MSc RES Solar Energy 1 EC 12/2022

PV Systems
Suggested answers to tutorial problems:
(note solutions depend on any assumptions made, which need to be clearly
stated)

Question 1
A telecommunication station requires stand-alone PV system.
Daily load = 75 Ah; DC system voltage = 48 V

75 Wp PV array; area 1 x 0.5 m giving peak current of 5 A with max voltage of 15 V

Batteries; 12 V, 100 Ah. Depth of discharge = 80 %, temp correction = 0.9

Find array size and number of batteries needed

Irradiation Data (kWh/m2/day):

Month Days 40o 45o 50o

Jan 31 3.2 3.3 3.3
Feb 28 3.8 3.8 3.8
Mar 31 4.4 4.4 4.3
Apr 30 5.1 5.0 4.9
May 31 5.3 5.2 5.0
June 30 5.5 5.3 5.1
July 31 5.8 5.7 5.5
Aug 31 6.1 6.0 5.8
Sept 30 5.6 5.6 5.5
Oct 31 4.8 4.8 4.8
Nov 30 3.9 4.0 4.0
Dec 31 2.9 3.0 3.0
Annual Mean 4.70 4.64 4.58

Possible solution:

Number of modules in series:

DC system voltage = 48 V
Blocking diode voltage = 1 V
Total DC voltage = 49 V
Assume working voltage/panel > 12 V, i.e. 12.5 V
No. modules = 49/12.5 = c. 4 modules
(or round up 49/15 to nearest whole no.)

Panel tilt; maximise collection in Dec; use 50o

Available daily irradiation (Dec) = 3.0 kWh/m2/day

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75 W (0.5 m2) gives 75 x 3.0/0.5 or 450Wh/m2

Need 48 V x 75 Ah = 3,600 Wh/day
Area = 3,600/450 = 8 m2 or 16 x 75 W panels

Storage required:
Estimate winter energy deficit = (energy demand – energy collected)

Winter deficit = 48,850 Wh

Energy/battery (corrected) = (100 Ah x 12)*0.9*0.8
= 864 Wh
Number batteries = 48,850/864 = 57
Use 60 to give 4 rows x 15 (4 x 12 = 48 V)

The peak output current at the working voltage is 5A, so per 1 kWh/m2, 5Ah is delivered.
Assuming a 5 % array loss, this gives an output of 0.95 x 5 or 4.75Ah. 4 strings (i.e. 4
rows of collectors) give 4 x 4.75 Ah or 19Ah. 3kWh/m2 is available in winter, so daily
output is 3 x 19 = 57Ah. Over a month, this equates to 57 x 31 = 1767 Ah or 1767 x 48
= 84,816 Wh.

Deficits occur in Dec, Jan and Feb:

Dec: Load = 31 x 3600 = 111,600 Wh; Array output = 84, 816 Wh ; deficit
= 111,600-84,816 = 26,784 Wh
Jan: Load = 31 x 3600 = 111,600 Wh; Array o/p = 3.3 x 19 x 48 x 31 = 93,298 Wh,
deficit = 111,600-93,298 = 18,302 Wh
Feb: Load = 28 x 3600 = 100,800 Wh; Array o/p = 3.8 x 19 x 48 x 28 = 97,037 Wh,
deficit = 100,800-97,037 = 3763 Wh

Total deficit = 26,786 + 18,302 + 3763 = 48,849 Wh

Base total battery capacity on the above deficit.

Actual battery output = max. battery output x discharge factor x temp factor

Actual battery capacity = 1200 x 0.8 x 0.9 = 864 Wh

No batteries = 48,849/864 = 57 batteries.
Make this 60 batteries to give 4 x 15 (need to provide 12 x 4 or 48 V).

Of course in practice, the engineer would need to examine the economics of providing a
large number of batteries versus installing a stand-by generator.

