The sources of energy that are inexhaustible as they are
replaced by nature and can be replenished in short time
period are known as renewable energy resources.
Sunlight, wind, biomass, water, geothermal, and so
on, which can be harnessed continuously, are termed as
renewable energy sources.
Solar Energy
The earth is blessed with enormous amount of solar energy that it
receives every morning with the rise of the sun.
The Sun is an in-exhaustive, reliable & non-polluting source of
power. Solar energy experienced by us as heat and light, can be
used through two routes:
• First, the thermal route uses the heat for water heating, cooking,
drying, water purification, power generation, and other
applications.
• Second, the photovoltaic route converts the solar energy into
electricity, which can then be used for a number of purposes such
as lighting, pumping, communication, and power supply in un-
electrified areas.
How To Obtain Solar Energy
Solar energy is obtained through the use of Solar cells.
The Solar cells convert sunlight into electrical energy, based
on the principle of photovoltaic effect.
The electricity so obtained can directly be used to charge
the batteries used for various appliances.
Solar energy has a wide range of applications in Indian
Railways especially at remote or hilly places where grid
supply is not available round the clock or not available at
all.
The solar energy can be well utilized for lighting purpose.
Solar powered outdoor lighting system is ideal for lighting
the area in remote locations where the electricity is
unavailable or erratic.
It can also be used to illuminate the surroundings of the
buildings for security & safety.
RDSO has issued specification no. RDSO/PE/SPEC/0093-
2008 (Rev.0), Amend. 3 for “Stand alone solar photovoltaic
LED based street lighting system”.
Fuel source for solar panel is direct and endless so no
external fuels required.
Sunlight - free of cost.
Long life of solar modules, fast response and high
reliability.
Can operate under high temperature and in open.
Inherently short circuit protected and safe under any load
condition.
Pollution free.
Minimum maintenance
Independent working
Operation is simple and no electrochemical reaction and no
liquid medium.
Noise-free as there are no moving parts.
No AC to DC conversion losses as DC is produced directly.
No transmission losses as installed in the vicinity of the load.
Suitable for remote, isolated and hilly places.
Suitable for moving loads/objects.
Since it is in modular form, provision of future expansion of
capacity is available.
It can generate powers from milli-watts to several mega
watts.
It can be used almost everywhere from small electronic
device to large scale MW power generation station.
It can be installed and mounted easily with minimum cost.
Initial cost is high.
Dependent on sunlight.
Additional cost for storage battery.
Climatic condition, location, latitude, longitude, altitude, tilt
angle, ageing, dent, bird dropping, etc. affect the output.
It has no self-storage capacity.
Manufacturing is very complicated process.
To install solar panel large area is required.
The following definitions are very important in
designing a solar photo voltaic system.
Solar Cell
The basic photovoltaic device, which generates electricity
when exposed to sunlight, shall be called a “Solar Cell”.
Solar Module
The smallest complete environmentally protected assembly
of interconnected solar cells shall be called “Module”.
Solar Panel
A group of modules fastened together, pre-assembled and
interconnected, designed to serve as an installable unit in
an Array shall be called “Panel”.
Solar Array
A mechanically integrated assembly of modules or panels
together with support structure, but exclusive of
foundation, tracking, thermal control and other
components, as required to form a dc power producing
unit shall be called an “Array”.
Solar Irradiation
On any given day the solar radiation varies continuously
from sunrise to sunset and depends on cloud cover, sun
position and content and turbidity of the atmosphere.
The maximum irradiance is available at solar noon which
is defined as the midpoint, in time, between sunrise and
sunset. The total solar radiant power incident upon unit
area of an inclined surface (Watt/m²) is called total solar
irradiance.
Insolation
The actual amount of sunlight falling on a specific
geographical location is known as insolation — or
"incident solar radiation."
Insolation differs from irradiance because of the inclusion
of time. Insolation is the amount of solar energy received
on a given area over time measured in kilowatt-hours per
square meter (kW-hrs/m2) - this value is equivalent to
"peak sun hours".
Peak Sun Hours
Peak sun hours is defined as the equivalent number of
hours per day, with solar irradiance equaling 1,000 W/m2,
that gives the same energy received from sunrise to sunset.
Peak sun hours is of significance because PV panel power
output is rated with a radiation level of 1,000W/m2.
Many tables of solar data are often presented as an average
daily value of peak sun hours (kW-hrs/m2) for each month.
Conversion Efficiency
The ratio of the maximum power to the product of area
and irradiance expressed as a percentage.
