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Tapera Mangezi, a B.Eng in Renewable Energy degree student as part of his internship
work at The Wattle Company Ltd
Design Situation
Design a Stand Alone PV System for the following household electrical appliances:
• 29 Inch Colour TV
• Multichoice Decoder
• 2×15 W light bulbs
Mutare
Geographical Coordinates-19.0°S, 32.7°E
For the purpose of minimizing the panel size as well as the battery capacity, the TV and
the decoder should not be left in standby mode.
Table 2:Load Assessment
Loads Quantity Watts Hrs/day Watt-
hours/day
29 Inch Colour TV 1 120 4 480
Multichoice Decoder 1 15 4 60
= 660
4.53
=145.7 W
Taking into consideration the temperature losses, battery efficiency and wiring losses,
the145.7 W should be increased taking into consideration the temperature, battery and
wiring losses. Typical percentages of the losses in a PV System are:
=196.9 W
=200 W
When sizing the battery, the following factors have been taken into consideration:
• Battery Efficiency
Most batteries have an efficiency of about 85%
3 days has been used as a good approximation for the number of no sun days in sizing the
battery for this PV System
=660
0.85
∴ Amp-hours = Watt-hours
Volts
=155.3
=160 Ah
PV System Voltage
The PV System has system voltage of 12 V DC as taken from the lead acid battery. The
DC should however be converted to AC to allow electrical connected to electrical devices
that function on AC.
A charge controller with a higher current rating than the maximum PV System and load
current should be selected
System Voltage=12V
Inverter Power Rating=165 W
=194.1 W
=200 W
∴A 200 W 12V DC to 240 V AC sine wave inverter is desirable for the PV System
A properly designed wiring system should have a voltage drop of not more than 5%, so
on a 12V system, we do not want to lose more than 0.6V
The wire-sizing chart in Table 3 should be used to select the correct wire cross section for
a given current and length of wire. The voltage loss values given in the table are for 100m
length of wire at a given current. The table can be used for lengths of wire that are less
than 100m by first dividing the selected length at by 100 and multiplying by the
corresponding voltage drop given in the table to get the correct voltage drop. The wire
cross section that gives a voltage drop of less than 0.6V will be the most appropriate.
Voltage loss per 100m of wire run (volts per 200m of wire)
Wire Cross Section
Effects of Shading
The PV module should be installed where it cannot be affected by the effects of shade
from nearby buildings and trees. It is recommended that the PV System be installed on
rooftop so as to minimize the effects of shading from the buildings and trees