REY Hugo R2A 2016-2017

Adjustment of a Photovoltaic-Diesel hybrid system and
starting of it
Second year internship report
05/09/2016 – 20/01/2017
Rey Hugo
Sector: Mechanics and energetics
Problematic: How getting a hybrid photovoltaic system with standards?
Hugo REY – Internship Report

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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my industrial supervisor

Dr. Miguel Angel Egido Aguilera for giving me the opportunity to get this internship, and for
giving me his help in the tasks which were detonated to me.
I then would like to thanks his colleagues, Dr Estefanía Caamaño Martín and Dr.
Álvaro Gutierrez for always proposing me their support and help in case of doubt and
difficulties met.
I would then express my gratitude to my academic supervisor M. Eric Delacourt,

for following my evolution and visiting me during my internship
After, I would thanks Mrs Jane Lauro for helping me in the internship research and
for giving me this chance
I also would like to thanks all the students and investigators in the IES for their
sympathy and their tips and help.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my family which always supported me in

my studies
Finally I would like to thanks Pierre Devos and Simon Lavaud, my two ENSIAME
colleagues, for the nice time we had in Madrid

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Summary
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 1: PRESENTATION OF THE INTERNSHIP ENVIRONMENT ......................................... 6
1°) Internship in a foreign Country: Spain .......................................................................................... 6
a. Presentation of the country ........................................................................................................................6
b. History of the “Instituto de Energía Solar” ...............................................................................................7
2°) Investigation groups ........................................................................................................................ 8
a. Instruments and system integration (ISI) ..................................................................................................8
b. Photovoltaic system ..................................................................................................................................9
c. Renewable distributed generation and intelligent control (GEDIRCI) .....................................................9
d. Silicon and new solar cell concept (SNSCC) ..........................................................................................10
e. III-V conductors ......................................................................................................................................10
3°) Place of work.................................................................................................................................. 10
a. Desktop ...................................................................................................................................................10
b. Laboratory ...............................................................................................................................................11
c. The roof ...................................................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 2: PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT ................................................................... 11
1°) Context ........................................................................................................................................... 11
2°) Components of photovoltaic and hybrid systems working principle ............................................ 12
a. PV modules .............................................................................................................................................12
b. Battery and accumulation systems ..........................................................................................................17
c. Charge controller .....................................................................................................................................19
d. Inverter ....................................................................................................................................................21
e. Back-up generator ...................................................................................................................................22

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3°) Description of the system ............................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER 3: FIRST OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................ 24
1°) Prior works ..................................................................................................................................... 25
a. Normalization of the connections ............................................................................................................25
b. Solve of the inverter breakdown .............................................................................................................26
2°) Photovoltaic generator layout ....................................................................................................... 27
a. Presentation of the place and previous installation .................................................................................27
b. Completed work ......................................................................................................................................28
CHAPTER 4: SECOND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................... 34
1°) Virtual simulation of the system.................................................................................................... 34
a. Introduction an presentation of the software ...........................................................................................34
b. Building of the system on Homer............................................................................................................34
c. Presentation of the results .......................................................................................................................35
2°) Running and real tests on the system ............................................................................................ 36
a. Connection of the engine .........................................................................................................................36
b. Theoretical part of the experiment ..........................................................................................................38
c. Presentation of the first experiment and results.......................................................................................40
CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVE ........................................................................................ 42
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 43
APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................... 44

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INTRODUCTION
Since the last decades, the electricity consumption rose rapidly and this kind of energy became
probably the most important in the human life at all levels (particular, community, industry).
Its production is very variable, and today, the world has almost ten ways to produce electricity.
Nowadays, the most developed ones are the so called fossil energies and the nuclear energy.
For instance, France is one of the countries in Europe and in the World which opted to get
electricity from the nuclear power: Almost 90% of the electricity produced comes from Atomic
energy. In 2006, that was approximately the same situation with almost 80% of the electricity
production
Figure I.1 Picture from a wikipedia article: electricity

generation
Other sources as Hydroelectric or fuel and coal are also used, and have been used in the past as
principal sources of production. However, just like nuclear power represents a big danger for
the environment as many sad examples in the history show, the use of coal and fuel emits CO2,
a greenhouse gas. Moreover the two last sources of energy are fossil energies, used since
several decades, and are becoming more and rarer: some specialists preview still 50 years of
fuel if the consumption is not reduced.
Therefore, the stake for the future of our world is to get a way of electricity production which is
clean and reliable. In this context take place the renewable energies and so the solar energy.
Currently being a 4th year student for an Engineer Master Degree at the ENSIAME. It has been
proposed to me to realize an internship at the Solar Energy Institute (IES) from the Technical
university of Madrid (UPM). I was motivated in getting experience in a field which will take
an important role in the future and which remain very interesting.
The main line of my internship was the work on a hybrid system (photovoltaic-diesel)