ή = Maximum power x 100%
Area x irradiance
Balance of System’ (BoS)
In an SPV system, the components other than the PV
module are collectively known as ‘balance of system’
(BoS), which includes batteries for storage of electricity,
electronic charge controller, inverter, etc.
Light Emitting Diode (LED)
Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a device which emits light
when an electric current passes through it.
Electricity can be generated directly from sunlight, by a process
called photovoltaic effect, which is defined as the generation of
an electromotive force as a result of the absorption of ionizing
radiation.
The photo voltaic effect can be
observed in almost any junction of
material that have different
electrical characteristics, but the
best performance to date has been
from solar cells made of Silicon
The basic building block of a photovoltaic system is the
Solar Cell, a semiconductor device having a simple p-n
junction and which when exposed to sunlight produces
DC electricity.
The solar cell is made up of “Semi-Conductor”
materials that are processed to make the device
photovoltaic.
The solar cell is made of single crystal silicon, polycrystalline
and amorphous Silicon with an area of a few sq. centimeters
to 200 sq. centimeters and even more.
A thin p type silicon wafer is taken through phosphorus
diffusion process and by screen-printing technology
electrodes are made.
The P-N junction of the solar cell gives rise to diode
characteristics.
Hence a solar cell is a PN junction device on which front
and back electrical contacts are screen-printed.
Sketch showing front view
of typical
Pseudo square solar cell
Sketch showing rear view
of typical
Pseudo square solar cell
The side, which has negative polarity, is taken as front side
and that which has positive polarity is taken as backside.
The front or Negative side is exposed to sunlight for
conduction to take place.
Two Tinned copper strips work as terminal leads for
interconnection to other cells.
For collection of charge from the cell and conduction to
terminal leads on negative side, Silver Oxide lines are screen
printed horizontally and these are joined to terminal leads at
close spacing.
The back or Positive side is not exposed to sunlight;
hence Aluminium is coated on whole surface for better
conductivity. Aluminium is coated instead of Silver Oxide
as latter is expensive hence not economical.
Solar Cell:
Actual view
The operation of solar cells involves these major
processes:
i) Absorption of sunlight into semiconductor materials
ii) Generation of charge carriers.
iii) Separation of +ve & -ve charges to different regions of
the cell to produce e.m.f.
The power generated by a single cell is small and
therefore several cells are interconnected in
series/parallel combination to get the required voltage
and current.
When a number of solar cells are connected in series to
get a specific voltage the unit so formed is called as
Solar Module.
Charging batteries is the primary use of SPV module.
Therefore normally 36 cells are joined in series to form
a standard module, which is capable of charging 12
volts battery.
A terminal box is provided on the backside of the module
for external connections.
A Bypass diode is connected across +ve and –ve in the
terminal box. Cathode of the diode will be at +ve terminal
and Anode will be at –ve terminal of the module.
This diode protects the module cells from overheating due
to shadowing of the module or any cell breakage.
Generally the rating of bypass diode is 1.52 times of the
maximum current of module. The Repetitive Reverse Peak
Voltage Vrrm of the diode should be double the string open
voltage.
Standard Capacity/Ratings of SPV
The wattage output of a PV module is rated in terms of
wattpeak (Wp) units.
The peak watt output power from a module is defined as
the maximum power output that the module could deliver
under standard test conditions (STC).
The voltage output of a PV module depends on the
number of solar cells connected in series inside the
module.
In India, a crystalline silicon module generally contains
36 solar cells connected in series. The module provides a
usable direct current (DC) voltage of about 16.5 V, which
is normally used to charge a 12-V battery.
Solar Module
A Solar panel consists of a number of solar modules,
which are connected in series and parallel configuration to
provide specific voltage and current to charge a battery.
A diode is connected on the +ve terminal of such string in
forward bias. This is called Blocking diode. This diode is
provided so that in daytime current can flow from module
to battery, but at night or in cloudy day current should not
flow back from battery to module or from one string to
another string.
Structure of a Solar Panel
Solar panels are classified on the basis of the
following points :
1) Crystalline Silicon (Mono/Poly)
2) Different Size or Area of cells
3) Type of cells & nos. (Rectangular/Circular/Square/
Pseudo-square/Semi-circular etc.)
4) Power (High/Mid/Low range)
Charge controller is the interface between solar
panel/array and battery bank.
It protects the battery from overcharging and moderate
charging at finishing end of charge of battery bank.
It also indicates the charging status of batteries like
battery undercharged, overcharged or deep discharged
through LEDs indications.
Some switches and MCBs are also provided for manual or
accidental cut-off of charging.
The technology adopted nowadays for manufacturing
solar charge controller is MOSFET/IGBT technology.
