Photovoltaic System Design

Engr. Naeem Abas Kalair

Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical
Engineering, University of
Gujrat

Long Power Down Ahead . . .

Photovoltaic System Design

Discussion Topics

Power and Energy Crisis

Photovoltaic System Design

Power & Energy Crisis

Global Cataclysm

Electric Power Crisis

Oil, Gas and Coal Reserves

Electric Power Crisis

Electric Power Crisis1

Ref 1 M. H. Khan, Missing energy targets and its repercussions, Business & Finance, Review, Daily Jang, 10-12-2007

Electric Power Crisis

Electric Power Scenario
WAPDA Supply
=
11,000 MW
Load demand
=
15,000 MW
Difference
=
4000 MW (deficit)
Annual increase
=
800-1000 MW
Economic Failure =
2017 (Deficit exceeds supply)
Catching the last bus
If we start Kalabagh Dam today then it will be ready by
20161, to maintain the current 4000MW power deficit.

Electric Power Crisis

UPS Demand Doubling Effect

Electric Power Crisis

Fossil Fuels Dependence1

Ref.1: IEA, US DOE, August 23, 2006. Retrieved on April 3, 2007

Electric Power Crisis

Renewable Energy Resources

Electric Power Crisis

Sustainable Energy Options
Technology

Present

Future

Hydropower (Capacity)
12,500 MW
>26,700 MW 1
Solar Energy
7,000 GPD (PCSIR)
1.93MWh/m 2/Y
414 KW P(>19,800AH) (DGNRER)3
Wind Power
000
700 MW by 2010 2
1: Bhasha (4500), Bunji (5400), DASU (4000), Kalabagh (3600), Kohala (1100), Patan (2800), Thakot (2800), and a
collective capacity of 2500 from Neelam, Munda, Akhori etc. Out of total available potential of 42,000 MW only 15%
has
been tapped to date. Hydro is the most viable energy option for Pakistan.
2. M. Asif. Sustainable energy options for Pakistan. RSER. DOI 10.1016/jrser.2008.04.01.
3. PCSIR Annual Report (1990), DGNRER Annual Report (1989) as reported by I. A. Raja et al in WREC 1996.

Global Energy Crisis

End of Fossil Fuels1

Oil 2022/2064

Gas 2029/2100

Coal 2150/2250

Always

(Ref.1: N. Khan et al. Natural energy sources & global power needs, RSER, Vol.12, 1959-1973, 2008)

Global Energy Crisis

Oil Peaking1

Oil peaking = 2007a

a. French study

Oil peaking = 2015b

b. USGS Report

Oil peaking = 2010c

c. WEC/IEA data

Oil peaking = 2020d

d. WEO Report 08

Ref.1: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/peakGraph.jpg (Beyond Oil by K. Duffeyes)

Global Energy Crisis

Fossil Fuels Peaking
Fuels
Oil (2013)
Gas (2021)
Coal (2025)

Peakinga

Peakingb

Peakingc

20101/20112
20301
20251

2020-20305
20177
20256

20053/20064
2015-20218
20259

_______________________________________________
Ref.1: Energy crisis: Turning point of humanity by Rudo de Ruijter 25 June 2008.http://321energy.com
Ref.2: ASPO Report 2008
Ref.3:Simmons & Company International and Beyond Oil by K. S. Deffeyes
Ref.4:Crude oil: Supply Outlook. German Energy Watch Group headed and Chairman ARAMCO KSA.
Ref.5:CERA Report 2006, WEO Report 2008, http:en.wikipedia.org/wiki?peak_oil
Ref.6: What if coal is running out too by D Roberts, 2007, GRIST.
Ref.7: Peak oil? Peak gas may not be far behind. Energy Intelligence Group. 2007
Ref.8: High noon for natural gas by J. Darley, www.321energy.com and Get ready for another oil shock by
L. F. Ivanhoe from THE FUTURIST http:dieoff.org/page90.htm.
Ref.9: www.energybulletin.net/print/28287.

