Showing posts with label solar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solar. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Solar System Installation FAQs

 What is the minimum tools Ill need?
The primary elements required to provide electricity from the solar are : One or more Solar Panels, a Charger Controller, a Power Inverter, and of course, Batteries.
Take a have a look at a easy animation of the entirese components working collectively. This provides you with an overview of the minimum gear wanted for a solar energyed alternative vitality device.
Solar Panels
How many Solar Panels will I need? This will depend on the quantity of power in watts that you simplyr appliances use.
How do I mount my Solar Panels? The most straightforward mount is a ground primarily based body angled towards the solar. A step up is a raised mount that has an adjustable perspective to permit for the altering perspective of the sun in the sky thru-out the year. The most productive (and most expensive) is a tracking mount that practices the sun in its arc across the sky on a day with the aid of day basis.
How a lot do Solar Panels value & what is their predicted LifeSpan? Depending on dimension, predict to pay between $4.00 and $5.00 per watt. A typical a hundred watt sun panel will cost about $400 to $450. The just right new is they are moderately durable & which you could expect 25 12 monthss or extra of carrier.
Is it authentic that a Solar Panel wont produce as a lot power because it took to manufacture it? Many research had been performed on this subject and the answer is NO. It is an entire delusion that a sun panel won't ever produce as so much vitality over its helpful life to equal the vitality that it took to fabricate it. This query may have had some truth to it three0 12 monthss in the past, but not nowadays. Thats simply the electrical company speaking...
Charge Controllers
Why do I desire a Charge Controller? A charge controller regulates the charge on the batteries, giving full energy when vital and decreasing the charge as the batteries require much less. This is vital for primarytaining the health of the batteries.
What is a PWM cost managementler? PWM stands for Pulse Width Modulation and is basically a 3 stage charging cycle sort managementler. Most respectable cost controllers use this method.
What is a MPPT charge managementler? MPPT stands for Maximum Power Point Tracking. This is a newer type controller that not simplest provides multi-stage charging, nevertheless it also delivers more power to the batteries through matching the battery voltage to the solar panel voltage. This makes them more efficient especially in various stages of solarshine. They additionally cost a little bit extra.
Power Inverters
Do I want a Power Inverter? Actually, no. This is the handiest component of a sunlight power system that's no longer absolutely required. However, in case you dont use one, you will now not have a hundred and twenty volts AC and will have use battery energy by myself. This might be perfect in a small RV or cabin, however most people want to use normal AC appliances.
Whats the variation between 12, 24, and forty eight volt inverters? This refers back to the enter voltage from the battery financial institution. The primary consideration is that at higher voltages the current is less as a technique to use smaller wires between your sunlight panel array and your battery bank. Of direction, when you decide on a gadget voltage, the Solar Panels, Inverter, and Battery Bank all need to use the identical voltage.
What is a Grid Tie inverter? If you're linked to standard Utility company power and simply want to add some Free Sun Power electricity to reduce your electrical bill and you don't want a impartial system, it's imaginable that a Grid Tie inverter will fit your needs. With a Grid Tie inverter, whatever electricality that your sun panels produce will reduce the amount provided by way of the energy firm, in effect lowering your invoice. For this setup a huge battery financial institution to store the facility for later use is not needed. Unless you've gotten time-honored energy company outages, you're going to now not desire any batteries at all.
Whats the adaptation between a proper sine wave inverter and a modified sine wave inverter? The AC sine wave of a real sine wave inverter is only as excellent as the utility firms AC energy. A modified sine wave inverter shouldn't be as close, but remains to be fairly enough normally. Certain motor control circuits dont just like the modified wave. Modified sine wave inverters are additionally a lot cheaper.
Storage Batteries
What is supposed with the help of Flooded batteries? Flooded batteries have those little caps on high and you must add water (distilled) to them every now and then as the charging process boils off some of the water as hydrogen fuel. They will have to be installed in vented bins and not used indoors or close to spark or flame.
What is a sealed battery? Not to be at a loss for phrases with repairs free, a sealed battery has no carrier caps and water isn't introduced. They also do no longer out gasoline all the means in which via the charging course of and are secure to use indoors. This regularly implies that the temperature of the battery shall be more constant which translates into more efficient operation.
Should I use Flooded or Sealed batteries? While you can securely use sealed types indoors, they're dearer than flooded sorts. So, cost factors and the place you plan to locate the batteries are the principle figuring out factors.
AC Generators
Why must I even have a Generator if I have Solar Panels? When provideing your individual power, its a excellent suggestion to have back-up power for 2 causes. Number one is that in the winter (depending for your location) you are going to ceaselessly have too many days of low sunshine to supply your entire electrical desires from the solar panels by myself. Reason quantity 2 is that you will most doubtless have some gear that uses great amounts of energy however is only needed one of the time. (say filling a water tank with a big pump)
How lengthy does the generator must run? During dangerous weather, you will must supply the majority of your battery charging with the generator. For a medium measurementd machine, without a solarshine in any respect, an hour per day will frequently present sufficient of a cost for the batteries. A massive device may just require up to 2 hours. If youre working the generator for more than 2 hours per day, you most certainly have dimensiond your battery financial institution too small.
What size Generator will have to I use & what do they cost? Generally conversing, except for extraordinarily small or very massive programs, a 5000 watt generator should do effectively. These differ in worth, but a primary edition will run around $500 to $700.
What is the minimal gear Ill need?
The fundamental parts required to produce electricity from the solar are : One or more Solar Panels, a Charger Controller, a Power Inverter, and of course, Batteries.
Take a take a glance at a simple animation of all these elements working together. This gives you an outline of the minimum tools wanted for a sunlight powered alternative power gadget.
Correct Cables & Wire sizes
Why is wire size so necessary? In order to acquire maximum energy switch out of your solar panels, the wires operating to your equipment heart should be sufficiently big too raise the present. Also, if they are too small, it is that which you can imagine they might overheat & even trap hearth. Just like water in a pipe, if the pipe is simply too small, then not enough water can go through it. And, when you attempt to drive the water via with extra stress, the pipe can begin leaking from the excess pressure identical to the wire might begin to overheat with too much current passing thru it.
What about the the rest of the system? The wires between the Charge Controller and the Batteries may also be the identical dimension as the wires from the Solar Panels. However, all of the batteries and the inverter have to be linked with very huge cables. These cables will on a standard basis be 2/0 or 4/0 gauge cables like the huge battery cables in automotives. The measurement of your battery bank and that inverter will resolve the minimal measurement and will have to be coated in detail in the instructions that come with your inverter.
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Portable Solar Lantern