First the controller is connected to battery bank and then it
is connected to solar array/solar module for sensing the
voltage from the module.
When the system is put into operation, the SPV modules
start charging the battery bank.
Care should be taken that in no case the battery
connections are removed from the controller terminals
when the system is in operation, otherwise SPV voltage
may damage the Charge controller, since the solar voltage
is always higher than the battery voltage.
While mounting the solar modules, following points
should be considered for getting maximum output from
the solar modules:
• Modules should be oriented south facing to receive
maximum sunlight.
• The Modules produce more power at low temperature
and full sun.
The Solar panels are generally installed in such a way that
they can receive maximum direct sunlight without shade from
any building/trees nearby falling on them at any part of the
day.
The following guidelines are to be kept in mind while
installing solar panels:
1. Solar panels should be installed South facing in the
Northern hemisphere and North facing in the Southern
hemisphere. Since India is in the Northern hemisphere,
Solar panels will be installed always- South facing in
our country.
2. The rule of thumb for fixed (never adjusted) is to set
them pointing south at an angle = latitude. If it is to
be adjusted twice in a year, winter is latitude + 15 deg
and summer is latitude - 15 deg.
For the angle for "now", point them so that a stick
perpendicular to the panel casts no shadow at solar noon
(when the sun is at it's peak -- close to noon standard time).
The directions North- South may be found with the help of
Magnetic Compass. The picture given in figure illustrates
this.
North
West
East
South
A Solar Panel installation
3. Any obstruction (such as tree or building) should be avoided in
East, West or South of the place of installation. The following
is the criteria:
• East or West: The distance between solar panel and
obstruction should be more than double the height of
obstruction.
• South: The distance should be more than half the height of
obstruction.
4. The support for the Solar panel need to be a robust one and
should not be accessible to general public. It should be so
installed that rainwater, bird dropping, leaves etc. do not
accumulate and the top surface can be cleaned easily.
Solar powered outdoor lighting system is ideal for
lighting the area in remote locations where the electricity
is unavailable or erratic.
It can also be used to illuminate the surroundings of the
buildings for security & safety.
The street light system as per RDSO specification no.
“RDSO/PE/SPEC/0093-2008 (Rev.0), Amend. 3-Sept-
2010” is based on LED technology which consumes
very low power.
Stand Alone LED
Solar Light
This lighting consists of the following components:
SPV Module to convert solar radiation directly into
electricity.
6 m height MS pole painted with corrosion resistant paint
with necessary accessories.
Battery bank to store the electrical energy generated by
SPV panel during day time.
Charge controller to maintain the battery to the highest possible
State of Charge (SOC) while protecting the battery from deep
discharge (by the loads) or extended overcharge (by the PV
array).
Blocking diode, preferably a Schottky diode, connected in
series with solar cells and storage battery to keep the battery
from discharging through the cell when there is no output or
low output from the solar cell, if such diode is not provided
with the module itself.
15 W, 12 V DC LED based luminaire as a light source.
Interconnecting wires/cables & hardware.
Solar
Module Charge Controller Battery Bank
Block diagram of Solar light System LED based
Luminaire
The system is designed to have 4 days autonomy (i.e.
system will run for 4 consecutive days without charging
from the panel).
The street light pole should be mounted clear of
vegetation, trees & structure so as to assure that they are
free of shadow throughout day light hours during each
season of the year.
The entire system is designed and built to withstand the
extreme environmental conditions prevailing at site.
All wiring, enclosures and fixtures that are mounted
outdoor are resistant to high humidity conditions,
corrosion, insect and dust intrusion.
The solar module consists of the following four main
components:
→ An assembly of suitable inter-connected crystalline
silicon solar cells.
→ The solar cells are provided with surface anti-reflective
coating to help to absorb more light in all weather
conditions.
→ Toughened, high transmissivity glass in front side of the
module for improved visibility & protection against
environmental hazards, such as, rain, hail & storm and
weather proof TEDLAR/POLYSTER back sheet.
→ The transparency of toughened glass used is > 91%,
when measured in actual sunlight by placing the
glass plate perpendicular to the sun’s rays through
an air mass of 1.5.
→ The complete solar module is provided with water-
proof sealing in an anodized aluminium frame.
→ A bird spike is provided at the highest point of the
array/module structure to avoid bird sitting on the
solar module.
Solar Module
Top Side
The output terminals of the module are provided on the
back of the solar PV module.
Terminal block is made of Nylon-6 or equivalent material
with weather proof design (IP-65) and have a provision for
opening for replacing the cables
Solar Module
Back Side
All metal equipment cases and frames in the system
should be well grounded.
