on AC power,
while energy produced by the solar PV panels is in DC form. We need an intermediary for
conversion of AC power to DC power.

Inverter is the component that helps in conversion of DC power in AC power. The

generated power range is from 250 V to 600 V. This conversion process can be done with the
help of a set of IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors). When these solid-state devices
are connected in the form of H-Bridge, then it oscillates from the DC power to AC power.

There are different types of inverters 16 available in the market. The string inverters are
arranged in the form of a string and many strings are allied to a single string inverter. Every
string holds the DC power where it is altered into AC power used like electricity. Based on
the installation size, we may have many string inverters where each string gets DC power
from some strings. These inverters are good for installations where the panels are arranged on
a single plane to avoid facing in different directions. Central inverter is a different type of
inverter where conversion of DC power to AC power in one centralized unit. This is more
efficient but costs more than other types of inverter. Micro-inverter 17 is a type of inverter
which is ideal for small scale commercial purposes and residential use. These inverters are
mounted on each solar panel and directly DC power is converted to AC power right at the
source itself.

Another component is Charge-controller which is defined as a device which manages

the power going into the battery bank from the solar array. It ensures that the deep cycle
batteries are not overcharged during the day, and that the power doesn’t run backwards to the
solar panels overnight and drain the batteries. The solar charge controllers use two different
types of technologies - PWM technology and MPPT technology18.

PWM stands for ‘Pulse Width Modulation’. In this technique, the voltage output of
the array is pulled down to the voltage level of the battery and it rises as the battery charges.
The major precaution we need to take is that the nominal voltage of the array must match the
nominal voltage of the battery bank. MPPT stands for ‘Maximum Power Point Tracking’. In
this form of power transfer, the charge controller first determines the V mp of the array and
then down-converts the PV voltage to voltage of the battery bank. Since power into the
charge controller equals power out of the charge controller, when the voltage is dropped to
match the battery bank, the current is raised, so you are using more of the available power
from the panel. 19MPPT based charge converters are more expensive than the PWM based
charge controllers but they are worth their value.
15 https://www.magnum-dimensions.com/knowledge/pvstorage/inverterchargers-and-charge-controllers-do-you-need-both
16 https://www.elprocus.com/what-is-a-solar-inverter-and-how-it-works/
17 https://news.energysage.com/solar-inverters-comparing-inverter-technologies/
18 https://www.altestore.com/store/info/solar-charge-controller/
19 https://www.altestore.com/store/info/solar-charge-controller/
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 Batteries
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The battery, an electrical energy storage device, is one major and delicate part of the
Solar power plant. They are important because without energy storage, a solar PV system will
not be able to deliver the energy to the load when there is no sunlight. In the case of
standalone systems, we need electrical energy for running our appliances in non-sunshine
hours, while in the case of grid connected PV systems, we do not require any energy storage.
In standalone PV systems, batteries are delicate because the misuse or non-optimal use of
batteries can reduce their life significantly. These days, as the cost of solar PV modules are
decreasing; the cost of batteries is becoming a significant part of the overall solar PV system
cost.

There are different types of batteries available in the market20. Lead acid batteries are
commonly used in making battery banks for stand-alone solar power plants. They are bulky
but low priced making them a popular choice among the solar plant set-ups. Lithium batteries
are widely used as compared to lead acid batteries. Lithium ion batteries are lighter and more
compact than lead acid batteries. They also have a higher Depth of Discharge and longer
lifespan when compared to lead acid batteries. However, lithium ion batteries are more
expensive than their lead acid counterparts.

Recently, Saltwater batteries21 are the new emerging type of batteries. Unlike other
home energy storage options, saltwater batteries don’t contain heavy metals, relying instead
on saltwater electrolytes. While batteries that use heavy metals, including lead acid and
lithium ion batteries, need to be disposed of with special processes, a saltwater battery can be
easily recycled. There are not many manufacturers of this type of battery in the market
therefore their price is relatively high. Sodium Nickel Chloride battery relating to Saltwater
battery technology is a unique battery type that boasts a number of inherent advantages over
lithium ion. These batteries possess enough to become a strong competitor to the dominant
lithium ion counterpart.

