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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model… Ohajianya et al.

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND TESTING OF A 160W MODEL OF

PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM - ACCUMULATED RAIN WATER
HYBRID POWER PLANT

Anthony C. Ohajianya1, Oamen E. Abumere2, Eziaku Osarolube2

1
(Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria)
2
(Department Physics, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria)
Corresponding author’s email address: ohatone@yahoo.com

Abstract
Rainfall and cloudy conditions affect negatively, the effective use of photovoltaic power plants. For instance, a
photovoltaic system designed to supply power for forty-eight hours after the battery bank is fully charged, will
definitely stop working if there is rainfall and cloudy conditions for more than two days. Again, prolonged
periods of rainfall make the battery bank to remain discharged for a long period of time. This causes the soft
amorphous lead sulfate crystal that accumulates on the negative plate of the Lead-acid battery during discharge
to change to hard crystalline lead sulfate. This is responsible for the premature failure of many installed solar
power systems in Nigeria as permanent sulfation can make a battery which would have lasted for five years to
fail in just one year. Instead of allowing rainfall to be a problem that hinders the effective use of photovoltaic
systems, scientists should work to develop systems of utilizing rainfall as source of energy to assist photovoltaic
power plants. 160W photovoltaic system – accumulated rain water hybrid power plant model was designed,
constructed and tested. The solar panel for the photovoltaic system was constructed using solar oven for the
panel lamination. The Pelton turbine for the hydro system was designed following standard design procedure
and considerations. The maximum output power realized from the constructed photovoltaic system unit and
accumulated rain water turbine unit during the test at University of Port Harcourt, were 100.61W and 51.07W,
respectively. Efficiencies of 63% for the photovoltaic system and 44% for the hydro turbine were achieved in
this work.

Keywords: photovoltaic system, rain water, power plant, pelton turbine, solar oven, lamination

