SOLA3540 & SOLA9001 Applied Photovoltaics
Tutorial 2b
Question 1
A solar array is tilted at an angle of 40° towards the Equator. In this plane, the insolation it receives is
6.4 kWh/m2/day on average for the month of May. The array consists of 8 modules: 4 parallel strings
with 2 modules in each string. The panel parameters at STC and temperature coefficients are given in
the table below.
VOC ISC VMP IMP Temp coeff Temp coeff Temp coeff
(V) (A) (V) (A) VOC (mV/°C) ISC (%/°C) PMP (%/°C)
22.1 4.8 17.6 4.55 -80 +0.065 -0.5
(a) Calculate the maximum power output and fill factor of one module at STC.
In the field, when illuminated by solar radiation of intensity 1000W/m2, the solar cells reach a
constant temperature of 47 °C.
(b) Calculate the panel VOC, ISC, PMP and FF at 47 °C, under 1000W/m2 radiation.
(c) Calculate the number of Peak Sun Hours (PSH) this array will receive for the month of May.
(d) Sketch a wiring diagram for the array and calculate the array VOC, ISC and PMP at 47 °C, under
1000W/m2 radiation.
(e) While charging the battery bank, assume that the system, on average, is operated at 14V per
12V battery, at an average temperature of 47 °C, with a current that is 97% of ISC (this is the
typical mode of operation of a system that uses a standard switched charge regulator with no
maximum power point tracker). Assuming the regulator is 100% efficient, calculate the Ah and
kWh delivered to the battery during the month of May.
Question 2
A stand alone, 12V PV system has been installed at a remote household in NSW. The typical load in
the house is as follows:
Appliance Power (Watts) Amps Usage (hours/day)
Fridge 150 12.5 8
Laptop 36 3 10
CFL Lights x 10 12 1 4
TV 150 12.5 4
Water Pump 750 62.5 0.5
(a) Assuming the array is made up of the same panels as the array in question 1, but the system is
a 12V system, redraw the wiring diagram for the array.
(b) If the operating current is 97% of ISC, what will be the operating current when charging a
battery with radiation intensity of 1kW/m2 if the panels are at 47°C?
(c) If the maximum battery DOD is 50% and the system requires a 5 day storage, estimate the
battery capacity (in Ah) required to meet the load.
(d) At midnight of Day 1, the battery bank has 90% SOC. For the array in Question 1, with a
standard switched regulator, after a typical May day, what will be the battery SOC at midnight
of Day 2? Assume the regulator is 100% efficient and there are no self-discharge or efficiency
losses in the battery.
(e) Given that the system is required to provide 5 days of autonomy, when the system is being
used as in (d), is it being used well or badly? Justify your answer.
Question 3
A photovoltaic system is designed to meet worst month conditions as follows:
• DC load of 1000Wh/day
• Average 2.7 PSH/day of solar isolation over a 30 day month
• The array will be operated at NOCT = 40 °C and has losses due to soiling of 4%
• A maximum power-point tracking regulator with efficiency of 95%
• Battery energy efficiency = 85% (including allowance for self-discharge)
• Assume batteries operate at 12V
The module used in the array is has the following characteristics:
VOC (STC) ISC (STC) VMP (STC) IMP (STC) Temp coeff Temp coeff Temp coeff
(V) (A) (V) (A) VOC (mV/°C) ISC (%/°C) PMP (%/°C)
23 4 18 3.5 -80 +0.065 -0.5
(a) Draw a block diagram showing the layout of the system, including the array, regulator, battery
and load. Label the regulator and battery with their efficiencies.
(b) Ignoring component efficiencies, what battery capacity is required to supply the load, allowing
for 5 days of storage? If the regulator allows battery DOD of 60%, what size battery bank in
Ah is required?
(c) Calculate the PMP of a single module at NOCT conditions and the average daily energy output
of the module.
(d) Assuming all power flows through the battery (since the load operates only at night), and
considering all component efficiencies; calculate the number of modules required to maintain
battery SOC on a typical day in this month.
(e) Design the layout of the array and draw a schematic diagram.
Question 4
Given the following information:
Battery A B C D E
Cell Voltage (V) 1.2 1.2 2 3.6 1.4
$/kWh (approx) 11.00 28.00 1.50 500.00 30
Ah/kg 33-50 67-75 15-20 28-44 7-14
Lifetime (cycles) 1500 500 1000 500 10000
Maintenance Every 1-2 Every 3 Every 6 months Every 6 Every 6-12
months months months months
Durability Very High High Medium-High Low Very high
(unbreakable)
Suitable for high yes yes Yes no yes
current?