PV 2
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Question 2; solutions
(a) Performance Ratios (PR’s)

Autonomous house:

Theoretical system output = 2.16 x 804.1 = 1,736.9 kWh

Actual system output = 1,762 kWh

PR = 1,762/1736.9 = 1.014 or 101.4 %

PR too high (usually PR between c. 70 & 85 %), inappropriate to use irradiation

data for 1994 (evidently annual irradiation in 1995 was significantly higher than
in 1994)

University (Dublin):

Theoretical system output = 2.156 x 804.1 = 1,733.6 kWh

Actual system output = 1,200 kWh

PR = 1,200/1733.6 = 0.692 or 69.2 % (OK)

(b) The first PR value (101.4 %) is unrealistic. Assuming a max. value of (say) 85 %,
this would imply that the solar resource (output) for 1995 was c. 1762/(2.16 x
0.85) = 960 kWh/m2. This would indicate a PR value of 58 % for the second
system (which indicates that the system is not working very effectively).

It is not valid to use the 1994 data for calculating PR ratios in 1995.

The low PR value for the Waterford house could be due to one or more of the
following:

o Individual module degradation/failure

o Inverter problems
o Shading
o Poor/faulty connections
o Blown bypass/blocking diodes
o Orientation not optimized

PV 3
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Question 3; solutions

3 (a)(i)
(i) Output per m2 = 50 W x 3/0.5 = 300 Wh/m2

Need 240 x 6 = 1440 Wh/day

Area = 1440/300 = 4.8 m2

Number of panels = 4.8/0.4 = 9.6 or 10

Assume input to inverter = 75 % max. output of panels

= 0.75 x 10 x 50
= 375 W (= inverter rating)

(ii) Energy required per day = 1440 Wh

Battery capacity = 100 Ah x 12 * 0.8 * 0.9 = 864 Wh

Hence two batteries will be sufficient (for one days operation)

PV 4
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Question 3 solution:

Q. No.
3 (a)
(iii)

PV Array

Fuses
Charge
controller Isolator
Batteries
s

Isolator

DC
Inverter
AC
RC
D L N E
Distribution
board

PV 5
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Question 3 solutions:

Q. No.
3 (b)(i) Performance ratio = actual energy output/expected or
theoretical energy output
Theoretical energy output = Expected input solar energy per m2
x panel area x panel efficiency at standard test conditions
Good system; PR ≥0.80; poor system PR < 65 %

(ii) Larger cables

Clean panels regularly
Use high efficiency and correctly matched inverter
Ventilation of panel (cooling)
Vary angle of panel
Limit shading (reduce volume of surrounding vegetation)

(c ) Stand-alone & grid connected systems

Stand-alone; need batteries, back-up power supply required,

Export meter not required

Grid connected; storage of power (batteries) not required, maximise use

of roof area, export meter required, backup via grid

PV 6
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Question 4 solutions:

Q. No. Ex q Jan 2016

4 (a)
(i)
If storage requirements is to be minimised in winter, use 60 deg

Average irrad (60 deg) for Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb = 3.6 kWh/m2/yr

( (4.1 + 3.1 + 3.4 + 3.8)/4 = 3.6)

Panel, 80 Wp, 0.5 m2

Max energy required per day = 60 x 24 = 1440 Wh

Panel output = 80 x 2 x 3.6 x 0.95 = 547.2 Wh/m2

Area = 1400/547.2 = 2.56 c 2.6 m2

No panels = 2.6/0.5 = 5.2 increase to 6 panels

Use 2 rows x 3 columns
Min size = 2 m x 1.5 m (2 x 1 & 3 x 0.5)

(ii) Battery capacity:

1 battery, storage energy = 12 x 100 x 0.9 x 0.8 = 864 Wh

Required storage energy = 10 days x 60 x 24 = 14,400 Wh

No of batteries = 14400/864 = 16.66

Use 18 batteries; 2 x 9 (to give required voltage)

PV 7
Systems_tut2_ans_m.doc EC 12/2022