Introduction households, and micro-hydro configured into mini-

Renewable energy as the name implies, means
energy from sources that cannot be exhausted. The
resources have the capacity for natural restoration
following consumption or use. There are major
differences however, in the time and circumstances
under which these resources are renewed. For
instance, surface water is generally more readily
renewed than ground water, and the renewability of
forests, grassland, and cropland depends greatly on
soil and water conditions.
Renewable energy resources include sunlight, wind,
rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat. About 16%
of global final energy consumption comes from
renewable resources, with 10% of all energy from
traditional biomass, mainly used for heating, and
3.4% from hydroelectricity. New renewable (small
hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal,
and biofuels) accounted for another 3% and are
growing very rapidly. The share of renewable in
electricity generation is around 19%, with 16% of
electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3%
from new renewable (REN21, 2011). While many
renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable
technologies are also suited to rural and remote
areas, where energy is often crucial in human
development (WEA, 2001). As of 2011, small solar
PV systems provide electricity to a few million
Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016
grids, serve many more.
Rainfall and cloudy conditions affect negatively, the
effective use of photovoltaic power plants. For
instance, a photovoltaic system designed to supply
power for forty-eight hours after the battery bank is
fully charged, will definitely stop working if there is
rainfall and cloudy conditions for more than two
days. Again, prolonged periods of rainfall make the
battery bank to remain discharged for a long period
of time. This causes the soft amorphous lead sulfate
crystal that accumulates on the negative plate of the
Lead-acid battery as the battery is being discharged,
to change to hard crystalline lead sulfate
(Buchmann, 2015). This is responsible for the
premature failure of many installed solar power
systems in Nigeria as permanent sulfation can make
a battery which would have lasted for five years to
fail in just one year. Instead of allowing rainfall to
be a problem that hinders the effective use of
photovoltaic systems, scientists should work to
develop systems of utilizing rainfall as a source of
energy to assist photovoltaic power plants. This
work is aimed at demonstrating one of the ways rain
accumulated water can be used to generate
electricity in a hybrid design to assist photovoltaic
power plant.
Energy in water can be harnessed and used. Since
water is about 800 times denser than air, even a slow
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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model…
flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can
yield considerable amount of energy. The power
available in a stream or jet of water is given by:
� = ƞ� ℎ ̇
where: � = power (J/s or watts), ƞ = turbine
efficiency, � = density of water (kg/m³), = gives up its energy. They must be encased to contain
acceleration of gravity (9.81 m/s²), ℎ = net head (m),
and ̇ = flow rate (m³/s). For still water, the head, h
is the difference in height between the inlet and
outlet surfaces. Moving water has an additional
component added to account for the kinetic energy
of the flow. The total head equals the pressure head
plus velocity head.
Hydro Turbine
A hydro turbine is a rotary engine that takes energy
from moving water. Water turbines were developed
in the 19th century and were widely used for
industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now they
are mostly used for electric power generation. All
common water machines until the late 19th century
(including water wheels) were basically reaction
machines; water pressure head acted on the machine
and produced work. A reaction turbine needs to fully
contain the water during energy transfer (Gulliver
and Amdt, 1991).
In 1866, Samuel Knight invented a machine that
took the impulse system to a new level. Inspired by
the high pressure jet systems used in hydraulic
mining in the gold fields, Knight developed a
bucketed wheel which captured the energy of a free
jet, which had converted a high head (hundreds of
vertical feet in a pipe or penstock) of water to
kinetic energy. This is called an impulse or
tangential turbine. The water's velocity, roughly
twice the velocity of the bucket periphery, does a u-
turn in the bucket and drops out of the runner at low
velocity (Wilson, 1995).
In 1879, Lester Pelton (1829-1908), experimenting
with a Knight Wheel, developed a double bucket
design, which exhausted the water to the side,
eliminating some energy loss of the Knight wheel
which exhausted some water back against the center
of the wheel. In about 1895, William Doble
improved on Pelton's half-cylindrical bucket form
with an elliptical bucket that included a cut in it to
allow the jet a cleaner bucket entry. This is the
modern form of the Pelton turbine which today
achieves up to 92% efficiency. Pelton had been quite
an effective promoter of his design and although
Doble took over the Pelton company he did not
change the name to Doble because it had brand
name recognition (Wikander, 2000).
Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016
Ohajianya et al.
Types of Hydro Turbine
Hydro turbines are classified into two types, namely:
reaction turbine and impulse turbine (Draper, 2003).
Reaction turbines are acted on by water, which
changes pressure as it moves through the turbine and
the water pressure (or suction), or they must be fully
submerged in the water flow. Newton's third law
describes the transfer of energy for reaction turbines.
Impulse turbines change the velocity of a water jet.
The jet pushes on the turbine's curved blades which
changes the direction of the flow. The resulting
change in momentum (impulse) causes a force on
the turbine blades. Since the turbine is spinning, the
force acts through a distance (work) and the diverted
water flow is left with diminished energy. An
impulse turbine is one which the pressure of the
fluid flowing over the rotor blades is constant and all
the work output is due to the change in kinetic
energy of the fluid. Prior to hitting the turbine
blades, the water's pressure (potential energy) is
converted to kinetic energy by a nozzle and focused
on the turbine. No pressure change occurs at the
turbine blades, and the turbine doesn't require
housing for operation. Newton's second law
describes the transfer of energy for impulse turbines.
Construction and Working of Pelton
Wheel/Turbine
A Pelton wheel/turbine consists of a rotor, at the
periphery of which is mounted equally spaced
double hemispherical or double ellipsoidal buckets.
Water is transferred from a high head source
through penstock which is fitted with a nozzle,
through which the water flows out at a high speed
jet. A needle spear moving inside the nozzle control
the water flow through nozzle and at the same time
provides a smooth flow with negligible energy loss.
All the available potential energy is thus converted
into kinetic energy before the jet strikes the buckets
of the runner. The pressure all over the wheel is
constant and equal to atmosphere, so that energy
transfer occurs due to purely impulse action.
The Pelton turbine is provided with a casing, the
function of which is to prevent the splashing of
water and to discharge water to the tail race. When
the nozzle is completely closed by moving the spear
in the forward direction, the amount of water
striking the runner is reduced to zero but the runner
due to inertia continues revolving for a long time. In
order to bring the runner to rest in a short time, a
nozzle (brake) is provided which directs the jet of
water on the back of buckets; this jet of water is
called braking jet. Figure 1 gives a schematic
diagram of the Pelton wheel while Figure 2 gives a
layout of hydroelectric power plant using an impulse
turbine (Pelton turbine).
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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model… Ohajianya et al.