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CHAPTER 1: PRESENTATION OF THE INTERNSHIP ENVIRONMENT
1°) Internship in a foreign Country: Spain
a. Presentation of the country
As seen above, I realize my internship in Spain and more precisely, in Madrid, the capital.
Spain officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a sovereign state largely located on the Iberian
Peninsula in southwestern Europe, with two large archipelagos, the Balearic Islands in
the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands off the North African Atlantic coast. The country
also urban areas owns two cities Ceuta and Melilla in the North African cost and several small
islands in the Alboran Sea near the Moroccan coast. The country has a border with England in
Gibraltar; with France and Andorra in the north and northeast; with Portugal in the west; and
with Morocco in Ceuta and Melilla.
Figure II.1.a.2 European and Spanish Flag
Figure II.1.a.1 Map of Spain
With an area of 505,990 km2, Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second
largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in
the European continent. The country has a total population of 46,423,064 inhabitants and is
the sixth largest in Europe.
Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid. Other major cities include Barcelona, Sevilla,
Valencia.
Spain is a democracy organized in the form of a parliamentary government under a

constitutional monarchy. It is a middle power and a developed country with the

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world's fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and sixteenth largest by purchasing power
parity. The Country is part of the European Union since 1986.
The head of the state is the King of Spain Felipe VI and the head of the government is the
government president, also called Prime minister (currently Mariano Rajoy Brey).
Figure II.1.a.3 Puerta del sol, Madrid
b. History of the “Instituto de Energía Solar”
In the context of my second year engineering internship, I worked at the “Instituto de energía
solar” of Madrid. This center is specialized in solar energy investigation and technologies.
Figure II.1.b.1 IES building
The IES was founded in 1979 by Professor Antonio Luque also President of the Institute. The
institute began its works during the years 1970’s. It became a head center in the solar
photovoltaic investigation. Thanks to its several successes and its great creativity, the institute
built step by step an international renown. In fact, the institute achieved many important project

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in silicon solar cells technology, III-V material cells, including multi junction, and more
efficient new concepts for solar cells, including associated quantum calculations.
As an example of its great performance and competition position, we can point at the company
ISOFOTON created in 1981 at the institute and which took the leading position in Europe
during the first decade of the 21st century in the field of the solar cells manufacture; this
company was created in order to develop bi-facial cells. However, because of financial
difficulties, it closed in 2008.
The institute also owns records in some leading fields of solar energy investigation as the one
of 2008. The institute an efficiency of 32.4% record using GaInP/GaAs cells at a concentration
of 1000 suns. This record concerned two junctions’ cells.
Moreover the practical investigation makes also part of the work realized at the institute. In
fact, thanks to its renown, many industries or companies called their service to evaluate the
quality of photovoltaic plants.
2°) Investigation groups
The institute of solar energy is divided in five research teams:
a. Instruments and system integration (ISI)

This group aims to work on the development of concentration photovoltaic systems in
order to promote low-cost photovoltaic systems. Their current works consist in:
 New concepts in CPV systems and fabrication methods for concentrator optics
 Optical and electrical instrumentation
 Characterization methods for CPV modules and receivers
 Reliability of CPV systems and components

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b. Photovoltaic system
The origin of their work is the problems met in the industry with photovoltaic system.
The aim is to control and ensure the quality of the service for which the systems have
been built, and the reliability and durability of them. Thus, its works consist in:
 The quality of large PV plants: from the energy yield simulation with low
uncertainty to the quality control procedures for bankability processes.
 New market niches for PV systems: developing solutions with high potential
market as PV irrigation of PV cooling.
 PV rural electrification: assuring the reliability of Solar Home Systems or PV
mini grids in rural areas of developing countries.
c. Renewable distributed generation and intelligent control (GEDIRCI)

This group is the one in which I worked. The aim of this group is to develop more and
more system able to supply sustainable electricity. Those solar systems which are
developed are of both types: grid connected or isolate. The context of their work takes
place with the big expansion of the photovoltaic technology since the years 1970’s.
Since then, photovoltaic electricity took a huge place on the market, for the energy
supplying and thus, it implies researchers to focus on the development of Photovoltaic
system, and the smart way of the use of the electricity produced.
Moreover, their work also concerns the supplying of energy for all humans, still a lot of
people have no access to electricity, and PV systems can be a solution.
Their research lines correspond to the following ones:
 Distributed strategies of Maximum Power Point Tracking in PV modules

 Active Demand Side Management with distributed PV and storage
 PV generation and forecast in complex environments
 Solar PV potential at urban scale: from buildings to cities
 Building integrated photovoltaic PV heating and cooling
 Quality assurance in decentralized PV applications
 Basic and income-generation electrical services for developing countries
 PV Hybrid off-grid systems

