Python enabled solar calculator for a solar system set up

Sachin Irutkar¹, Sumedh Ganvir ², Harshad Virutkar³, Aakash Wagh 4 , Dr. Sudha Srikanth5
1,2,3&4
Department of Electrical Engineering, KDK College of Engineering, Nagpur, INDIA
5
Ass. Professor of Department of Electrical Engineering, KDK College of Engineering, Nagpur, INDIA
1
sachinsirutkar.ee@kdkce.edu.in
2
sumedhhganvir.ee@kdkce.edu.in
3
harshadgvirutkar.ee@kdkce.edu.in
4
aakashcwagh.ee@kdkce.edu.in
5
sudha.srikanth@kdkce.edu.in

Abstract- The right sizing of solar components to be installed for homes and small buildings is one
of the issues faced with India's stand-alone solar system. The value of installed solar equipment in
many homes is quite low. The system is incapable of meeting the installer's requirements. As a result,
the installer was hesitant to install solar system to meet their power and energy needs. The
construction of a small program in the Python language for the design of a solar system is the subject
of this study. It'll function as a little solar calculator (SC). Any home or small building's installed
solar requirements will be determined by the SC. The created SC's aim is to create the minimum
required of solar energy that may be placed in any home or small building. To meet any energy
consumption requirements, the solar calculates the wattage and number of solar panels required
based on per day energy consumption, the rating and number of batteries required, and the rating
and number of inverters required. The solar estimator is written in Python, and the project's results
are shown using a Python GUI. The cost of each piece of equipment utilised in the solar system will
also be provided to the consumer. Many businesses provide only a few hours of battery backup, which
limits the battery's capacity. The goal is for the client to become familiar with all aspects of the solar
system installation so that they can properly operate it.

Keywords: python, solar calculator , GUI ,solar panels

1. Introduction
Being a developing country with monumental load of fuel import, the essential of alternative energy
exploration and development in Republic of India can't be ended highlighted[1]. The environmental
location of Republic of India is additionally fairly satisfactory for alternative energy application.
However, a thickly inhabited country like India, with a split electricity market, carriages endless
encounters to the scientists and entrepreneurs[2]. The atmosphere of Indian electricity market is fairly
exclusive, and can't be associated directly with any countries. in contrast to USA or Japan, Republic
of India has exuberant villages and islands cut loose the most grid elevation and circular variation in
agricultural demand, and cottage- to industrial areas. Our country, therefore, needs alternative energy
development at in contrast to scales such as, tiny watt to giant megawatt, grid-connected to islanded,
supplementary with certain energy-storage to no-storage proficiencies. Star electrical phenomenon
could be a commercially procurable technology in India[3]. Additionally vital is by development of
alternative energy by further renewable sources. Since this Socio-economic scenario, this state of
solar energy talent in Republic of India stands distant from being satisfactory; however varied
initiatives are being scheduled. A solar energy generating system amendment incident solar energy to
electricity by victimization semiconductor devices may be used as electric power for home to
encounter its daily energy necessity. The star electrical phenomenon device schemes for power
generation had been organized within the varied portions within the country for electrification where
the grid property is whichever unattainable or not value effective as furthermore some times in
aggregation with diesel based mostly generating stations in remote areas and communication
transmitters at distant locations. Acceptance of this technology resolve in meeting the electricity
demands to an improved level[3,5]. The simplest portion is that they're sectional in nature i.e. the
betting on the sterilization necessity of the house; the star units may be altered to encounter the
electricity demand.
Therefore we the solar installation is very essential for very places. To make this type of calculator we
want select the language and algorithm and we have (i.e. c, c++, java and python) from those
languages the python is very fastest languages which is available as a open source software. We are
also having different algorithm as well as the modules. Hence we implement a desktop application
that help to find how much solar panels we required and its cost, dimension, inverter or battery
bank[6].

2.Method adopted
Python 3.6 is being used in this project. Python is a free and open-source programming language that
may be used on a variety of platforms. The solar calculator's multiple GUIs are created using
PyCharm, a powerful IDE.