20 https://www.energysage.com/solar/solar-energy-storage/what-are-the-best-batteries-for-solar-panels/
21 https://www.solarquotes.com.au/battery-storage/battery-types/
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 Other Factors
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While designing an Solar PV power plant, all the above mentioned factors play a
major role in determining the output of the plant. These factors include physical factors like
Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), Temperature, Humidity, wind speed, etc. and system
parameters like PV modules, Inverters, Charge controllers, etc. But apart from these
parameters there are certain other factors which play a crucial role in determining the output
of the system.

There are certain site specific factors that need to be considered during design and
simulation of a solar PV power plant model such as - Albedo which is the proportion of the
incident light or solar radiation that is reflected by a surface on which the plant is set up. The
lowest temperature value, usual temperature value, winter and summer temperature value of
the surroundings where the solar panel is planned to be set up for determining various voltage
levels of Solar PV Array. For determining the optimum position for setting up the solar
panels, some factors need to be considered. There are three main factors to check -

1. Field Type: This basically defines the type of Solar Array system employed in the
field which may be Fixed tilted plane, Seasonal Tilt adjustment plane, One axis tracking
planes, Two axis tracking planes, etc. In this model, the field is of Fixed type set up at
optimum tilt angle for optimum solar radiation reception.
2. Azimuth angle: It is the angle measured in clockwise direction from true south pole
to normal to the panel surface along horizontal surface. It defines the orientation of the panel
with respect to earth’s surface. For our convenience we have taken the Azimuth angle to be 0
degrees i.e South- North orientation of the panel.
3. Tilt Angle: It is the angle made by the panel with the horizontal surface of the earth.
Depending upon the field type, this angle may be varying periodically or be set up at an
optimum tilt angle as provided by the simulation.

Various angles defining the orientation of the solar panel

Some other factors that need to be considered are the loss factors. These include some
important factors like - Soiling factor which gives information about the particulate content
in the surrounding atmosphere. And shading factor which determines the obstruction of
solar radiations from reaching the PV panels due to the parts of roof-tops, trees, or nearby
14
structures. These factors also deal with the ohmic loss factors, energy conversion efficiency
factor and inverter efficiency factor as well. After studying and recording, all the above
factors simulations are done and the solar power plant is sketched up.

15
 Software Used
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Before setting up the plant we need to design and simulate the model in order to get a
precise knowledge of the equipment that will be required and their specifications for setting
up a solar power plant of specific power output. Simulations and designing softwares that
were used are PVSyst v6.68 and PVWatts calculator.

PVWatts software PVSyst software

PVWatts Calculator is a free online software made available by NREL, National

Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA which helps in estimating the energy production and
cost of energy of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems throughout the world. It also allows
users to easily develop estimates of the performance of potential PV installations. In this
software, just by entering the name of the location, the Solar Resource Assessment Statistics
can be obtained and after feeding the basic information about the prospective solar power
plant, a detailed report about annual energy production and losses can be generated
automatically from the software.

PVSyst v6.68 is also a free software which can be downloaded from their official site.
It is very detail oriented software and very flexible according to the needs of users. It has
multiple databases like meteonorm 7.2, SolarGIS, NASA’s database, etc used for solar
resource assessment from which the users can choose according to their convenience. Also, it
has the options for feeding additional detailed information which helps the software to give
more accurate results. One thing that makes this software unique is that it already contains the
database consisting of the specifications of various PV modules and inverter modules from
different manufacturers. Also, the report generated post-simulation is very detailed and
includes intricate information about the energy produced and supplied from the solar power
plant to its load annually.

Another mentionable software quite widely used for the simulation process is
PVSketch. This software is similar to PVSyst and offers features of building 3-D models and
simulating the models precisely to the minute of the day. It is a great tool for actually
visualising the physical set-up of a solar power plant.

16
 Losses in the
Solar PV power plant
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Out of the entire solar radiation energy received on the surface of the solar panel, a
very small portion gets converted into electrical energy. Rest is either reflected back to the
atmosphere or gets lost in the form of losses.

The major energy loss occurs at the initial step of energy conversion i.e due to the low
efficiency of solar panels. Most of the energy is reflected back or lost in the form of energy
by the solar PV cells. In this step, there is some loss of energy due to soiling, i.e panels
getting covered due to dust, pollen, droppings, etc. Shading, i.e obstruction of solar radiations
from reaching the PV panels due to the parts of roof-tops, trees, or nearby structures, and due
to improper orientation of solar panels.