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d. Silicon and new solar cell concept (SNSCC)
This group concentrates its researches on the improving of the solar technology. It
consists in supporting the photovoltaic energy through reducing cost and increasing
efficiency by different ways. The different research lines of it are:
 Intermediate band materials and solar cells
 Quantum mechanical calculations Nanostructures
 Molecular beam epitaxial
 Advanced characterization tools and device processing
 Light management
 Modeling and other novel solar cell concepts
 Three terminal hetero junction bipolar transistor solar cells
 Energy Storage: Novel system based on molten silicon latent heat
 Solar silicon refinement
 Defect engineering in solar silicon
 Crystalline silicon solar cell development
e. III-V conductors
This group started its investigation in III-V solar cells in 1985, it aims to improve and
the highest efficiency solar cells (III-V multi junction solar cells) in order to develop
reliable and low-cost photovoltaic system. Those improvements concern both terrestrial
and space technologies. Their investigations lines are presented below:
 Concentrator solar cells
 Space solar cells
 Flat plate photovoltaics beyond silicon
3°) Place of work
a. Desktop
During my internship, a Desk has been me given. Concerning the means the institute gave me, I
had a computer was at my disposition. The softwares I could use were the Office pack and all
the simulation software essential for the simulation task I had to do.

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b. Laboratory
The laboratory was the place in which most of the part of the system I studied was located. The
means given were basically electronic tools as multimeters but also data scanners. A computer
was also at my disposition.
c. The roof
It is on the roof that I realized an important part of my internship. In fact, the photovoltaic
modules are located there. The means given were measure equipments and several tools for the
different part of the photovoltaic support installation.
Of course, all this means have been completed by the help all the IES workers offers to me,
particularly in the installation of the photovoltaic structure, but also in laboratory work.
CHAPTER 2: PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT
1°) Context
The concept of Hybrid systems takes place in the context of rural electrification. In some
countries, still today, many places have no access to electricity like for instance, in Africa or in
South America. In the case of the projects on which the IES is working on, those are
concerning countries of Latin America as Bolivia or Peru.
It is important to point out that the main difficulties of the areas where electrification does not
exist, is that those areas are remote areas where the main grid cannot feed the consumers.
Moreover, the possibility of building grid extensions and substations to distribute electricity is
not an option because of the high costs it implies.
A solution could be the Diesel generation, also called electric-diesel generation. However, the
cost of fuel is quite expensive and its transport can be difficult in remote areas (Amazonia for
example). Furthermore, the current environmental issues make one believe that the only diesel
generation is not a long term option. Thus, it appears that using renewable energies to produce
electricity is a good option in this context.

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Therefore, hybrid systems project, which council diesel generation with renewable energy
generation is now being developed. The entire stake is now to well design the different systems
in order to make them cost effective. Indeed, whatever the renewable source of energy one
uses, the cost is quite expensive.
This scheme is typically the kind of hybrid system we can meet. To improve the efficiency of the
system, several renewable sources can be combined. Thereafter, I will present the system on which
I worked, which is a photovoltaic-diesel system.
2°) Components of photovoltaic and hybrid systems working principle
Before Beginning on working on the project, I had to get the different useful knowledges. This
is the aim of this chapter in which I will present the several components of a hybrid system,
like the one I was working on, and their working principle.
a. PV modules
 Solar Cell
The photovoltaic modules are composed of several solar cells connected each other. The
functioning of a solar cell is based on the physical properties of the silicon. The silicon belongs
to the semi-conductors materials:
Figure III.2.a.1
On the Left, the crystal lattice of

The Silicon. Silicon bonds with 4
other atoms thanks to its 4 valence
electrons.
That means that the energy required to break a bond is neither to high like for insulating
material nor equal to 0 like for metals. This energy is, in the case of semi-conductors, equal to
1.1eV. This is called the band gap.
The photovoltaic effect, discovered by Edmond Becquerel, is the mechanism of conversion of
solar energy (described by a photon) in electrical energy. When solar radiation impacts on the
semi-conductor material, the material is no more, no less receiving energy through photons,
which in turn can interact with the several bonds of the silicon. When it occurs, the photon

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gives all its energy to the bon. In theory, if the energy is less than the band gap like for the
insulating material, the bond is not broken, and all the energy is converted in heat (as well as
there is an energy surplus), but, when the energy is equal or exceed the band gap, the electron
of the bon is freed and can move into the crystal as a charge carrier:
ℎ𝑐
𝐸𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 = ≥ 𝐸𝑔
𝜆
𝜆 = 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ ℎ = 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑐 = 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