Brake
nozzle

Bucke
Pen ts
stock Nozzle

Water Casing

Jet of
Spea
water
r

Fig. 1: Pelton wheel

Head
race hf
Dam
Buckets
Penstock
Reservoir
H
Hg

Tail race

Fig. 2: Layout of hydroelectric power plant using an impulse turbine (Pelton turbine)

Solar Energy Technology
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun,
has been harnessed by humans since ancient times
using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar
energy technologies include solar heating, solar
photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity, solar
architecture and artificial photosynthesis, which can
make considerable contributions to solving some of
the most urgent energy problems the world now
faces (IEA,2011).
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as
either passive solar or active solar depending on the
way they capture, convert and distribute solar
Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016
energy. Active solar techniques include the use of
photovoltaic modules and solar thermal collectors to
harness the solar energy. Passive solar techniques
include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting
materials with favorable thermal mass or light
dispersing properties, and designing spaces that
naturally circulate air.
Photovoltaic systems convert light to electricity
through the principle of photo generation of charge
carriers. A solar cell is basically a p-n junction diode
that converts sunlight directly to electricity with
large conversion efficiency.
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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model…
When a p-n junction diode is exposed to light,
photons are absorbed and electron-hole pairs are
generated in both the p-side and n-side of the
junction. The electrons and hole that are produced
over a small distance from the junction, reach the
space-charge region by diffusion. The electron-hole
pairs are then separated by strong barrier field that
exist across the region. The electrons in the p-side
slide down the barrier potential to move towards the
n-side while holes in the n-side move towards the p-
side (Jha, 2010).
Solar cells are connected in series and parallel to
form PV modules which have higher voltage and
power capacity. Photovoltaic modules can be used
with batteries as stand-alone power source or as grid
connected power supply.
Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant
Photovoltaic solar power plant can either be grid
connected or stand alone. For the grid connected
system, an array of PV modules is used to convert
solar radiation to direct current. The dc voltage is
fed into an inverter which converts it to ac voltage.
The generated ac voltage is then fed into the national
grid. Fig. 3 shows a grid connected photovoltaic
solar power plant.
The off-grid (or stand alone) photovoltaic solar
power plant consists of array of solar panels, solar
charge controller, battery bank, and inverter.
Solar charge controller regulates the rates of flow of
electricity from the generation source (solar panels)
to the battery and the load. The controller keeps the
battery fully charged without over-charging it. When
the load is drawing power, the controller allows the
charge to flow from the solar panels into the battery,
the load, or both. When the controller senses that the
battery is fully (or nearly fully) charged, it reduces
or stops the flow of electricity from the generation
source. Solar charge controller can either be the
Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) type or the
Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) type. The
MPPT solar charge controller is advancement on
PWM charge controller as it works by determining
the maximum power point of the solar panels at
intervals of time and outputs voltage to supply the
highest possible power to the battery and load.
A power inverter can be entirely electronic or may
be a combination of mechanical effects (such as a
rotary apparatus) and electronic circuitry. Static
inverters do not use moving parts in the conversion
process. The output voltage of an inverter can be
square wave, modified sine wave or pure sine wave.
Materials and Methods
To verify the practicability of an articulated and
designed rain water-solar energy hybrid power plant,
a 160W model was designed and constructed.
Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016
Ohajianya et al.
Design of the Turbine Unit of a 160 W Rain
Water-Photovoltaic System Hybrid Power Plant
The standard design procedure and considerations
(Rajput, 2010) was followed here to design a 160W
Pelton turbine. With turbine efficiency (ƞ ) and
water transmission efficiency (ƞ ) of 90% each,
gross head of 15m (height of the last floor of
UNIPORT faculty of Science building where the
collect and discharge tank is to be mounted), and
�
using the formula, ̇ = , the flow rate
ƞ ƞ �ℎ�
required to generate the 160 W of power by the
turbine was calculated as 0.0013m3s-1. The Pelton
turbine was designed as follows:
Velocity of jet, V, Velocity of Wheel, U, and
Angle of deflection of jet: With net head (H =
.9ℎ� ) of 13.5 m, the velocity of jet ( = � √ �)
and velocity of wheel = � √ � which are
functions of the net head (with Cv,the co-efficient of
velocity which can be 0.98 or 0.99, chosen as 0.98,
and Ku,the speed ratio which varies from 0.43 to
0.48, chosen as 0.45) were calculated as =
.9 � − and = 7. � − .
The angle of deflection was also chosen from design
standard as 1650.
Jet diameter, d, Mean diameter of Wheel, D, and
Jet ratio, m: The water flow rate, ̇ , and jet
velocity, V, to generate the 160W have been
determined as 0.0013m3s-1 and 15.95ms-1,
�̇
respectively. Using the relation, � � � ,� = ,
the jet area was calculated as 8.15 x 10-5m2. The jet
diameter, d was then calculated from the relation
�
= √ , as 0.01m (= 1.0cm). The jet ratio is given
�
by the relation, � = . Choosing m (which lies
�
between 11 and 16 for maximum hydraulic
efficiency) as 16, the mean diameter of wheel was
calculated as 0.16m (= 16cm).
Number of Revolution per Minute, N: The
number of revolution per minute of the wheel was
�
calculated from the relation, � = , as 873.8
�
r.p.m (= 14.56Hz).
Bucket dimensions: From design standards, the
width of the bucket, B = 3d to 4d; length of the
bucket, L = 2d to 3d; height of bucket, T = 0.8d to
1.2d, and the notch of the bucket, w = 1.1d + 5mm.
Using these standards, the dimension of the bucket
was calculated as B = 4d = 4.0cm, L = 3d = 3.0cm,
T = 1.2d = 1.2cm, and w = 1.6cm.
Number of jets: Practically, one or two jets can be
used for the vertical runner Pelton turbine which is
what is designed here. The number of jets was
chosen as one.
Number of buckets, Z: The number of buckets is
chosen such that the jet is always completely
intercepted by the buckets so that volumetric
efficiency of the turbine is close to unity. Number of
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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model… Ohajianya et al.

