DAY 29: SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM SIZING: INTRODUCTION

                  
Day 29 of #100daysofsolarnuggets

Introduction
We have discussed about the basic components of a solar energy system and some important terms that we should be aware of, today we would be discussing what we need to do to implement a successful solar energy system.
#100daysofsolarnuggets

What do we mean by Sizing?
     Sizing when used in solar systems designing, means calculating the requirements for setting up a solar energy system.

   We take a look at our homes, offices or wherever we plan on setting up the solar system and get the value for how much energy we consume.

  We ask questions like; the appliances we have, how much power do they consume? Are there similar appliances that consume less power? Getting answers to this questions would help you figure out the size of the solar system you need.

Once we have found out how much energy we use/need, we would need to find out the value of the photovoltaic modules (Solar Panels) that can sufficiently meet our energy needs and the Inverter capacity that would do the conversion form DC to AC.

Knowing how much energy we consume would also help us determine the capacity of the battery bank needed and the rating of the Charge controller  that would charge the batteries.



This is the first step in setting up a solar system and also one of the important.

Sizing must be done very carefully and as accurately as possible, care must be taken to avoid errors at this stage.

Any error made at this stage if not corrected would have serious consequence once we are done implementing our solar system.






There are six important stages
.1) Load Sizing
.2) Photo voltaic modules sizing (Solar Panels)
.3) Battery sizing
.4) Charge controller Sizing
.5) Inverter Sizing
.6) System wiring

DAY 28: SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS; IRRADIANCE AND INSOLATION EXPLAINED

   

   Today we would continue from where we stopped yesterday, we would be discussing

the following terms.

.1) Irradiance

.2) Insolation

.3) Photovoltaic array

.4) Battery array

Irradiance (G):

    This is simply how much power the sun is delivering to a particular area. It is measured in Watts per meter square (w/m²).

On a very clear sunny day, the expected value for irradiance is 1000 w/m²,this is the standard value.

 #100daysofsolarnuggets

Insolation

    Insolation is the power that the sun deliver to a particular area over a particular time, Insolation is very important and also very necessary for us to get our Peak Sun Hour (PSH), for a particular area. Peak sun hours was explained in our previous article (Day 27).

The power from the sun varies during the day from sunrise to sunset, but for a solar designer we are interested in the period of time that this value is 1000w/m².

Insolation can also be referred to as the average irradiance, since it gives us the average time when the sun is 1000w/m².We need this value to determine our PSH for a particular area.

#100daysofsolarnuggets

Photovoltaic array

This refers to a number of solar panels connected to each other, generating electricity as a single unit.The total power of the photo voltaic array is a combination of the power output of the individual panels.

#100daysofsolarnuggets

Battery array

This refers to a number of batteries connected to each other generating power as a single unit.

#100daysofsolarnuggets

DAY 27: SOLAR ENERGY; PEAK SUN HOURS EXPLAINED.

Day 27 of #100daysofSolarNuggets

     So we have gone through the basic component of a solar energy system, we’ve discussed solar panels, Inverters, charge controllers and batteries. Before we discuss the nuggets on sizing and designing a solar energy system, there are some basic terminology that we need to introduce and discuss.

We would meet a lot of these terms during the latter part of our nuggets and I believe we should take out time to discuss and understand this terms

The first on our list is PEAK SUN HOURS (PSH)

Peak Sunshine Hours (PSH)

This is simply the number of hours that the Sun’s Irradiance (Power or Energy) from the sun  is averagely equal to 1000w/m². Or in layman terms This is just the length of time when the rays from the sun is strongest, measured in hours.

Why do we use 1000w/m²?  ; This is the standard being used, so you do not need to bother to much about this. 

    The PSH value is very important when designing a solar system, it varies from place to place, so do ensure you get the exact value for your any location you plan to implement.

    Now here I got  the PSH value for Nigeria,

This map represents the yearly average of daily sums of irradiation value for Nigeria.

      From the map we can see that the northern region (the places colored deep red) gets up to an average of 6500watts-hour per m2 per day.

  We divided this value by 1000w/m2 

  6500/1000 = 6.5

This means we have 6 and a half hours when the sun is at it’s best  in the northern region.

 

The places colored blue, gets as low 4000 watts-hour per m2, when we divide that value by 1000w/m2

 4000/1000 = 4

We get only 4 hours of superb sunlight, so when implementing a solar energy system in that region we need to take cognizance of that.

           Now if there is anything you need clarification, please post a comment, or if there is anything you think i might have omitted please do let me know..