This portable solar lantern circuit uses 6 volt/5 watt solar panels are now widely available. With the help of such a photo-voltaic panel we can construct an economical, simple but efficient and truly portable solar lantern unit. Next important component required is a high power (1watt) white LED module.

When solar panel is well exposed to sunlight, about 9 volt dc available from the panel can be used to recharge a 4.8 volt /600 mAh rated Ni-Cd batterypack. Here red LED (D2) functions as a charging process indicator with the help of resistor R1. Resistor R2 regulates the charging current flow to near 150mA.

Solar Lantern Circuit Schematic
Circuit Project: Portable Solar Lantern

Assuming a 4-5 hour sunlit day, the solar panel (150mA current set by the charge controller resistor R2) will pump about 600 – 750 mAh into the battery pack. When power switch S1 is turned on, dc supply from the Ni-Cd battery pack is extended to the white LED (D3). Resistor R3 determines the LED current. Capacitor C1 works as a buffer.

Note: After construction, slightly change the values of R1,R2 and R3 up/down by trial&error method, if necessary.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Solar Inverter Charger Circuit for Science Project

The following article explains a simple solar inverter circuit consisting of its own battery charger and an automatic changeover relay system for switching the battery to the inverter in the absence of solar energy. The circuit was requested by Ms. Swati Ojha.

The design:

The circuit mainly consists of two stages viz: the inverter, and the automatic relay changeover.

During day time for so long the sun light remains reasonably strong, the panel voltage is used for charging the battery and also for powering the inverter via the relay changeover contacts.

The automatic changeover circuit preset is set such that the associated relay trips OFF when the panel voltage falls below 13 volts.

The above action disconnects the solar panel from the inverter and connects the charged battery with the inverter so that the output loads continue to run using the battery power.



Circuit Description:

Resistors R1, R2, R3, R4 along with T1, T2 and the transformer forms the inverter section. 12 volts applied across the center tap and the ground starts the inverter immediately, however here we do not connect the battery directly at these points, rather through a relay changeover stage.

The transistor T3 with the associated components and the relay forms the relay change over stage  The LDR is  kept outside the house or at a position where it can sense the day light.

 The P1 preset is adjusted such that T3 just stops conducting and cuts off the relay in case the ambient light falls below a certain level, or simply when the voltage goes below 13 volts. This obviously happens when the sun light becomes too weak and is no longer able to sustain the specified voltage levels.

However as long as sun light remains bright, the relay stays triggered, connecting the solar panel voltage directly to the inverter (transformer center tap) via the N/O contacts. Thus the inverter becomes usable through the solar panel during day time.

The solar panel is also simultaneously used for charging the battery via D2 during day time so that it charges up fully by the time it gets dusk.

The solar panel is selected such that it never generates more than 15 volts even at peak sun light levels.

The maximum power from this inverter will not be more than 60 watts.


A MOSFET  based solar inverter can be witnessed HERE


Parts List for the proposed solar inverter with charger circuit intended for science projects.

R1,R2 = 100 OHMS, 5 WATTS

R3, R4 = 15 OHMS, 5 WATTS

T1, T2 = 2N3055, MOUNTED ON SUITABLE HEATSINK

TRANSFORMER = 9-0-9V, 3 TO 10 AMPS

R5 = 10K

R6 = 0.1 OHMS 1 WATT

P1 = 100K PRESET LINEAR

D1, D2 = 6A4

D3 = 1N4148

T3 = BC547

C1 = 100uF/25V

RELAY = 9V, SPDT

LDR = ANY STANDARD TYPE

SOLAR PANEL = 17 VOLTS OPEN CIRCUIT, 5 AMPS SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENT.


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