�
buckets on a runner is given by = + , and is is a.c alternator, it can also be used but a rectifier
�
will be included to convert its output to d.c).
calculated as 23.
Design of the 160 W Photovoltaic System Unit
Nozzle Diameter: The nozzle diameter at discharge
To achieve a power of 160W, 36 cells of grade A
is made 20% greater than the calculated diameter of
monocrystalline silicon cells of 0.5V and 4.5W each
the jet. The nozzle should terminate in a cone of 30
were selected. This will be used to construct an 18V
– 450. Therefore, the nozzle diameter was calculated
PV module. A 12V, 30A charge controller is also
as 1.2cm.
needed. The outputs of the PV module and the
Length (Lp)and Diameter (Dp) of Pipe: With pipe
accumulated rain water turbine will be joined
length of 28 meters, the diameter of pvc pipe needed
through different 12V, 30 A charge controllers to
to achieve the water transmission efficiency of 90%
charge a battery and power ac loads through a 500
was estimated at 3.6 cm using HOMER software
W inverter.
(HOMER stands for Hybrid Optimization Model for
With all the required components of the 160W Rain
Electric Renewables).
Water - Photovoltaic System Hybrid Power Plant
The alternator needed for the hydro power plant is a
determined, the design has been realized and the
160W permanent magnet alternator of about 18V
component specifications are given in Table 1 and
(d.c generator is preferable, but if what is available
the specifications for the turbine runner are given in
Table 2.