This process of increasing the energy of an electron to make it a charge carrier is called
generation. But the reverse also exists, when an electron meet a hole, and become again part of
a bond. That is what is called recombination.
However, this only effect on pure silicon cannot serve to produce any electricity, because the
free electrons are moving randomly and so, the rate of recombination is very high.
Therefore, Impurities are injected in the material in very small quantity in order to keep the
crystal lattice. This process is called doping and is divided in two forms. First N-doping which
consist in injecting impurities with one valence electron more than Silicon (usually phosphor),
then the P-doping which consist in injecting impurities with one valence electron less than
Silicon (usually Bore).
When an N-doping region is in contact with a P-doping region during the process of
homogenization, the surplus of electrons is locally attired by the uncompleted bond of the P-
doping region. It as if the negative charges (electrons) go to the P-doping region and fictive
positive charges (called “holes”) go to the N-doping region. Thus, the P region is getting a
global negative charge and the N region a global positive charge. In consequence, a field is
created from N to P: this is what is called the PN junction.
This field gives the moving direction to the free electrons when solar radiation impacts on the
solar cell:
That is what compose the solar cell, here, on the left, is the
scheme of a solar cell, on the top face and on the bottom,
there are charge collectors for electrons and holes. The one
on the top is a grid to be able to let the light go through the
material
Figure III.2.a.PN junction

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Concerning the physical functioning of a solar cell, the current generated by the solar radiation
can be measured by an Ammeter connected in parallel of the cell. This current, also called
Isc(short circuit) is almost proportional to the solar irradiance.
On the other hand, when the cell is not connected to another component, if the cell receives
solar radiation, the charges are being accumulated on each side of the cell, depending on their
sign. This creates a potential and a tension called Voc(open circuit). Of course, if no radiation
impacts the cell, the Voc value is almost 0, but when the cell is exposed to a lot of photons, this
value grows until a limit constant value which means that there is almost no more dependence
with the radiation.
Furthermore, a solar cell could be represented with an electrical scheme:
Figure III.2.a.3 Solar cell electric schemes
Scheme (a) represents the perfect model of a solar cell. IL represents the photocurrent, and ID,
the Diode current, represents the current passing through the PN junction.
In consequence, the current which would go through an external resistance would be equal to:
𝐼 = IL - ID(V)
In this equation, we can see that the value of ID depends on the value of the cell Voltage and
its expression can be written thanks to the Shockley equation:
Scheme (b) shows the real model, including the serie resistance and the parallel resistance. The
serie resistance represents the resistive characteristics of the material, it depend in general a lot
on the separation between each finger of the collector. It’s presence in the electrical
representation is very important, because its electrical influence is big. Nevertheless, this is not

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the case of the parallel resistance, which represents the leakage current. Finally the expression
becomes:
This equation is hard to manipulate and thus it is more practical to consider the following
hypotheses to study the electrical characteristic of a solar cell:
𝑞𝑉
An infinite parallel resistance, the term exp(𝑚𝑘𝑇) ≫ 1 in the field of application, and finding
Voc thanks to the first equation considering I equal to 0.

Finally the equation becomes:
Even if this new writing is more easy to use because all the parameters can be known or can be
easy measured, it is more usual to use a representation of I/V curve to represent a solar cell.
Figure III.2.a.4 I/V curve profile
On this graph we can see the I/V curve but also the Power curve. The I/V curve is obtained
considering specific condition of irradiance, temperature, and air mass, called Standard Test
Condition (STC). On the graph we can also note that there is a value of tension and current for
which power reach its maximum value. This point is called MPP (Maximum Power Point) and
in general, all the photovoltaic systems aim to work in this point.
The fact that this curve corresponds to the STC means that all this characteristics depends of
irradiance and temperature.

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Concerning the irradiance dependence, as seen before, only the Isc can be considered as
variable. Thus, the following equation permits to find its value with considering a certain
irradiance of G (W/m²):
∗
𝐼𝑠𝑐
𝐼𝑠𝑐 = ∗ 𝐺
𝐺
The terms with * representing the values in STC.
However, the temperature has no effect on the Isc, but yes it has on the Voc. Indeed, when the
temperature increases, it leads to a diminution of the energy gap between free electrons and
bond electrons. The following equation describes the evolution Voc in function of temperature
of the cell:
 Photovoltaic modules
A photovoltaic module is the component composed by solar cell. The connection between each
cell is realized depending on the power the global system need. Connecting several cells in
series allows the module to multiply the value of Voc by the number of cells in series, while
connecting in parallel permits it to increase its Isc value.
Because of the fragility of solar cells, the manufacturing of a module should assure its
resistance to the different kind of mechanic test. Moreover, the module has to protect the cells
from the water; therefore, the cells are encapsulated between treated glass on the top (to let a
maximum of photon pass through it) and a cap of tedlar (in general) which is a black material at
the bottom.
In most of the cases, the modules are composed of several crystalline cells in series, to increase
the value of the open circuit voltage, encapsulated between glass and tedlar.
The electrical characterization is realized through an I/V curve, but also with the measured of
the Temperature in Nominal Operation Condition (TNOC) which corresponds to the
temperature of the encapsulated cells when they work with specific condition of irradiance,
temperature air mass and wind.

