EEE-488

Renewable and Alternate

Energy Systems
Dr. Rabiah Badar
Assistant Professor, Office no. 120,
Electrical & Computer Engineering Department,
COMSATS University Islamabad.
rabiah.badar@comsats.edu.pk
Objectives
 To get familiarized with relevant concepts and constituents of
solar PV power plant
 To design application specific solar PV power plants
Introduction
 Semiconductor cells (several sq. cm in size) used in photovoltaic (PV)
power
 Large PN junction diodes, with junctions close to the top surface,
convert sunlight into DC electricity
 Crystalline Si used to create PV cells like that used in integrated circuits
(IC)
 Expensive – costed around $20 per Watt
 Other materials like amorphous Si used nowadays bringing costs down to
$4 per Watt
 Nowadays solar PV power costs Rs. 16 approx. per kWh [1]
 Advantages: Unlike wind turbines, solar plant is static, doesn’t require
tall towers, produces no vibration/noise
 Disadvantages: Must be cleaned regularly for max. power extraction,
needs batteries to store electricity if not connected to grid, capital costs
are high in absence of govt. subsidies
 Power output matches
daily electricity demand
Solar PV Cell – Construction and Operation
 Mesh metal contact on top surface over n-type region collects electrons
from cell and transfers them to external electric circuit
 Metal mesh (instead of solid metal plate) allows sunlight to pass through
rather than being reflected back
 Sunlight penetrates thin n-type region and depletion region (PN junction)
into thick p-type region
 Generates electron-hole pairs by imparting enough energy to electrons in
doped Si atoms
 Excited electrons move through depletion region and n-type region which
“pushes” them to mesh metal collector
 Electrons deposited on this mesh metal contact while the holes move to the
solid metal contact at the bottom (below p-type region) and deposit on this
contact
 Voltage appears between the metal collectors because of accumulation of
opposite charges (open-circuit voltage)
 Current flows through ext. circuit when the cell is loaded
$3.05 per Watt in 2020
$0.10 per kWh in 2020
APAC: Asia Pacific
MEA: Middle East and Africa
Types of Solar PV Cells

 Single-Crystalline Silicon
 Polycrystalline and Semi-Crystalline Silicon
 Thin Film Cell
 Amorphous Silicon
 Concentrator Cell
 Multijunction Cell
Single Crystalline Cell
 Raw silicon melted and purified in crucible
 Seed crystal [1] placed in pure liquid Silicon and drawn at slow rate
 Creates solid, single-crystal, cylindrical ingot
 Slow and energy-intensive manufacturing process results in high costs ($20 –
25 per pound)
 Ingot sliced using diamond saw into 200 μm or 400 μm thick wafers
 Wafers cut into rectangular sections to optimally fit in rectangular panels
 Problem: Half of Silicon wasted during cutting and fitting
 Solution: Either grow Si crystals into ribbons or make larger round panels
 Energy conversion efficiency of 14 – 18%
Polycrystalline and Semi-Crystalline
Silicon
 Relatively fast and low-cost process
 Molten Si cast in ingots to form multiple crystals with seeds in parallel
 Lower conversion efficiency and low cost per watt of electricity compared to
single-crystalline cells
 Crystal structure is not perfect (somewhat random)
 Can not degrade further in manufacturing process or in operation
 Overtaking commercial market and comes as both thick- and thin-film cells
Thin Film Cells
 Thin film materials deposited directly on glass, plastic, stainless steel,
ceramic, or other compatible substrate (μm thickness or less)
 Copper Indium Diselenide (CuInSe2 or CIS), Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), and Gallium
Arsenide (GaAs)
 Layers of different materials applied sequentially to substrate
 Much less material usage per square area of cell
 Less expensive per watt of power produced
 CdTe most promising  low-cost per power generated and laboratory-tested
maximum conversion efficiency of 18%
Amorphous Silicon