Fig. 3: Grid connected photovoltaic solar power plant

Table 1: Component specifications of the designed Rain Driven Hydro Turbine and Photovoltaic System
Hybrid Power Plant
S/N COMPONENTS SPECIFICATIONS QTY
Power capacity = 160W, Runner specifications given in
1 Pelton turbine 1
Table 2
Permanent Magnet Alternator
2 Alternator 1
Power capacity = 160W, Vout = 18V
3 Solar panel Power capacity = 160W, Vmax = 18V, Imax = 8A 1
4 Solar Charge Controller Capacity = 12V, 30A 1
5 Battery Capacity = 12V, 18Ah 1
6 Inverter 500 W, Vdc = 12 V, Vac = 220 V 1

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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model…
Table 2 Designed Turbine Runner Specifications
S/N COMPONENT OR PARAMETER
1 Water Flow Rate, ̇
2 Velocity of Jet, V1
3 Velocity of Wheel, U
4 Angle of deflection of Jet
5 Mean Diameter of Wheel, D
6 Number of revolutions of the wheel per minute, N
7 Jet ratio, m
8 Jet diameter, d
9 Bucket dimensions
10 Number of Jets
11 Number of Buckets
12 Nozzle Diameter
13 Length and Diameter of Pipe
Construction of the Power Plant Model
The required160 W PV module was constructed
using three-bus-bar solar cells which were
purchased from Mars Rock Science Technology
Co., Ltd., China. The cells were 156 x 156mm
Grade ‘A’ Monocrystalline Silicon Cells with the
following characteristics: Pmax = 4.5W, Ipm = 8.21A,
Isc = 8.72A, Voc = 0.63V, Vpm = 0.54V. Other
materials bought from the company include: 680mm
TPT PV back sheet, 680mm Solar EVA film,
tabbing wires, busbar wires, flux pens, 160-240W
solar junction box. Materials sourced locally for the
construction include: 4mm clear glass, angle
aluminum frame, solder, and silicone gum. The
panel was laminated using a locally constructed
solar oven. The front and back view of the
constructed PV module are shown in Fig. 4.
To construct the Pelton Turbine, the design realized
turbine wheel diameter and buckets dimension were
multiplied by a factor of ‘2’ because the dimensions
were too small for hand construction. Using
aluminum material, a wheel of 0.32m diameter and
8.0cm thickness was constructed. Twenty-three twin
buckets of dimension B = 8.0cm, L = 6.0cm, and T
= 2.4cm were constructed using galvanized steel
plate of thickness 0.7mm. The buckets were each
glued to the inner side of an 8.0cm length of 40 x
40mm angle aluminum, and then mounted on the
wheel. A shaft of 2.0cm diameter and 30.0cm length
was attached to the wheel. Using two table bearings
(one attached to one end of the shaft and the other
attached 7.0cm to the end of the shaft with circular
plate), the wheel was mounted on a frame. The
frame was constructed with 40 x 40mm angle
aluminum. The shaft of a 160W low RPM alternator
was coupled to turbine wheel shaft using rubber
connectors screwed to their end circular plates.
Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016
Ohajianya et al.
SPECIFICATION
0.0013 m3s-1
15.95 ms-1
7.32 ms-1
1650
0.16 m
873.8 r.p.m
16
1.0 cm
B = 4.0 cm, L = 3.0 cm,
T = 1.2 cm, and w = 1.6 cm
1
23
1.2 cm
Lp = 28 m and Dp = 3.6 cm
A plastic nozzle of 1.2 cm diameter was mounted at
a position to direct water jet to the middle of the
bottom-most positioned twin bucket. Base stand was
constructed for the turbine using 40 x 40mm angle
aluminum frame. A 25liter plastic container with
one side cut open was used to channel out water
after driving the turbine. The sides of the turbine
were covered using clear Perspex sheets.
To couple the different units, two stands (a base
stand and a 150 sloping top stand) were constructed
using 40 x 40mm aluminum frame. Ply wood sheets
were used to construct the platform on which the
charge controllers, watt meters for testing, inverter,
and battery were mounted. The platform was placed
