Energy calculation for the design and implementation of a solar system

Abstract

The project focused on one of the factors that affect the world at large which is the energy crisis. It is very clear that Grid power can no longer sustain the world on its own as fossil fuels are disbursed at a very high rate. This project focuses more on the solar energy as a way of supplementing the already existing grid power. Energy from the sunlight is harnessed using photovoltaic cells/ panels which work with charge controllers to charge the battery storage and an inverter to invert dc current to AC current that will be supplied to the various loads. Energy calculations will be done to correctly estimate the amount of power that will be needed to power up a certain location or area. Calculating cable sizes for the system will be done using software called power plus which is very convenient and easy to use. Generally other calculations can be done online or manually. Design and implementation of the project will be done in real time with a smaller model to show the working capabilities of any given system. The system will include PV array which harvest energy from the sunlight, then the charge controller, which regulates charging of the battery bank/storage. This will be followed by an inverter which then inverts the DC current to AC current to be used in the load.