 2 μm thick amorphous Si vapor deposited on glass or stainless-steel roll

(typically 2000 ft. long and 13 in. wide)
 Uses only about 1% of material compared to crystalline Si
 Efficiency about ½ of crystalline Si technology at present but cost also
significantly less
Concentrator Cell
 Sunlight focused on small area by low-cost lens (10 – 100 times more intense
than regular sunlight without focussing)
 Area requirements for required energy capture significantly reduced leading
to significant reductions in PV material requirements
 Cell conversion efficiency increases under concentrated light
 37% efficiency achieved for terrestrial (earth-related) applications using a cell
previously designed for space applications
 Disadvantage: Concentrating optics add to cost
Multijunction Cells
 Single PN layer converts only red and infrared light to electricity
 PV cell efficiency maximum when bandgap equals energy in light photons
 Layering of multiple different bandgap semiconductors harvests more
electricity
 Uses multiple layers of semiconductor materials to convert a
broader spectrum of sunlight into electricity thereby improving efficiency
 Reported efficiency of Gallium Indium Phosphide/Gallium
Arsenide/Germanium (GaInP/GaAs/Ge) triple junction cell of 34% under
concentrated light
 GaInP/GaAs/Ge cell being widely used in satellite power systems
 May soon trickle down to terrestrial applications
Solar PV Plant Design
Design Steps
1. Determine power consumption demands
1. Calculate total watt-hours per day that must be supplied to all the loads
2. Calculate total watt-hours per day required from PV panels
2. Size the PV modules
1. Calculate the total watt-peak rating needed for PV modules
2. Calculate the number of PV panels for the system
3. Inverter sizing – Inverter wattage must be 1.25 – 1.3 times the wattage of non-
compressor/motor loads and 3 times the wattage of compressor/motor loads to
handle starting currents
4. Battery sizing – Nominal battery voltage = nominal module voltage
5. Charge controller sizing – Common practice is to multiply the total short circuit
current of all modules with 1.3.
Panel Generation Factor (PGF)
 Just some factor made-up by a corporation (Leonics)
 Gives idea about solar insolation levels (in W/m2) at any site
 Gives an idea of “effective” hours per day of sunlight
Example:
 Sunrise around 7AM and sets around 5PM in Pakistan in winters (worst
conditions of sunlight)  Implies 10 hours of sunlight
 Avg. solar insolation on earth’s surface is 1000 W/m2  only when sunlight
strikes panels at 90o around noon
 Lower solar PV power before and after noon
 Insignificant PV power near sunset or after sunrise
 Actual solar conditions in sub-continent around 3.5 – 4.5 hours/day
Illustrative Example
A household has the following electrical appliance usage:
1. Three 28-Watt fluorescent lamps used 5 hours per day
2. Three 120-Watt fans used for 14 hours per day
3. One 150-Watt refrigerator that runs 24 hours per day with a compressor that
runs 12 hours and remains off for 12 hours

Assume, 85% of power produced reaches the loads. The system will be powered
by 12 Vdc, 110 Wp PV modules with short circuit current of 7.1 A each. Consider a
panel generation factor (PGF) of 3.8. Battery efficiency (ηBatt) is 85% with
allowable depth of discharge (D.O.D) at 75%.
Step1: Determine Power Consumption
Demands
 Daily energy consumption = 3 × 28 × 5 + 3 × 120 × 14 + 150 × 24 × 0.5 =
𝟕𝟐𝟔𝟎 𝐖𝐡/𝐝𝐚𝐲

 Watt-hours per day required from panels assuming 85% of supplied power
7260
reaches load = 0.85 Wh/day ≈ 𝟖𝟓𝟓𝟎 𝐖𝐡/𝐝𝐚𝐲
Step2: Size the PV Panels

 Total peak-watt capacity required,

8550 8550
= = 𝟐𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝐖𝐩
𝑃𝐺𝐹 3.8
 No of modules required,
2250
= 20.45 ≈ 𝟐𝟏 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬
110
Therefore, this system should be powered by at least 21 modules of 110 Wp
each.
Step3: Inverter Sizing
 Total watts of all non-compressor appliances = (3 x 28) + (3 x 120) = 444 W
 Total watts of all compressor appliances = 150 W
“Inverter wattage must be 1.25 – 1.3 times the wattage of non-
compressor/motor loads and 3 times the wattage of compressor/motor
loads to handle starting currents.”
 Therefore, inverter size = (1.3 x 444) + (3 x 150) = 1027.2 W ≈ 1050 W
Step 4: Battery Sizing
𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐡/𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬
𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐡 = × 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲
𝜼𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕 × 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐃. 𝐎. 𝐃 × 𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑽𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕

 In general, days of autonomy should not be less than 3 days

 To account for rainy season
7260
⇒ Battery capacity = × 5 = 𝟒𝟕𝟒𝟓 𝐀𝐡 ≈ 𝟒𝟖𝟎𝟎 𝐀𝐡
0.85 × 0.75 × 12
So the battery bank should be rated at 12 V, 4800 Ah for 5-day
𝟒𝟖𝟎𝟎
autonomy. This bank will consist of = 𝟐𝟒 batteries each rated at
𝟐𝟎𝟎
200 Ah.
Step 5: Charge Controller Sizing
 21 modules each with 7.1 A short circuit current
 Total short circuit current of array = 21 x 7.1 A = 149.1 A
 Charge controller current rating = 1.3 x 149.1 A = 193.83 A
So the solar charge controller should be rated 200 A @ 12 V or more.
Cost Analysis of Design PV System