The Sun is not always available and it is not regular.
However, lights are to be fed daily. Therefore power
should be stored in a battery bank.
→ The storage battery bank have enough capacity to keep the
system going on without break down when the weather is
not favorable for generation of electricity due to cloudy
days and rains.
→ LMLA or VRLA batteries are used for this purpose.
LMLA batteries are provided with micro porous vent
plugs & electrolyte level indicator.
→ Suitable battery Box made of Plastic OR M.S fabricated is
provided to house the battery.
Battery Box
Charge Controller suitable for both tubular LMLA as
well as VRLA battery is used. This charge controller uses
PWM charging technology.
• When battery discharges more at the end of autonomy
days, in such a situation charge controller automatically
boost charge the battery.
• On availability of sun shine (after autonomy days), the
night load energy is delivered by the battery through the
solar charge controller.
System Rating:
o Normal system voltage (rated voltage):12Vdc.
o System load:15W LED based luminaire working
for 12hrs/day. (Dusk-to-Dawn)
o Battery Autonomy – 4 days
o Solar Insolation - 5 peak sun hours/day
SPV Module
o The solar modules are designed to withstand the
following environmental conditions normally
encountered at site –
o Extreme temperature ranging from -10 degree C to +85
degree C.
o Wind load – 200 km/h.
o Maximum mean hourly rainfall of 40 mm.
SPV Module
o The solar modules are designed to withstand the
following environmental conditions normally
encountered at site –
o Extreme temperature ranging from -10 degree C to +85
degree C.
o Wind load – 200 km/h.
o Maximum mean hourly rainfall of 40 mm.
o Humidity level upto 95%.
o The conversion efficiency of Solar PV Cells used in
the module is more than 15%.
o The minimum module rating per LED based street
light system is 80Wp (Watt peak)
Battery Bank
o LMLA or VRLA battery which are specially designed to
be charged & discharged frequently and can handle
heavy discharges time after time with minimum charging
efficiency of 90%.
o The minimum capacity of the battery bank shall be
12V/75 Ah @ C10.
Charge Controller
o Charge controller has automatic dusk-dawn circuit for
switching on/off the street light without manual intervention.
o It is capable of handling 120% of the module’s rated current
for one hour duration.
o The controller displays the battery status as follows using 3
LEDs : -
• Red LED - Low battery
• Green LED - Battery on charge
• Yellow LED - Battery fully charged.
LED Lamp & fixtures
o Rated Power: 15 W / fixture
o Light intensity : 1500 Lumens (typical)
o LED type – White High Powered LED’s 5500-6500 K
temperature
o LED fixing arrangement - Mounted on metal core PCB
fixed to aluminum heat sink.
o Illumination: More than 15 Lux at 1 m from the ground (5
m from the Light source).
o LED Fixture: ABS plastic/Aluminum fixture with acrylic
cover with IP 55 protection
MAINTENANCE
Solar panels require virtually no maintenance. However the
associated equipment such as batteries and charge controller
are to be maintained in good condition.
Once in a month the surface of the panels should be
wiped clean with wet rag to remove dust, fallen leaves,
bird dropping etc. Only water to be used for cleaning
and no other cleaning agent.
Once in a month the surface of the LED light fitting
should be wiped clean with wet rag to remove dust etc.
General periodical maintenance of lead acid battery
should be carried out in usual manner and as per
maintenance instructions of battery manufacturer.
Specially topping up of battery with distilled water as
per requirement is essential.
For efficient working of SPV system certain
precautions are to be observed as given below:
Please ensure that:
All connections are properly made tight and neat using the
crimped Red (for +ve) and Black (for –ve) wires supplied
by the manufacturer in order to avoid reverse connection.
The proper rating of the fuse in the charge controller is
provided.
The SPV panel is installed facing SOUTH and with the
correct ‘Angle of tilt’ to get direct sunlight throughout the
day.
There is no shadow on any part of the SPV panel at any
time of the day, to get maximum power.
FIRST the battery, then SPV panel and then load (light
fitting) is connected to charge controller and for
disconnection reverse sequence is adopted.
Battery terminals are never to be shorted even
momentarily as shorting will result in HEAVY SPARK
AND FIRE. (To avoid the same connect the cable at
charge controller end ‘First’ and then battery end.)
Never connect the load (light fitting) directly to the SPV
panel as it may give higher/lower voltage than required
by the load equipment and hence the equipment may be
DAMAGED permanently.
Blocking diode is provided at the array output for
protection against reverse polarity.
It is NOT HEAT BUT LIGHT that produces energy. So
let direct sunlight to fall on the module surface without
shades.