Global Energy Crisis

Possible Ends
Fuels

End1a

End2b

Oil
Gas
Coal

20531-3
20801-3
22601-3

20704
21434
28414

End3c
21105
21505
44245

End4d
20256-7
20296-7
21638

a- Oil & Gas, b- WEO, c- USGS, d- Others

____________________________________________
1. World oil, gas and coal reserves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel, 2. Natural gas reserves by country Infoplease. com, 3. Oil & Gas Journal, Vol. 103, No. 4, December 19, 2005, 4. Ch-4, Energy Supply, Table 4.2,
World Energy Outlook report, June 2008. 5- USGS World Energy Assessment Team Report Retrieved on January
18, 2007. 6. K. Deffeyes-www.princeton.edu/hubbert/current-events-06-02.html ,7. The end of fossil fuels by
L Grant, NPG, www.npg.org/forum_series/fall/04forum.htm, 8-IEA Report 2006,pp-127.

Fossil Fuels Backlash Consequences

Stop Before It Overloads!

Else!

Photovoltaic System Design

PV System Design Case
Designing a photovoltaic system for a typical

building of 10,000 square feet like UOG, Hafiz

Hayat Campus, Electrical Engineering
Department building. We want to determine the
number of solar panels, the DC batteries,
inverters or/and rotary converters to harness
solar power in a range of some 100kW loads.
Specifying substation and cable sizes to run a
personal grid system.

Photovoltaic System Design

Solar Power Availability

Photovoltaic System Design

Solar Electric Conversion
Typical 6-8kWh/m2 solar power results in 90-100We/m2
or 10We/ft2 using 12% efficiency silicon solar cells. It
means 98.95% of the incident solar light flux is wasted.
If we combine PV system with thermal system (to use
wasted heat) then hybrid system works at 50-60%
efficiency that is much better than simple PV system.
Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) is more attractive than PV!

Photovoltaic System Design

PV System Design
To design a suitably engineered PV system, we start with
customer loads and available roof top space.
Normally roof top is enough for building electricity needs
and if not then we can consider its sun facing walls too.
Let us try to learn design procedure step by step.

Photovoltaic System Design

Case Study
To design a PV system the electrical engineer
must start from existing or intended loads to be
operated by solar electricity. Let us consider a
typical office type building using 500 fluorescent
light tubes, 300 energy savers, 200 fans, 100
exhaust fans, 50 air conditioners, 10
refrigerators, 2 water pumps, 8 televisions and 5
kettles. Let us assume conventional usage times
8 AM to 6 PM for government buildings as CIIT.

Photovoltaic System Design

Watt hour (Wh) Calculations
@10 Hrs (8AM-6PM)

Photovoltaic System Design

Watt hour (Wh) Calculations
@10 Hrs (8AM-6PM)

Photovoltaic System Design

Watt hour (Wh) Calculations

Photovoltaic System Design

Panel Energy Capacity
To compensate the power lost in wires, battery and
controller one needs to install 130Wh capacity to
meet appliance energy demand of 100Wh.
Therefore, it is recommended to multiply appliance
Wh demand by 1.3 to install the desired capacity of
the PV System panels or modules
Panel energy (capacity) = 1000,000 x 1.3Wh/day = 1,300,000 Wh/day

Photovoltaic System Design

Peak Panel Power
Environment

Panel Generation Factor (PGF)

Desert area (Baluchistan)

Coastal area (Karachi)
Cloudy area (5-7 days/month)
Cloudy area (>10 days /month)

3.86
3.43
3.00
2.57

Islamabad area does not fall under high brightness coastal areas. It is
appropriate to assume PGF = 3.00 for Islamabad (but I used 3.43). The
peak panel power @ (1Wp =3.43Wh/day) i.e. Panel Wh/day PGF
Peak panel power (Wp) = 1,300,000 3.43 = 379,009 watts

Photovoltaic System Design

PV Panel Sizing
Formula
No. of PV modules = Wp Panel Size

Panels

1. @ 200W PV panel modules = 379,009 200 = 1895

2. @100W PV panel modules = 379,009 100 = 3790
3. @75W PV panel modules

= 379,009 75

= 5054

Photovoltaic System Design

Battery Life Factor
With development in solar cell technology the cost of solar
cells is decreasing but the batteries cost is slowly increasing
due to high demand. Slow or low charging PV system,
although works, but seriously shortens the battery life span. It
is advisable to increase panel size from 20 to 30% of the
minimum capacity to increase battery life.
@200W PV modules = 1895 + 1895 x 25% = 2369
@100W PV modules = 3790 + 3790 x 25% = 4738
@75W PV modules = 5054 + 5054 x 25% = 6317

Photovoltaic System Design

Engineering Judgment
As a rule of thumb a solar panel of 1ft2 size produces 10
watts electricity (1ft2 = 10W). To produce 379kWmin
(200x1895) or 474kWmax (200x2369) the owner needs a
roof space of minimum 37,900ft2 (379,000/10) and
maximum 47,380ft2 (473,800/10). A combination of
minimum power (379kW) with maximum space (47,380
ft2) makes a more reliable PV system. Once we calculate
the appliance loads and peak power the area may can
be estimated from published tables.