 Cost of single 110 Wp, 12 V polycrystalline PV panel = Rs. 27,140/-

 Cost of 21 modules = Rs. 5,69,940/-
 Cost of 1000 watt solar inverter around Rs. 25,000/-
 Cost of one 200 Ah battery = Rs. 22,500/-
 Cost of 24, 200 Ah batteries = Rs. 5,40,000/-
 Cost of 200 A solar charge controller = Rs. 46,500/-
 Total cost = Rs. (569940 + 25000 + 540000 + 46500)/- = Rs. 11,81,440/-
Assignment no. 3 CLO3 [C5-PLO3]

Design a solar PV power system for your house. Then optimize the design for
the same house (by omitting/modifying unnecessary/surplus Wh
requirements) such that the total cost at the end is lowered to around Rs.
5,00,000/-. Properly justify all your design steps, decisions and assumptions.
References
1. “Fuel cells, an alternative to standard sources of energy” by A. B.
Stambouli in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2002.
“PEM Fuel Cell: How it works” on YouTube Channel of Pragma Industries.
2. Google
Equivalent Electrical Circuit
 ‘IL’ is light generated current, ‘ID’ is diode current and ‘ISH’ is shunt leakage
current to ground
 ‘Rs’ is series resistance and depends on PN junction depth, impurities and
contact resistance
 ‘Rs’ and ‘RSH’ typically 0.05 – 0.10 Ω and 200 – 300 Ω resp.
 Small increase in ‘Rs’ leads to a large drop in output power but changes in
‘RSH’ doesn’t effect conversion efficiency
Equivalent Electrical Circuit (Contd…)
 Diode current given by
𝑄𝑉𝑜𝑐
𝐼𝑑 = 𝐼𝐷 𝑒 𝐴𝑘𝑇 −1
 Where, ‘ID’ is diode saturation current, ‘Q’ is charge on
electron (1.6022e-19 C), ‘A’ is the ideality factor, ‘k’ is
Boltzmann constant (1.38e-23 J/K) and ‘T’ is temperature on
absolute scale.
 Load current given by
𝑄𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝑉𝑜𝑐
𝐼= 𝐼𝐿 − 𝐼𝐷 𝑒 𝐴𝑘𝑇 −1 −
𝑅𝑆𝐻
𝑉𝑜𝑐
 Term ‘ ’ generally ignored in practical cells
𝑅𝑆𝐻

 ‘𝐼𝐷 ’ determined practically by applying ‘𝑉𝑜𝑐 ’ to cell in dark at

measuring current flowing into the cell
 Also termed dark current or reverse diode saturation current
𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑠𝑐
 Short circuit current measured by shorting output terminals under full
illumination conditions
 Open circuit voltage (at I = zero) ignoring ‘ISH’ given by

𝐴𝑘𝑇 𝐼𝐿
𝑉𝑜𝑐 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑛 +1
𝑄 𝐼𝐷
𝑘𝑇
 ‘ 𝑄 ’ is 0.026 V at 300 K

 ‘𝐼𝐿 ’ is many times ‘𝐼𝐷 ’, therefore, ‘𝑉𝑜𝑐 ’ is many times 0.026 V

 • Cell behaves like constant current source in left shaded region and matches
generated voltage to load resistance
• Cell behaves like constant voltage source in right shaded region
• Knee point lies between shaded regions

• If reverse voltage is applied to cell [1] , it

absorbs power up until cell breakdown
• Current increases sharply after breakdown
• In dark, cell current remains nearly zero up to
cell breakdown
 Cell operated slightly to
the left of max. power
point and modelled as At knee point
constant current source in
electrical analysis
Air Mass

 Represent conditions in which solar cell is operated

 AM0 represents condition of vacuum/space where max. insolation is present
(1350 W/m2)
 AM1 represents condition of sunlight normal to cell surface located in air with
no pollutants and at a dry afternoon
 AM1.5 represents condition of average quality air with average humidity and
pollution at an average inclination (1000 W/m2)
 AM4 in northern regions with solar irradiation at 15o from horizon
Factors Affecting Array Design
1. Sun intensity
2. Sun angle
3. Load matching for Pmax
4. Operating Temperature
 Sun Intensity

