Design of Solar PV for K.K. Wagh Boy’s Hostel

Abstract

It is necessary to simulate and investigate the proper feasibility of Solar PV system at a given location. This study is done to evaluate the feasibility of grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic system for a K.K. Wagh Institute of Engineering Education and Research, Nashik, India. This paper focuses on the aspects of the design involved in the setup of the system, not only just the design, but also the component such as installation, site evaluation of a given rooftop to the final cost analysis. This paper will give the average understanding of how a rooftop photovoltaic system is been processed.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Solar Energy is one of the most popular harnessed forms of renewable energy in the globe. Considering its availability in major section of the globe, outrunning other sources such as availability of wind, water resources as well as natural heat producing elements. Sun is the source of inexhaustible energy; emit energy in the form of (light, heat, and electromagnetic radiation). Radiation consists from sun as a result of nuclear fusion reactions which occur deep in the heart of sun. Sun produces heat and light that received to ground to maintain sustainability of life and it loses mass of 4 million tons each second. This mass turns to energy in its three forms. Solar Power System based on photovoltaic arrays that store the excessive energy from Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the form of electric energy for many applications. The key decision factors for the power management strategies (PMSs) are the level of the power provided by the RES and the state of charge (SOC).

Solar energy as such is a form of energy that can be utilized in the form of either a natural heat source; like the usage in concentrated solar power systems, and the other form being conversion of the light of the sun into electricity, better known as photovoltaics [1]. This paper focuses on the latter, as it is more suitable in a commercial building setup where it would be beneficial to tap in renewable sources, mostly to save the electricity bill, while doing it greener. The solar photovoltaics has a major advantage compared to other forms of renewable power [2], i.e., once it is setup and installed, it produces no pollution during its operation and on top of it releases no harmful green gas emissions.

The best suited system for the Indian scenario would be the rooftop photovoltaic power generation system connected via the local grid, which would be primary focus of this paper. In this paper, there will be a detailed discussion about the process involved in a typical rooftop solar installation in an Indian scenario, involving the steps such as installation site evaluation, preliminary design, required load calculation, precise design, installation and cost estimation.

The major con of this technology in India is the scarcity of available land. The estimated land required for every 40 to 60 MW generation is approximately 1 km2 [3]. Hence the emergence of solar rooftop systems, which not only generates the required electricity for a building, but also efficiently utilizes the barren area that is of a little productivity [4]. Including both ground and roof-mounted plants, the country's installed solar power capacity was 64.381 GWAC as of 28 February 2023 [5]. Solar electricity generation from April 2022 to March 2023 increased to 101.27 TWh from 73.48 TWh in the same period a year ago [6].

II. PV SYSTEM DESIGN

The sun’s radiation is converted into the form of the light by the photovoltaic system into usable electricity. It comprises of the Balance of system components and the solar array.

Any combination of the solar panels, inverters and the hardware needed to flow the energy through the panels are essential for the solar panel systems. The utilization of the string inverters, microinverters or the power optimizers to convert the energy are depended upon the type of the system, but the basic setup of the Solar PV system is almost the same.

On the solar panels, the Solar PV technology is generally employed. The PV cells are connected to each other and are mounted on the frame called as a module. Thus, when these modules come together and wired, they form an array. These arrays can be scaled up and down to produce the amount of the power needed. Solar power plant consists of solar cells, and the devices such as solar inverters, power optimizers, isolators, lightning arrestors earthling plate, distribution boxes, connectors, cables, etc.

A. Solar System Working

1. Solar Panels: Absorbs energy from sun and turns it into DC current
2. Inverter: Converts DC current into AC current and controls electricity and production
3. Electric Panel: Distributes electricity to your home.
4. Utility Meter: Excess solar electricity will flow back to the grid through the meter
5. Utility Grid: Provides electricity when exceeded the amount produced by solar panels To design the PV System for rooftop, the step-by-step procedure are categorized as follows:

III. SITE DETAILS AND EVALUATION

The primary step for site evaluation is to roughly estimate the required amount of electricity for the whole building as it would give us the carpet area of the rooftop, to allow the designer to calculate rough number of the solar panels required on the building. Then the shadow is determined from the structures such as water tanks or such aesthetics provided for the building to prevent it from falling on the solar panels to maintain the efficiency in the power generation.

Then comes the proper placement of the solar inverter and distribution boxes, so that the DC run is not too long. Hence, an optimum design should be such that the DC cables carrying the output from the panels should not travel long towards a distribution box, but to be short in length and provide a scope for the minimal losses. It also involves the location of meter room for the local grid to provide the suitable spot to attach a net meter and also allows the designer to compute the AC run from the inverter. Normally a grid meter is placed at the ground level of a building structure, hence the site evaluation must incorporate the structure height also, in order to determine the length of cables required to travel from the rooftop to the meter room.

The following are the details of the K.K. Wagh Boys Hostel, Amrutdham, Nashik, India:

1. Longitude: 73.8198°
2. Latitude: 20.0122°
3. Altitude: 600m
4. Time Zone: 5.5

IV. PRELIMINARY DESIGN

After the evaluation of the site, a structure is made by the designer to virtually simulate the building and provide a rough placement of the predetermined solar panel, keeping in consideration the shadows and other such constraints. The types of constraints are such as solar irradiance and also some solar angular values obtained for the coordinate of the rooftop. Then the approximate number of solar panels which are to be mounted on the rooftop is estimated; which is designed to draw the maximum power to be extracted from the panels that would be mounted. This is the pre-sizing step of a project. Its aim is to quickly define the general features of a planned PV system. In this mode the system yield evaluations are performed very quickly in monthly values, using only a very few general system characteristics, without specifying specific system components. A rough cost estimate of the system is also available.

V. DESIGN OF SOLAR PV

Using detailed hourly simulation, performance analysis and PV-System Design are performed thoroughly. Meteorological hourly data and geographical situation are held essentially, they are organized in the framework of the project. Through different simulation runs which are known as variants, optimizations and parameter analysis can be performed.

References

[1] Technology Roadmap: Solar Photovoltaic Energy. International Energy Agency (IEA); 2014. Available: http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/technology-roadmap- solar-photovoltaic-energy—2014-edition.html [2] Energy Ef?ciency and Renewable Energy, Available: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id¼21282 [3] Kapoor Karan, Pandey Krishan K, Jain AK, Nandan Ashish. Evolution of solar energy in India: A review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2014; 40:475–87. [4] Sharma Naveen Kumar, Tiwari Prashant Kumar, Sood Yog Raj. Solar energy in India: Strategies, policies, perspectives and future potential. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2012;16(1):933–41. [5] \"Physical Progress (Achievements)\". This page keeps updating. Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. Retrieved 18 March 2023. [6] \"Monthly Renewable Energy Generation Report\". Retrieved 3 April 2023. [7] PVSyst Software (https://www.pvsyst.com)

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Swapnil Sunil Talele, Satya Prakash Parida, Gaurav S. Suryavanshi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.