inside the top stand. The 160W solar panel was
mounted on the top stand, and the top stand was
placed on the base stand. The turbine’s alternator
output was connected to one of the charge
controllers through a three phase bridge rectifier
while the output of the solar panel was connected
straight to the second charge controller. The battery
inputs of the charge controllers were joined and
connected to the battery. The load inputs of the
controllers were also joined and connected to the
inverter.
Testing of the Constructed Power Plant Model
The power plant model was mounted at a spot on the
rectangular open space bounded by the Uniport
Faculty of Science Building. The solar panel which
was mounted to slope at an angle of 150 to the
horizontal was positioned to face north.
A plastic drum of 250 liters capacity was placed on
the corridor of the last floor of the building and was
connected to the turbine nozzle using hose of 3.2cm
internal diameter and pvc pipe of 2.6cm internal
diameter with lengths of 18 m and 10 m,
respectively. The 3.2cm and 2.6cm internal diameter
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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model…
pipes used here were too small for the purpose but
were used because we could not get big connector to
connect a bigger pipe to the drum, and the drum was
also too small for a big connector even if we had
found one. Plastic gate valve was connected to the
end of the pipe and through the valve; the pipe was
connected to the turbine nozzle. A big pipe with
funnel mounted at the end, was used to channel rain
water from the gutter of the building to the drum. A
20W bulb, internet router and cctv system were
connected to the inverter.
After the installation, the photovoltaic system started
working and the inverter was powered on. The cctv
camera connected to internet through router LAN,
was positioned to view the face of the watt meters so
as to record data and also to communicate it’s
recordings to us in real time through internet. The
pipe locking valve of the turbine was opened and the
setup was allowed to run for seven days (from 18-
07-2015 to 24-07-2015) during which readings were
taken through the cctv system. The hourly maximum
values of the Solar Panel Output Voltage, VP and
Current, AP; the Water Turbine Output Voltage, VT
and Current, AT; the Battery Voltage, VB and
Fig. 4: The constructed solar panel front and back view
Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016
Ohajianya et al.
Current, AB; and the Load Voltage, VL and Current,
AL, were extracted from the cctv recordings. Result
of the day 4 was the best and therefore was adopted
for presentation.
To further test the water turbine so as to obtain its
maximum power point, the valve of the turbine pipe
was locked awaiting rainfall. After rainfall, the drum
was filled with rain water and the turbine was tested.
To carry out the test, an 8Ω rheostat was connected
to serve as load to the turbine generator. The
rheostat was connected to the generator through a
wattmeter. The rheostat was set to 1� and the valve
lock was opened. The output voltage and current of
the generator as measured by the wattmeter were
read and recorded. The test was repeated with the
rheostat set to 2 �, 3 �, 4 �, 5 �, 6 �, 7 � and 8 �.
The rheostat was disconnected and another test was
carried out to obtain the open circuit voltage of the
generator. The results were tabulated.
Figure 5 shows a picture of the drum and hose used
for the test while Figures 6 (a) to (d) give different
picture views of the constructed power plant model.
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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model… Ohajianya et al.