After the initial step, further losses that occur are due to Array Mismatch, since no
two solar panels, even made by the same manufacturer, are identical. Manufacturing
variations lead to small variations in the electrical parameters of the modules. The loss due to
Array Mismatch represents these manufacturing variations. Also, the electrical devices like
Batteries, inverters, Charge Controllers, etc are not 100% efficient. Thus, loss during the
conversion of one form of energy to another greatly affects the power generation of the solar
power plant. The Ohmic resistance of the wiring circuit induces losses between the power
available from the modules and the power at the terminals of the sub-array.These losses occur
due to heating in the wirings connecting different devices to each other and due to the
contacts in between them. The ohmics losses can be further differentiated into AC and DC
ohmic losses. These ohmic and other losses make up the energy transportation and
distribution losses in the solar power plant.

There are many other losses that need to be considered before calculating the final
energy available for consumption, they are - Module Quality Loss, IAM (Incidence Angle
Modifier) effect, Module Mismatch Losses, etc. After considering all these losses, the
remaining energy is available for the user for their consumption.

17
 The following loss diagram generated in the final report of PVSyst for a 100 kW roof-
top solar PV power plant gives a fair idea about the effect of various losses on the energy
generation phenomenon of solar PV power plant -

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 Conclusion
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This report briefly explained about various elements whose knowledge is essential in
simulating and designing a solar power plant system and Solar energy as a viable energy
resource. In this report, various important factors which help in determining the size,
specifications, efficiency, etc. of a prospective solar power generation system were discussed.
This report summarizes the process and methodology adopted for successfully designing and
simulating efficient and cost-effective power generation systems.

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 Executive Summary
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The main objective of the internship was to help the intern to acquire adequate
knowledge on different aspects of simulating and designing a solar PV system and analyse
the intermediate and final outcomes of the system. For this, the internship was divided into
four phases.

In the initial phase, we got us familiarized with all the different factors and parameters
related to solar energy and methodology to harness it. In this phase, we acquired the
information about the various types of resources available which provides us with energy.
Among them, factors related to the solar energy resource were studied and the methodology
adopted for Solar resource assessment was studied thoroughly. Using the information
accumulated from the solar resource assessment, the annual solar energy received by a
specific location of the earth was estimated. The main objective in this phase of internship
was to get familiarized with all the terms and terminology used in the process of simulating
and designing a solar PV system.

The second phase of the internship was to design an efficient 100KW rooftop solar
PV power plant at a location in New Delhi using PVSyst software. During this phase all the
knowledge acquired in the first phase of internship was utilized. The solar resource
assessment was done using pre-existing databases present in the PVSyst software. The
statistics thus collected was then used to calculate each factor required in the design process.
After all the necessary parameters were fed into the software, the specifications of the
hardware equipments like PV modules, Inverter module,etc were analysed and recorded.
After the set-up of the hardware part was done, simulation of the designed system was
initiated. After the completion of the simulation, results and conclusions were recorded and a
final report was generated. The contents of the report included the annual energy production
of the solar power plant, instantaneous and annual losses of the system and overall summary
of the solar power plant.

In the next phase of the system, the report was studied in a detailed fashion and all the
important points were noted. The aim of this phase of internship was to study the effects and
extent of effects of various factors on the outcome of the power generation system. Also,
some new factors that were mentioned in the final report of the software were studied. In the
end of the third phase, all types of losses incorporated due to various factors and their effects
were noted and thoroughly studied. At last in the fourth phases of the internship, all the
acquired knowledge was compiled together and reviewed in order to ensure that the entire
design and simulation process is studied and understood with it’s practical applications in the
real world.

Along with this project, a Corporate Skill Development programme was completed
which reflected upon the skills needed to be developed and inculcated in order to thrive in the
corporate world. Practical advice was given in this program so that our social skills could be
improved and the ultimate target can be achieved without wasting excess efforts and

20
resources. The corporate skill development program guided me to take one step forward in
securing my future career in the turmoil of the corporate world

21