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The valor of this temperature is given by the equation:
Thanks to this equation, and to the value of G, completed by the relationship between Tc and
Voc. The I/V curve can be drawn in each conditions of work.
In reality, not all the cells of a module are working with the same characteristics, and that
affects the global functioning of one module to another. For this reason, it is usual to put
together in the same array of one photovoltaic generator, modules with similar characteristic.
One of the objectives given to me concerns this point and is a good example that we will see in
the following. In parallel to this problem, modules also are susceptible to be affected by hot
spot or shadow on one or several of its cells. In consequence the photocurrent of the shadowed
cells limits the global photocurrent of all the series cells to its value. Sometimes, these cells can
act as resistances and dissipate all the current produced by the other in heat. This phenomenon
is called hot spot (see annex). It is characterized by a cell getting a brown color. To limit it, two
kind of diodes are used: the ones called “by-pass diodes” and the ones called “blocking diodes”
By-pass diodes are connected in parallel

of each module, when one of the cells
of one module is shadowed, the diode
becomes forward and the current will
no pass through the cell, and also the
energy will not be dissipated
Figure III.2.a.5 disposition of bypass diodes
Extended to the array scales, blocking diodes have the same role than by-pass, but for one
array.
b. Battery and accumulation systems
First of all, it is important to know that not only batteries can accumulate the electrical energy
produced by a generator. Other means of accumulation, like flywheel unit or pumping stations,
are also used. Nevertheless, concerning the project on which I worked, batteries were used to
stock the energy. Therefore I will present the characteristic of this component.

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Most of the batteries used are lead-acid batteries, because of their interesting price and their
high presence on the market. But concerning isolated installation, we can also meet gel
batteries. The main difference between them is the electrolyte form. Concerning the lead-acid
batteries, the electrolyte is liquid while for gel batteries, it is gelled. Even if the functioning
principle is the same, gel batteries are more adapted for a repetitive use (several cycles per day)
thanks to its higher tolerance to deep discharge. Another kind of battery used in the
photovoltaic field is the solar batteries, built with thicker plates in order to prolong its cycle
resilience. The acid concentration is also reduced to prolong its life.
The functioning principle is based on a red-ox reaction between the electrodes and the
electrolyte:
Discharge
Charge
During the charge and discharge, the electrons go from the anode, where an oxidation of the
first electrode takes place, to the cathode, where a reduction of the second electrode takes place
and during the charge, the reverse is being produced. That what is described by the chemical
equations.
Figure III.2.b.1 Battery decomposition

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Each cell like this one, are composed by many couple of Negative and positive plates separated
by the separator. The positive plates are connected to the cathode and the negatives one to the
anode (in the case of discharge). All of these couples are sunk in the electrolyte which permits
the movement of ions.
Finally, it is important to be vigilant on the state of charge (SOC) of the battery. In fact,
overcharge like over discharge are harmful for the battery time of life. This is the role of the
charge controller. In fact, overcharging can lead to an oxidation of the positive plate and
moreover, after reaching a certain value, the water contained in the electrolyte is separated in
hydrogen and oxygen (highly explosive mixture). This is called gasification. Gasification is
sometimes wanted to homogenize the liquid electrolyte. Then, the opposite extreme: over
discharging, also have negative consequences on the battery life time. When its voltage reach
the so called “deep-discharge” voltage, the acid concentration is highly reduced which leads to
sulphation. Contrary to the overcharge, over discharge is always avoided because it cannot
have no benefits for the battery
c. Charge controller
The charge controller is the component which aims to protect the battery from overcharging
and over discharging by controlling its SOC and regulating the electrical flow coming from the
photovoltaic generator. To control the state of charge of the battery, the charge controller
measured its tension. The limit values of tension are chosen by the user.
For this component, two connections with the modules are possible. In series or in parallel:
Figure III.2.c.1 Charge controller in series and in parallel
Because of its better efficiency, the parallel version is recommended, but only for installations
where loads are consuming all the year. Indeed, in the case of an installation where
consumption is null during 2 month (for example a school during the summer holydays), until

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the battery will be charged, the controller will cut the current going to the battery by short-
circuiting the photovoltaic generator (this is the principle of this configuration). During a long
period, it could be dangerous for the modules, creating the problem of “hot spot”. Another
limitation of this configuration is that it can only protect the battery from overcharge. In
standalone systems where consumption is generally considered as constant, the charge
controller in parallel is chosen, because of its better efficiency. This is not the case of the series
configuration which can also protect the battery from over discharge. The effect on the battery
concerns its state of charge, or also its tension, which is a good sign to evaluate the SOC when
the battery cannot be open to measured the concentration of acid in the electrolyte (in gel
battery for example). Bellow we can see a curve of a battery voltage controlled by a charge
controller.
Figure III.2.c.2 influence of a charge controller on batteries tension
Another function of the charge controller can be, in the case of it owns the option, the
Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). This option allows the solar modules to work on its
optimum power point. Indeed, when the Solar generator is connected directly (with or without a
basic charge controller) to the batteries, its work voltage will be imposed by the batteries
voltage and this voltage generally does not correspond to the MPP voltage. The MPPT is a
DC/DC converter which regularly search and find the value of the MPP voltage. It let it work
with it MPP values of tension and current, and then adapt this tension to the battery charging
voltage conserving the energy produced. Thus, the efficiency of the charge is better, because
the charging energy corresponds to the maximum of energy the modules can produce on this
moment.