Fig. 5 Picture of the drum and hose used for the testing

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 6 (a) to (d): Pictures of the constructed Photovoltaic System – Accumulated

Rain Water Power Plant Model

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Design, construction and testing of a 160W model… Ohajianya et al.

Efficiency Determination 160 W, the overall efficiency of the hydro turbine

The efficiency of the Photovoltaic System in terms was computed.
of its maximum power point against its designed
output power of 160 W was calculated. Results and Discussions
The loss in head due to friction in pipe was Results
determined as 4.12 m using HOMER software. With The result of the power plant model test is presented
this, the water transmission efficiency, ƞ1, was in Table 3 while that of the Pelton turbine maximum
calculated as 73%. Using the maximum output power test is as given in Table 4.
power of the turbine against its designed power of

Table 3: Result of the Constructed Power Plant Model Test

time Solar Panel Water Turbine Battery Load

VP AP VT VB VL
t (h) (V) (A) PP (W) (V) AT (A) PT (W) (V) AB (A) PB (W) (V) AL (A) PL (W)
00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.14 -5.15 -62.52 11.69 5.15 60.20
01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.12 -5.17 -62.66 11.67 5.15 60.10
02 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.83 1.28 16.42 12.12 -3.80 -46.06 11.67 5.15 60.10
03 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.64 0.99 12.51 12.12 -4.12 -49.93 11.67 5.15 60.10
04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.09 -5.15 -62.26 11.64 5.15 59.95
05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.98 -5.20 -62.30 11.53 5.20 59.96
06 12.41 0.12 1.49 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.85 -5.16 -61.15 11.40 5.26 59.96
07 12.59 0.85 10.70 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.82 -4.36 -51.54 11.37 5.27 59.92
08 12.62 0.89 11.23 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.80 -4.32 -50.98 11.35 5.28 59.93
09 12.67 0.93 11.78 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.77 -4.29 -50.49 11.32 5.30 60.00
10 12.81 4.70 60.21 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.78 -0.17 -2.00 11.33 5.29 59.94
11 13.02 6.69 87.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.29 1.99 24.46 11.84 5.10 60.38
12 13.54 7.41 100.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.70 2.96 37.59 12.25 4.93 60.39
13 13.82 7.28 100.61 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.04 2.89 37.69 12.59 4.81 60.56
14 13.20 7.42 97.94 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.05 2.68 34.97 12.55 4.83 60.62
15 12.91 5.90 76.17 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.05 1.02 13.31 12.36 4.90 60.56
16 12.83 3.95 50.68 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.00 0.94 12.22 12.35 4.90 60.52
17 12.75 2.46 31.37 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.72 -2.47 -31.42 12.27 4.93 60.49
18 12.54 0.73 9.15 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.43 -4.31 -53.57 11.98 5.04 60.38
19 12.00 0.04 0.48 12.45 0.87 10.83 12.43 -4.14 -51.46 11.98 5.04 60.38
20 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.61 0.98 12.36 12.42 -4.06 -50.43 11.97 5.05 60.45
21 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.40 -5.06 -62.74 11.95 5.06 60.47
22 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.39 -5.06 -62.69 11.94 5.06 60.42
23 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.32 -5.08 -62.59 11.87 5.08 60.30

Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016 www.njpng.org www.nipng.org

 21
Design, construction and testing of a 160W model…
Table 4: Results of the Pelton Turbine Test
Load Resistance Output Voltage
RL (Ω) VO (V)
1 5.30
2 9.86
3 9.95
4 11.56
5 12.45
6 12.91
7 13.09
8 13.12
∞ 16.02
With Photovoltaic System Maximum Output Power
of 100.61 W in the test as against its designed output
power of 160 W, the efficiency of the system was
calculated as 63%.
With the turbine’s maximum output power of 51.07
W as against it designed output power of 160W, and
considering the water transmission efficiency of
73%, the turbine’s overall efficiency was calculated
. � ⁄ � .
as 44% (ƞ = = = . .
ƞ .
Discussion
In the Constructed Power Plant Model Test result
shown in Table 3, the turbine could only deliver a
maximum power of 16.42W but in the second test of
Table 4, the same turbine delivered a maximum
power of 51.07W. This is because in the first test,
the turbine was charging a 12V battery and with its
output voltage close to the battery’s voltage, the
turbine could not deliver its maximum possible
output power. But with the load changed to rheostat
in the second test, the turbine was able to deliver its
maximum output power. The maximum output
power of 51.07W realized from the turbine fall short
of the 160W designed capacity by 108.93W. The
major contributor to the power loss was the small
diameter pipes used to transmit water from the drum
to the turbine. This is because the smaller the pipe
diameter, the more the loss in available water head
due to low transmission efficiency. The water
transmission efficiency was determined as 73%
which means that a total head of 4.12 m was lost due
to friction in the pipe.
Conclusion
160W Photovoltaic System – Accumulated Rain
Water power plant model was constructed and tested
for performance. The maximum output power
realized from the constructed Photovoltaic System
unit and Accumulated rain water turbine unit during
the test at University of Port Harcourt, were
100.61W and 51.07W, respectively. The efficiencies
of Photovoltaic System Unit and Hydro Turbine
Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 27(1) June 2016
Ohajianya et al.
Output Current Output Power
IO (A) PO (W)
5.90 31.27
5.18 51.07
4.05 40.30
3.41 39.42
3.00 37.35
2.72 35.12
2.45 32.07
2.24 29.39
0.00 0.00
Unit (as against their designed output powers of 160
W) were calculated as 63% and 44%, respectively.
Recommendation
We hereby recommend that every solar power plant
to be installed in the southern part of Nigeria, be
designed into a hybrid system with rain water driven
power plant or wind turbine or both. This will help
in prolonging the life span of the battery bank.
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