Figure 1:
Block Diagram
 Figure 2. Flowchart

2. Details of solar system

A solar power generation system is a setup that generates electricity by utilizing the solar energy
system. A typical system consists of solar panels (which absorb sunlight), inverter (which converts
DC into AC), mounting structure (that hold the panels in place), batteries (to store the additional
power generated), grid box and balance of systems (wires, cracked etc.). A star system comes in
numerous sizes like one kWh, two kWh 3kW, 5kW, 7.5 kW, and 10kW. An off-grid scheme is a lot of
widespread and comes with an influence backup. It works severally of the grid. Most home appliances
like Fans, TV, Cooler, AC, and pump and so on will go through this system. For instance, a one
power unit off-grid star system is comfortable for a 2-4 BHK house. However if you furthermore may
need to run 1HP pump in your home you may use a three kW off-grid solar system. If you're attending
to run an AC then you must use a five kW system. For industrial setups sort of a shop, clinic or little
mill, fuel pump a ten power unit off-grid scheme ought to be used. 

It is that the most typical style of solar energy system with backup. It works in day and night both,
throughout the day, solar array charges the battery and runs the house appliances like Air
Conditioners, Cooler, tv and submersible pump. At night, once the sun isn't available, electrical
converter runs your home appliances victimization the battery power.
There are several types solar are available,
1) Monocrystalline Solar Panels (Mono-SI)
2) Polycrystalline Solar Panels (Poly-SI)
Those solar panels are generally use but the difference of those solar panels is only the color,
efficiency and cost.

3. Mathematical Calculations
This section details the procedure involved in determining the rating and cost of each component of a
solar system for a commercial application.
Table1. Energy Consumption of Appliance
Sr. No. Name of Power rating No. of Daily usage
Appliance (Watt) Appliance hours
(a) (b) (c)
1 Fan 55 20 8
2 Tubelight 40 25 9
3 AC 1500 5 6
4 Computer 100 30 10
5 Refrigerator 150 6 24

Total Energy Consumption per day (Wh) = ∑ [ ( a )∗( b )∗( c )] (1)

Where (a) = Power rating of the appliance (W), (b) = Number of appliance, (c) = Daily usage hours of
the day

Total Energy Consumption per day (Wh) = (55 x 20 x 10) + (40 x 25 x 12) + (1400 x 5 x8) + (80 x 30
x 12) +(150 x 6 x 24)
= 114400 Wh
Total Connected Load (W) = 13500 W

3.1. Inverter Sizing

When choosing an inverter for a standalone application, the rating of the inverter should be at least 20
to 25% higher than the power rating of the linked load in the building. The inverter's efficiency is
80%, which means that it wastes 20% of the energy it consumes.

Inverter capacity (W) = Total power + 25% of total power (2)

= 13500 + (0.25 * 13500)
= 16875 W

Input Required to Inverter (Wh)= Total energy consumption +20% total energy consumption
 = 114400 + (0.2 * 114400)
= 137280 Wh
Cost of inverter varies from (8-15) Rs/watt
⸫ Inverter Cost = 10 Rs * 16875 W
= 1,68,750 Rs.
3.2. Battery Sizing
¿
Battery (Wh) =Total Input Required ¿ Inverter x DOA
capacity
Depth of Discharge
(3)

Where DOA = Days of autonomy and Depth of Discharge = 50% = 0.5

137280 x 1
⸫ Battery capacity (Wh) =
0.5
= 274560 Wh

Batteries available in the market are rated in volts (V) and Ampere-hours (Ah).
V x Ah = (V x A) h = Wh

Cost of Lead Acid Battery is available in Rs/Wh and the cost varies from 8 to 10 Rs/Wh
⸫ Cost of battery = 274560 * 8
= 21,96,480 Rs (With 24 hrs of Back up)

3.3. Solar panel Sizing

Total energy solar panel must generator must generate per day is given by:
Input required by the inverter + 25% of Inverter input

Total energy solar panal must generate per day

Solar panel capacity = (4)
hours of solar radiation per day

Solar Panel capacity

No. of Solar Panel = be purchased ¿ (5)
Rating of solar panel¿

4. Modules of Projects
4.1. Home Screen of Project

Figure 3 depicts the software's home screen, which contains four separate fields. They are as follows:
1) Select Home Appliances 2) Select Home Load from the drop-down menu. 3) Who We Are 4) Get
out of there. The first two options are for calculating solar needs, the third option is for providing
information about ourselves, and the fourth option is to exit the software.

Figure 3. Home screen of the project

 4.2. Login module

Figure 4. Login module

The login module, as shown in Figure 4, is the initial stage in the programme, in which a customer is
guided in creating an account on the portal so that he can access and adjust information as needed.
The system has security built in to protect the personal information of customers. The customer gets
taken to the next level after logging in.