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d. Inverter
The inverter is a very important component in a photovoltaic generating installation, because, it

permits to consume the produced energy with AC loads, which represents almost all the loads
we use. Indeed batteries supply DC current. Therefore its role is to convert the DC current
given by the batteries to AC current for the loads. Its working principle is based on transform,
thanks to interrupters, the DC current into a square signal. And then, by filtering it, the investor
obtains a sine wave signal.
SINTETIZATOR FILTER
Figure III.2.d.1 functioning of an inverter
This component owns very good electrical properties. Its efficiency is quite high: its
consumption is very low in vacuum operation and moreover, the power is demanded in a large
power range. Inverters are very reliable: they are very safe component, protecting short circuits,
and resist to intensity peak when starting the system.
This is an example of an efficiency curve for an

invertors SMA (a brand). The choice of inverter
in one system is made considering the input and
output power imposed by the system
Figure III.2.d.2 Inverter efficiency curve

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e. Back-up generator
In photovoltaic standalone system, the production of electricity is very dependent on the hour
of the day and on the meteorological conditions. For instance, during the night, when solar
irradiance is null, and the batteries are being discharged, they risk to overpass the deep-
discharge voltage. This is the utility of a back-up generator, it supply the batteries in energy
when they reach the limit discharge voltage and when the modules cannot work.
Generally, back-up generators are electric-diesel generator, because of their low cost and their
efficiency.
3°) Description of the system
This project was developed by the IES in order to respond to the needs of non electrified areas.
The aim of the project was to study a hybrid photovoltaic diesel system in which are connected
inverter and diesel engine, and to evaluate the system’s fuel consumption. This project has two
main objectives. The first one is that it makes part of a big project with Latin America
(Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) as part of ecotourism. The areas part of this program are areas
still not connected to the main grid and with a big touristic attraction power, thanks to their
natural landscape. The stake is thus a double stake; those areas have to be supplied in energy
while the environment has to be preserved. This kind of installation is designed to be connected
to what is called mini-grid installation in order to feed in electricity a little community. These
kinds of hybrid systems are thought to be connected to the so called “mini-grids” allowing
getting larger and more efficient system for rural electrification. Thanks to its solar generator, it
permits to reduce the CO2 emissions and also the cost of resupply in fuel.
Figure III.3.1
A similar project of hybrid system

for mini grid in Colombia, lead by
the IES-UPM

22
The second objective is an academic objective. The IES of Madrid giving the possibility to do
solar energy master, it permits to make them have an approach of this kind of installation.
Design and description
The system on which I worked is a photovoltaic-diesel generator installed in the IES building.
The system is composed of twelve photovoltaic modules, six solar batteries, two charge
controllers, one inverter and one diesel generator. The different characteristic of each
component will be presented in this part.
The sizing of this installation was made considering the available space for the photovoltaic
generator, and then, considering the power of it, the inverter was chosen.
The technical characteristics of each component can be found in Annex 1A to 1E.
First of all, the photovoltaic generator is composed by twelve modules of 150Wp: GAT150P
from Grealtec displayed as follows: four arrays of three modules each one. In each array, the
modules are connected in series. The first and the second arrays are connected in parallel just
like the third and the fourth arrays. The technical characteristics can be found in Annex 1A.
Figure III.3.2
This figure represents the connection between two of
the 4 arrays.
The two parallel connections were then connected to two different charge controllers. The first
one is the MPPT OUTBACK MX-60 admitting a maximum voltage of 150V. The second one
is the MPPT CIRCUTOR UD80. As we can see, both of them own the MPPT.
This disposition is available with the electrical tolerance of both controllers; still the maximum
voltage given by one parallel connection is 76V and its maximum current would be 22.4A
which corresponds to 900W for a maximum power. Knowing that for the OUTBACK controller
the maximum tension is 150V and power 900W, and that for the CIRCUTOR, the maximum
current admitted is 80A and voltage 120V.

23
The inverter of the system is the VICTRON MULTIPLUS 2000. Its input voltage range goes
from 9.7V to17V and its output power is equal to 1600W. The Maximum power in is 2200W
with a nominal power in of 2000W.
Concerning the batteries used, they come from the brand SONNENSCHEIN. Each cell has a
voltage of 2V. Six batteries are used, which make a global battery of 12V
Finally the diesel engine bought is the KIPOR KDE 2500E, which has a nominal power of
2000W. This last one must normally be connected to the inverter. The inverter’s role is to send
a signal of start or stop to the engine, depending on the SOC of the batteries.
Figure III.3.3
Inside system and Photovoltaic generator(charge controller, inverter and batteries)
CHAPTER 3: FIRST OBJECTIVES
In this chapter, I will present the several objectives that have been given to me. And also the
work I did after the first time of my internship, in which I had to learn the necessary knowledge
to well understand the functioning of this kind of system.
To introduce all the objectives I had, it is important to note that I worked on a project almost
finished. My job was first to improve some points of the system, in order to get a norm
respectful arrangement.