Photovoltaic System Design

Roof Area Calculations
Power generation capacity of the solar system depends upon the
available roof space. Usually monocrystalline PV modules in bright
sunlight can produce ten watts power from 1 ft2 size solar cell. it is
recommended to start with average generation capability of 10 W/ft 2
assuming 12% efficiency as shown bellow.

Photovoltaic System Design

Roof Area Calculations
1. Based on panel generation capacity a 100kW PV system requires a
space of 10,000 ft2 .
2. A moderately adequate system considering losses (130%) may
require minimum 13,000ft2.
3. Considering PGF (3.43),100kW PV system may require about
37,900ft2 roof area.
4.

A reliable PV system adding spare capacity of 25% (20-30%) for

longer battery life reasons may require 47,380 ft2 roof space.

Photovoltaic System Design

Battery Size Calculations
A rule of thumb for battery size is to install a battery that
has at least five times as much capacity as will be
needed to operate the appliance for one day.
Multiplication factors for various types of batteries are
shown bellow.

Photovoltaic System Design

Battery Size Calculations
Multiply appliance Wh/day for battery size calculations for
various types of DC batteries as follows.
C10 battery
C100 battery
Sealed battery
Vehicle battery

= 1000,000 x 5
= 1000,000 x 6.5
= 1000,000 x 7.5
= 1000,000 x 10

=
=
=
=

5,000,000 Wh
6,500,000 Wh
7,500,000 Wh
10,000,000 Wh

Normally people use vehicle batteries for UPS in Pakistan

Photovoltaic System Design

Wh to Ah Conversions
Appliance energy demand is calculated in Watthours (Wh) but the battery capacity is given in
Ampere-hours (Ah).
To convert the appliance Wh to Ah divide the
appliance Watt-hours by the battery voltage.
Whapp V = VxIxh V = Ixh = Ah

Photovoltaic System Design

Wh to Ah Conversions

12V Battery
Appliance Ah capacity = 5000,000 12 = 416,667 Ah
24V Battery
Appliance Ah capacity = 5000,000 24 = 208,333 Ah
48V Battery
Appliance Ah capacity = 5000,000 48 = 104,166 Ah

Photovoltaic System Design

Number of Batteries
For a 12/24/48V DC PV system the number of 200Ah C10 deep
charging batteries may be estimated as follows
12V Batteries
Batteries (12V, 200 Ah) = 416,667 200 = 2084
24V Batteries
Batteries (24V, 200Ah) = 208,333 200 = 1042
48V Batteries
Batteries (48V, 200Ah) = 104,166 200 = 522

Photovoltaic System Design

Battery Capacity Issues
Previous calculations hold for C10 (deep discharge rate) batteries. If
these batteries are not available then to use C100, maintenance
free and normal vehicle starting batteries make sure to multiply the
C10 battery based capacity rating by 1.3, 1.5 and 2 as shown in
Table

Photovoltaic System Design

Battery Bank Connections

Photovoltaic System Design

Charge Controllers
The controller size should be able to allow the sum of peak
currents of the PV modules. Controllers charging capacity
for 12/24/48V PV System are given by
IC12V
IC24V
IC48V

=
=
=

Wp 12
Wp 24
Wp 48

=
=
=

379,009 12 =
379,009 24 =
379,009 48 =

31,584 A
15,792 A
7,896 A

Charge controller consists of charge and discharge control units

Photovoltaic System Design

PV System Diagram

Photovoltaic System Design

Controller Size Calculations
Motoring equipment need often 3-4 times more starting
current compared to steady state currents to keep
running. High inrush current duration 1-2 seconds.
The discharge controller minimum current capacity
should be equal to the sum of amperes from all lights
heater appliances times 1.5, plus the amperes from all
appliances with motors times 3-4.