4.3. Calculation of Solar panels

Figure 5. Calculation of the solar system

When the user picks the total electricity load option on the home screen module, this module
will appear on the screen. This module will assist in the direct calculation of solar
requirements by just entering the annual electricity use. The user enters the load in kilowatt
hours or monthly unit usage from the electricity bill, and the software calculates the annual
electrical energy use.
 4.4. Manual Selecting the devices and find the solar panels

Figure 6. Manual calculation of solar system based on the equipment

After tapping the Choose Home Appliance option on the home screen module, the above module will
appear on the screen. This function is intended for users who are unsure how to calculate their daily
electricity consumption. The user will manually select an appliance that is linked in the premises, as
well as the length of time that each equipment will be operated. After selecting these settings, the total
daily energy usage will be displayed on the screen, and the user will be presented with the building's
specs after clicking on identify solar panel size.
5. Result

Solar calculation output

Figure 7. Output of the solar panels

Figure 7 shows the output of the solar panels calculations.

Battery and Inverter calculation output

Figure 8. Output for battery and inverter

 The Figure 8 shows that the output of the batteries and the inverter calculation.

Table 2. Comparison Between and Company 1 and Program Output

Company 1 Program Output

Commercia Panel Size 10000 W 9133 W
l load of Panel Cost 2,80,000Rs 2,58,524 Rs
office
( 10 kW Battery Size 74400 Wh 72280 Wh
system) (24 Hours Back up) (24 Hours Back Up)
Battery Cost 6,20,000 Rs 5,78,240Rs
(24 Hours Back up) (24 Hours Back up)
Inverter Size 10 kVA 10 kW
Inverter Cost 1,00,000Rs 1,00,000 Rs
Total Cost 10,00,000Rs 9,36,746 Rs
Residential Panel Size 5000W 4500 W
load of Panel Cost 1,40,000Rs 1,26,000Rs
home
(5 kW Battery Size 38400 Wh 38000Wh
system) (24 Hours Back up) (24 Hours Back up)
Battery Cost 3,20,000Rs 3,04,000 Rs
(24 Hours Back up) (24 Hours Back up)
Inverter Size 5kVA 5kW
Inverter Cost 50,000Rs 50,000 Rs
Total cost 5,10,000Rs 4,80,000 Rs

The software's result is compared to a solar design specification provided by an Indian solar
installation firm (referred to as company 1). In India, the company offers residential and commercial
solar installation suggestions to homes and businesses. The comparison between the company's design
requirements and the programme output is shown in Table 2. The table shows solar panel size and
cost, battery size and cost (for 24 hour backup), and inverter size and cost. The battery's depth of
discharge (DOD) is considered to be 50 percent. The battery backup in the company's default design
was significantly different from the levels utilised in the software. The discharge depth (DOD) was
0.5.

6. Conclusion

This method helps the user to find the number of solar panels required for his residence to
meet the load demand. The Python program suggests the number of battery required and
inverter rating which must be used for a specific load demand. It gives the complete cost of
estimation of solar panel installation. The article compares the output of the software program
with a commercial company dealing with solar panel. This system helps individuals or even
commercial business establishments to evaluate the cost associated with the solar installation
along with the ratings of the subsystem involved in the set up. It is a simple yet effective way
of assessing solar installation for any kind of customer.
 REFERENCES

[1] Aishwarya Awhad, Suraj Dudhe, Saurabh Mohta, “Research of Solar Panel System for
Future Scope”, International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET),
Volume 07, Issue 06,June 2020.
[2] Thamyres MachadoDavida, Paloma MariaSilva Rocha Rizo ,Marcela
AparecidaGuerreiro Machadoa,Gilberto PaschoalBuccieric, “Future research
tendencies for solar energy management using a bibliometric analysis, 2000–2019”,
Volume 6, Issue 7, July 2020.
[3] Dr. A.Sheela, MohammedArafath.A, Sripooja.J.K, Manoj Kiran.S, Gowtham.K.R,
Vaishnavi.P, “Design Of Solar Panel For Improving The Performance And For
Reducing Energy Cost”, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC &
TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 8, ISSUE 12, DECEMBER 2019.
[4] Jiang Wu and Jianxing Ren, “Research and Application of Solar Energy Photovoltaic-
Thermal Technology”, February 2012 DOI:10.5772/27897.
[5] J. Liu, J. Wang, Z. Tan, Y. Meng, X. Xu, “The analysis and application of solar energy
PV power”, 2011 International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and
Protection, Vol. 3, pp: 1696 – 1700, 2011.
[6] National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “On the path to sunshot: The role of
advancements in solar photovoltaic efficiency, reliability, and costs,” Tech. Rep. No.
NREL/TP-6A20-65872, 2016.