24
1°) Prior works
a. Normalization of the connections
The first task I had to do was to change the wires connecting the several component of the
system each other. Indeed, when the project was built, the connection, from the charge
controllers to the batteries was realized with earth cable. The problem was not concerning the
current passage, because earth cables are physically the same cable as the others. The aim of
this work was to make the connections in accordance with the standards connections which are
specified below:
 Positive : black
 Negative : blue
Figure IV.1.a.1 Previous connection
This two pictures show the panel where are installed the two charge controllers, the batteries
and the inverter. As it is notable, all the connections to change were those in yellow/green. The
first step of my approach was to check the diameter of the cables, to know which section was
convenient in reference to the current it has to transport.
For that I used the software called Prysmitool. This software takes into account the kind of
installation you have: in this case it is low tension and wires on the air. Then it asks the user on
the electrical characteristics. First, the wires’ metal. Then the current, the voltage and the
voltage drop are considered. Finally it gives you the results.
Its calculation can be realized by hand, following the Joule law: 𝑃 = 𝑅𝐼 2

25
𝜌𝐿
Knowing that 𝑃 = 𝑈𝐼 and 𝑅 = with ρ= metal resistivity S= the section and L=the length and
𝑆
𝐼∗𝜌∗𝐿
replacing P and R one obtains 𝑆 = 2 ∗ with ε the factor of voltage drop (here 0.5%)
𝑈∗𝜀
because it concerns the connection between batteries and charge controller. The factor two is
here to consider the length back and forth of the cable. A numerical application of the
calculation of the section for the wires between charge controller and photovoltaic generator is
given in Annex 2.
As a result I used cables of 16mm² to realize the connection for each charge controller. Both of
them then are connected to the batteries, which receive the double of the current given by each
parallel array. A cable of 32mm² could be used, however, with the disposition of the
connection; it was easier to make a connection with both wires of 16mm² at the batteries
electrodes. Finally, the connections looked like below:
Figure IV.1.a.2 New connection

b. Solve of the inverter breakdown
The second task I had to do before beginning the improvement of the system was to solve the
problem of the inverter. In fact, when I arrived at the IES, the inverter was not functioning
properly. In other word, it could not start. I also began a research work on the data sheet and on
the operating manual of the inverter in order to find out help concerning classical break down.
The Victron Energy Multiplus Compact has good indicators to communicate its problems to the
user, through led codes. In this case, the led were all off. In the manual, a table is given with the
most usual failure led codes.

26
It gives some help for the most often problems which occur. However, none of those problems
corresponded to the current one. Therefore, I try to know, thanks to the Internet, if some other users
had met the same problem, but it was not the case. Finally, I downloaded the application for
Smartphone that Victron Energy had developed in order to have more information on the several
problems the inverter could have. The result is presented in annex 3.
Thanks to it I found what avoided the Multiplus to work. The fact was during the last utilization, the
user let wire RJ-45 connected to the inverter, and even if the PC was not connected too, the inverter
interpreted that the user was still configuring it. As for safety reason, it doesn’t let the inverter to
work when the cable is connected and when there is no synchronization with the computer
2°) Photovoltaic generator layout
One of the most important tasks to ensure the well working and the efficiency of a photovoltaic
generator is the layout of the modules. That concerns the supports and the connection.
a. Presentation of the place and previous installation
The photovoltaic generator is located on the roof of the IES building on the little tower also
called “torreon”. The place has the advantage that none building shadow it.
Concerning the geographical position, the face of the building is almost oriented to the south,
which makes of it, the most convenient place.
Concerning the technical characteristics of the area, it was built as a rectangle; its surface is
equal to 35.72m². The place was before used also for PV modules; therefore some rests old
parts of structures are still present: two beams were built on the site and it has to be considered
as part of the area. These two characteristics are important because they have an influence on
the layout of the generator and on the power it produces.
 Presentation of the first layout
This project actually have been already built when I came to the Institute, some measurements
had already been done. However, the layout of the modules was made using parts of several
rests of supports. This implies that the separations between each array were not always the
same and moreover, the inclination of each one was also different. That had bad consequences
on the functioning of the generator. Indeed, depending on the season, the angle has to be more

27
or less big, but the worse still remain the separation because it generates shadow on the cells
which reduce a lot the productivity of the panel. Below a picture of the old layout and an
example of an I/V curve with a shadowed cell are given.
Figure IV.2.a.1 Previous layout
Figure IV.2.a.2 Shading Influence on power
b. Completed work
To get an installation which responds to the norms, all of these points had to be fixed. This part of
this chapter will present the procedure followed in order to get a good modules display.
 First step: Research of adequate supports
This first step was not so easy that it appears. Indeed, as stated before, the place is quite peculiar,
because the supports have to be adaptable to the floor, in case, the two bears. In a first instance, I
did global research on the internet to see what kind of supports we could find on the market. The
problem was that all of them were conceived to lie on the floor and not on two fulcrums. Then I