Photovoltaic System Design

Controller Size Calculations
Appliance Loads
Lights/heater loads
Motor type loads

=
=

224,000Wh/day 10
676,000Wh/day 10

=
=

22.4 kW
67.6 kW

Steady State Currents (12V DC System)

Active load currents
Reactive load currents
Controller capacity (A)

=
=
=

22,400 12
67,600 12
1867 + 5633

= 1867 A
= 5633 A
= 7500 A

Peak Transient Currents

Active load currents
Reactive load currents
Controller capacity (A)

= 1867 x 1.5
= 5617 x 3
= 2800 + 16,899

=
=
=

2800 A
16,899 A
19,699 A

Photovoltaic System Design

Controller Size Calculations
If all loads are not running at same time then discharge
controller of minimum capacity of 7500A can be used.
If all loads are going to operate simultaneously then
maximum size controller of 19,699A must be used.
It is more economical and reliable to install multiple
charge/discharge controllers at different circuits.

Photovoltaic System Design

Inverter Selection
There are four types of inverters. All of them are
expensive but square wave is cheaper than modified
square wave inverter that is relatively cheaper than
PWM inverter which is cheaper than sine wave inverter.

Photovoltaic System Design

Harmonics Limits
According to IEEE 929-2000, EN 61727 (EU) and IEC
61000-3-2 standards the full load current THD be less
than 5% and the voltage THD be less than 2% for
harmonic spectra up to 49th harmonic.
It means squaring waves inverters output can not be
interfaced with utility without adequate installation of
harmonic filters. Another costly requirement.
Only PWM and sinewave inverters qualify but expensive.

Photovoltaic System Design

Power Electronics Limitations
High voltage and current rating semiconductor devices
are very costly. First issue is to find the high rating
devices and the second is to afford to buy it.

Photovoltaic System Design

Static Inverters vs. Rotary Converters?
To help sustainable energy culture manufacturers have already started
designing12-96V DC battery powered solar lights, solar fans, solar washing
machines, solar refrigerators, solar air conditions and solar water pumping
systems.
For example, Sanyo manufactures DC inverter air conditioners from 300 to
2000 Watts. A Malaysian company has introduced 12 V @ 8A and 24V @ 4
A DC air conditioners of 300 watts cooling capacities. A Chinese company
has introduced 5000-18000 BTU capacity 24/48V batter operated 1000
watts DC air conditioners. 24-400V DC inputted 5-200kVA inverters are
available in market.
If the owner does not want to change the existing appliance and wiring then
he/she may go for DC to AC inverters or DC Motor-AC Generator sets. A
12/24/48V DC motor can easily drive a generator to produce sinusoidal
voltage at desired frequency. Rotary converter is also called MG set.

Photovoltaic System Design

PV Cable Sizing
IEEE 1526 (Recommended practice for testing the
performance of stand-alone photovoltaic systems) and
NEC 2002 (National electrical code/wiring methods)
recommend the total voltage drop in feeder and branch
circuits be less than 5% (4.2% for 0.5V drop in 12V DC
system), with the drop in either feeder or branch circuit
limited to no more than 3% (2.1% for 0.5V drop in 24V
DC system).

Photovoltaic System Design

PV Cable Sizing
NEC recommended /kft (Ohms/1000 ft) are shown in Table

Photovoltaic System Design

PV Cable Sizing
If L is the distance from source to load and VS is the
source (battery) voltage then percent voltage drop
(%VD) in the wire is given by

The circuit resistance /kft becomes

Photovoltaic System Design

PV Cable Sizing
Wire sizes of 50-watt filament lamp and 500-watt electric
iron located at distance of 20 m from a 12V DC battery
may be calculated as follows
I(75W bulb) = P/ V
= 75/12
= 6.250 A
I(500w iron) = P/ V
= 500/12
= 41.67 A

Photovoltaic System Design

PV Cable Sizing
For 0.96 (6.25A) and 0.144 (41.67A) /kft values

NEC Std recommends to use wire size # 8 for 50-watt

lamp and the wire size # 0 for 500-watt electric iron.

Photovoltaic System Design

Future Scope

Photovoltaic System Design

Thank You