Tutorial on Solar Energy Sytems

02/11/2022 Tanay Vekariya

Renewable Energy Systems U19EE044
Q.1 A) If you want to install (x+100) Mw Power plant by modules of Crystalline Silicon
photovoltaic cells, how much area is required? (X= Roll no.)

Solution:
Required power generation = 44+100 = 144MW
Let us assume,
Area of one cell is 15cm*15cm = 225cm2.
One module contains 36 cells.
Cell is made up of Monocrystalline Silicon and hence pseudo square shapes will be packed to
form a module with packing efficiency of 80%.
Monocrystalline cells have efficiency range of 17%-22%. Hence, we can safely assume
efficiency of our cell to be 20%.

For STC λ = 1000W/m2.

O/P of 1 cell = 0.2*1000*225*10-4
= 4.5W

∴O/P of one module = 4.5*36 = 162W.

144∗106 W
Now, No. of required modules (n) =
162𝑊
∴n = 888888.88 ~ 888889

Area of Cells in mudule

Now, Packing efficiency =
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒
36∗225cm2
∴ Area of module = = 10125 cm2
0.8

∴ Total Area = 10125*888889*10-4 m2 = 900000.125m2.

B) If the Same Capacity power plant has to be installed by thin film Silicon photovoltaic
cell modules, how much area Is required? (X= Roll no.)

Solution:
Required power generation = 44+100 = 144MW
Let us assume,
Area of one cell is 15cm*15cm = 225cm2.
One module contains 36 cells.
Cell is made up of thin film Silicon and hence square shapes will be packed to form a module
with packing efficiency of 90%.
Thin film cells have efficiency range of 7%-18%. Hence, we can safely assume efficiency of
our cell to be 13%.

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For STC λ = 1000W/m2.
O/P of 1 cell = 0.13*1000*225*10-4
= 2.925W

∴O/P of one module = 2.925*36 = 105.3W.

144∗106 W
Now, No. of required modules (n) =
105.3𝑊
∴n = 1367521.368 ~ 1367522

Area of Cells in mudule

Now, Packing efficiency =
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒
36∗225cm2
∴ Area of module = = 9000 cm2
0.9

∴ Total Area = 9000*1367522*10-4 m2 = 1230769.8m2.

C) Comment on result obtained in A) and B).

Solution:

We can clearly observe that for same amount of power generation we require more amount of
area in case of thin film solar cells in comparison with crystalline solar cells.

This observation can be justified by the fact that efficiency of thin film solar cell is lesser than
that of crystalline solar cell. This is due to the fact that thin film solar cell is made of amorphous
silicon and is also having less amount of electron hole pairs due to lesser cell material.

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Q.2) Your house requires (x+800)W lighting, fan Computing and -air-conditioning loads.
Design a Complete solar photovoltaic power system. giving all details and assumptions in
your answer sheet.

Solution:

-Load estimation:
load required for appliances = 800+44 = 844W
Assume that,
Inverter is rated for input voltage in the range of 12V to 72V with current ratings of up to 10s of
ampere. Output is rated for 220V/50Hz.
Inverter efficiency is 95%.
∴ The energy i/p to inverter = 844/0.95 = 888.42Wh.
The voltage of a battery used in PV system is 12V, So we can have system Voltage in its
multiples.
Let us take 12V.

-Sizing of batteries:
Assume the rating of battery: 12V, 50Ah and DoD=70%
∴ Battery charge capacity = 888.42Wh/12V = 74.02Ah
∴ No. of Batteries required = 74.02/ (50*0.7) = 2.
Hence, 2 batteries are required.

Also, we would only need one battery in series. (Because system voltage is 12V).
Hence 2 batteries are to be connected in series for 0 days autonomy.

Let’s assume we need 3 days autonomy

∴ batteries required = 4*2 = 8.

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- Sizing of PV cell modules:
Assume,
battery charging-discharging efficiency = 85%
Charge controller efficiency = 90%
∴ energy to be generated by PV module = 888.42/ (0.85*0.9) = 1161.33Wh.
∴ total Ah by PV modules = 1161.33/12 = 96.78Ah.
Assume peak 4 hours of a day with peak of Sunshine hours, is equivalent to overall
sunshine throughout the day.
total current from PV module is 96.78/4 = 24.195A.
Assume Vm and Im 15V and 5A, respectively.
∴ 24.195/5 = 4.83, hence nearly 5 PV modules must be connected in parallel to
generate a total of 24.195A current.
Also, system voltage is 12V so no additional modules are required in series.
(Autonomy is not considered for solar cell).