(a) Which batteries from A-E would be most useful for the following systems? Give reasons for
your answers in dot points. (e.g. – low cost). You may need to do some simple calculations.
A remote telecommunications system
A solar-electric car, designed for long distance racing.
A remote home
A portable medical defibrillator (it re-starts hearts, and requires approximately 10A of current
for a single use).
Power tools.
(b) Which types of batteries correspond to the letters A-E?
You will need more information than given in the text book. The following resources may be useful:
- Wikipedia and associated references
- http://www.vrbpower.com/technology/faqs.html - Vanadium Redox FAQ page
- http://batteryuniversity.com
Question 5
The UNSW Solar Racing Team’s solar car, Sunswift, races in the World Solar Challenge. To win,
they need to travel 3000km in 4 days, driving 8 hours each day. The car has an array size of 11m2,
with 21% efficient cells. The battery has a capacity of 50Ah, and operates at 150 Volts. You may
assume that the average solar radiation during the race is 0.85 kW/m2, and that there are 8 PSH each
day.
(a) Find the energy available for the car to use at the start of each day, assuming that the battery
pack has a maximum DOD of 80% and can be fully depleted at the end of the race.
(b) Calculate the instantaneous power available to the car. From the following graph, what is the
average speed the car can travel?
Power used as a function of speed for the Sunswift solar car
3500
3000
2500
Power (Watts)
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Speed (km/h)
(c) In reality, the car is capable of closer to 70 km/h on average under these conditions. What are
the practical problems with this method of estimation? What would be a better method?
(d) Given the following information, how should the battery cells be connected to give the
required battery voltage?
• Each cell operates at a voltage of 3V.
• The battery pack is made up of 2 batteries in series, containing 100 cells each
• The maximum allowable voltage per string of cells is 15V
(e) If the PV modules each contain 20 solar cells, the cell parameters are: VOC = 0.680V and JSC =
41mA/cm2, and the array contains approximately 1000 cells, how would you need to wire the
array to best match the battery voltage? You may assume that VMP = 85% of VOC
Case Study: Stand Alone PV System Design
Use the simple method developed by Telstra to design a stand-alone PV system (the Telstra method is
outlined in Appendix G of the text book ‘Applied Photovoltaics’).
The system is to be designed to operate at 24V and cover the following electrical load in a house
which is located at latitude 19.0°S, longitude 32.7°E. The load assessment, average daily insolation
and average ambient temperature for each month are shown in the table below:
Load Assessment
Loads Quantity Watts Hrs/day
29 Inch Colour TV 1 120 4
Multichoice Decoder 1 15 4
Fluorescent Lamp 15 W 2 30 4
Average Daily Insolation and Ambient Temperature for each Month
Month Daily Solar Insolation Ambient
(kWh/m2) Temperature
(°C)
January 6.06 24.5
February 5.88 23.8
March 5.69 23.1
April 5.47 21.8
May 5.00 20.0
June 4.53 18.2
July 4.73 18.6
August 5.59 21.9
September 6.38 26.1
October 6.51 27.4
November 6.25 26.8
December 5.84 24.6
Annual 5.66 23.0
The characteristics of 200W PV Module used in this design are as follows:
Model: Sharp ND 200 U1
PV Module lifetime 25 Years
No of cells and connections 60 in series
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc) 35.5 V
Max Power Voltage (Vpm) 28.5 V
Short Circuit current (Isc) 7.82 Amps
Maximum Power Current (Ipm) 7.02 Amps
Max Power (Pm) 200 W
Module Efficiency 12.3%
Short Answer Questions:
Question S1
(a) Draw a schematic of a stand-alone photovoltaic system, labelling each component.
(b) Briefly describe the function of each component.
(c) What are some of the most common problems that occur with each system component?
(d) Why are photovoltaic modules open circuit voltages so far in excess of nominal battery
operating voltages used in PV stand-alone systems?
Question S2
(a) What factors affect the choice of battery in a stand-alone PV system?
(b) What are the chemical processes involved in he operation of a lead-acid battery?
(c) Discuss the relative merits of lead-acid and NiCd batteries for use on stand-alone PV systems.
(d) Define “depth of discharge” and “state of charge” as used in relation to batteries.
(e) Define three types of efficiency measures used for batteries.
Question S3
(a) In stand-alone PV system design, what is system availability and how does it impact system
design and cost?
(b) What is the difference between a shunt and series regulator. Use a diagram to answer.
(c) Explain the concept of “self-regulation” as applied to battery charging with solar cells.
(d) What problems may result from a system using self-regulation?
(e) In a stand-alone photovoltaic system, explain what problems may result from the use of a
regulator that short circuits the modules. What relevance do the system voltage and current
have?