Variation in Efficiency

Isc falls sharply with intensity

Voc relatively less affected by variations in intensity

Variation in Illumination
Sun Angle and Kelly Cosine Law
 Law: Output current given by
𝐼 = 𝐼𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
 Where, ‘𝐼𝑜 ’ is output cell current with normal sun and ‘𝜃’ is angle of sun line
measured from normal
 Cosine law hold from 0 – 50o but deviates significantly after this (no power above
85o)
Temperature Effects
 Short circuit current and open circuit voltage given by
𝐼𝑠𝑐 = 𝐼𝑜 1 + 𝛼∆𝑇
𝑉𝑜𝑐 = 𝑉𝑜 1 − 𝛽∆𝑇
 Where, Io and Vo are values of short circuit current and open circuit voltage at
reference temperature
 ‘𝛼’ and ‘𝛽’ are resp. temperature coefficients
 New power, 𝑃 = 𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝐼𝑠𝑐 = 𝑉𝑜 𝐼𝑜 1 + 𝛼∆𝑇 1 − 𝛽∆𝑇

 Ignoring ‘α𝛽 ∆𝑇 2 ’ term, we get

𝑃 = 𝑃𝑜 [1 + 𝛼 − 𝛽 ∆𝑇]
 Decrease in Voc higher than
increase in Isc, therefore, cell
output power decreases with
temperature
 Module should be designed to adjust its
output voltage with changing temperature
to get max. power output at any given
temperature

V1 V2
Effect of Climate
 Cell can produce 80% of full sun power in partly cloudy conditions
 Can produce 30% of full sun power in extremely cloudy conditions
 Snow doesn’t collect on module as it is angled to receive sunlight
 Melts if it stays on surface for some reason
 Cell designed to withstand golf-ball sized hail
 Supplying Power To Resistive Loads (Electric Heaters)

If load current increases at

point ‘b2’, terminal voltage
falls so point is shifted
‘upwards’ towards max.
Supplying Power To Constant Power Loads (Induction Motors) power point resulting in
higher output power thereby
stabilizing back t0 b2
Only this
point is
stable
Sun Tracking
 One-axis tracker follows sun from east to west during the day
 Two axis tracker follows sun from east to west during the day and from north
to south during the seasons
 Can increase energy yield by 40% over entire year
 Sun hunting – in earlier designs, if sun was obscured by cloud the tracker
aimed at next brightest object which was cloud lining
 Tracks sun once again when cloud moves away
 Eliminated in newer designs
Actuating Mechanism of Sun Trackers
 Two panels mounted on 45o wedges and connected through actuator motor
 When sun is normal, both panels produce same currents which cancel each
other resulting in zero motor current
 When misaligned two panels produce different currents and resulting current
fed to motor for operation
Actuating Motor Current
 Currents from two panels given by
𝐼1 = 𝐼𝑜 cos 45 + 𝛿 , 𝐼2 = 𝐼𝑜 cos 45 − 𝛿
 Taylor Series formula given below
ℎ2
𝑓 𝑥+ℎ =𝑓 𝑥 + ℎ𝑓 ′ 𝑥 + 𝑓"(𝑥) + ⋯
2!
 Applying Taylor Series and ignoring terms with 𝛿 2 or higher powers
𝐼1 = 𝐼𝑜 cos 45 + 𝛿 = 𝐼𝑜 cos 45 − 𝐼𝑜 𝛿 sin 45
𝐼2 = 𝐼𝑜 cos 45 − 𝛿 = 𝐼𝑜 cos 45 + 𝐼𝑜 𝛿 sin 45
⇒ 𝐼𝑚 = 𝐼2 − 𝐼1 = 2𝐼𝑜 𝛿 sin 45 = 2𝐼𝑜 𝛿
 Where, ‘𝛿’ is in radians
Peak Power Operation
 Array operating at any point at voltage ‘V’ and current ‘I’ in VI curve extracts
power given by, P=VI
 If the operating point is perturbed then new power given by [1]
𝑃𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 𝑉 + ∆𝑉 𝐼 + ∆𝐼 = 𝑉𝐼 + 𝑉. ∆𝐼 + ∆𝑉. 𝐼 + ∆𝑉. ∆𝐼 ≈ 𝑃 + ∆𝑃
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, ∆𝑃 = 𝑉. ∆𝐼 + ∆𝑉. 𝐼
 ∆𝑃 is zero at max. power point, therefore, condition for max. power point is given
by setting ∆𝑃 = 0
∆𝑉 𝑉
⇒ 𝑉. ∆𝐼 + ∆𝑉. 𝐼 = 0 ⇒ =−
∆𝐼 𝐼
 In the limit when increment step approaches zero the above equation can be
𝑑𝑉 𝑉 𝑑𝑉 𝑉
written as 𝑑𝐼 = − 𝐼 , where, ‘ 𝑑𝐼 ’ is dynamic source impedance, ‘Zd’ and ‘ 𝐼 ’ is static
impedance, ‘Zs’.
Condition for Max. Power Extraction
Dynamic Impedance, Zd = – Static Impedance, Zs