28
searched on known website tipped by my supervisor like ATERSA or TECHNOSUN, both of them
presented similar products as the other websites I visited, however, TECHNOSUN proposed
example of supports in kit that could correspond to the place, or at least, of which we could be
inspired to create the support on measured to the place.
Figure IV.2.b.1 First structures
At that stage, the objective is to get an estimation of the price it could cost. I realized this task and
the results are given in the table below. Actually we didn’t opt for this solution, because,
performing the command, I noticed that many of the components were not in stock and would not
be. After speaking with the brand, which purposed another solution much more expensive, the
Institute opted for another kind of support which technical characteristics are given in annex 4 A-B.
Producto Quantidad precio en €

Pata trasera estructura inclinación ajustable 30/60º - TECHNO SUN 8 119.36
Pata frontal estructura inclinación ajustable - TECHNO SUN 8 34.08
Carril de aluminio para FV 2.56m - TECHNO SUN 16 253.92
Sujeción en Z final de panel 40mm - TECHNO SUN 16 15.52
Sujeción en T entre dos paneles 40mm - TECHNO SUN 16 17.12
Union entre carriles - TECHNO SUN 8 17.04
TOTAL 457.04
Figure IV.2.b.2 First structure-price estimation
 Second step: installation of the structures
This step is crucial in all photovoltaic system design, because it permits to have an installation
which allowed to each array to receive the wanted irradiance along the year. In this step, I
calculated the separation between each row.

29
 Procedure of calculation:
The distance of separation is calculated in function of, how many hours for example, the modules
have to receive irradiance. This parameter is chose by the user. In the case of this project, the aim is
to produce the maximum of energy. The decision has to be taken in consideration of the space
available where the modules have to be installed. The optimal disposition is the one which
guaranties at least 4 hours of irradiance received per day. The following will show how was made
this calculation. The scheme below represents quite rapidly the installation:
Sunray at the limit of the obstacle
L
z1
γs β
Figure IV.2.b.3 Scheme of the photovoltaic generator S2 S1
In this kind on installation, the separation between each arrays are calculated considering the worse
day in the year in terms of sun. The installation is located in Madrid, so in the Northern hemisphere.
The worse day in the year corresponds to the winter solstice, which corresponds to December the
21st or 22nd each year. The calculation has also to take into consideration the worse point on the
modules, which will be the most shadowed. This point corresponds to the middle point on the
bottom of the module. Concerning the space available, the two beams on which the supports are laid
are 7.60 meters long, and the width of the tower measures 4.70 meters.
The separation between each array corresponds to the sum S1+S2. As said before, the worse day in
the year in term of irradiance corresponds to December 21st or 22nd. The sun position in the sky is
given by the declination angle below:
360
𝛿(°) = 23.45° ∗ sin(365 (𝑑𝑛 + 284)) With dn= [1; …; 365]
Replacing dn by 356 or 355 the factor sin is almost equal to -1 (-0.99) which give a declination of -
23.45°. Then, the installation is oriented face to the true south, which implies that the Azimuth
angle (angle between the south direction and the orientation of the module) is null. Finally the two
𝑍1
distances S1 and S2 can be found thanks to trigonometry: S1= L.cos (β) and S2=
tan(𝛾𝑠 )
With γs given by 𝜸𝒔 = 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐬𝐢𝐧(𝐬𝐢𝐧(𝜹) 𝐬𝐢𝐧(𝝋) + 𝐜𝐨𝐬(𝜹) 𝐜𝐨𝐬(𝝋)) φ represents the latitude and
Z1=L.sin (β).

30
For these calculation, I used a excel document, created by our teacher at the IES, in which the user
put in the parameters of irradiance average per month, the latitude of the location, the azimuth angle
and the β angle, and finally the module row measurements (see annex 5). After that, the software
draws on a graph the elevation angle γs in function of the azimuth angle for each solstice and each
equinox. On the same graph, the obstacle profile is also draw (in this case it is the row’s profile). It
traduces the shadow that the row of modules produces in function of the sun position. Finally the
user can change the value of the separation between each row, and observe the change on the
obstacle profile:
90 Elevación (º) 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
-180-150-120-90 -60 -30Acimut
0 30 (º)
60 90 120150180
Figure IV.2.b.4 obstacle profile
In my case, in this kind of installation, the criterion often chosen is at least four hours of sun. On
this graph we can note that black curves are also drawn: one interval between two of them
represents one hour. The procedure I followed is to change step by step the separation distance in
order to let four intervals free of obstacle (four hours) for the sun trajectory corresponding to the
winter solstice (represented in blue). We can observe that actually, the obstacle profile (in purple)
let pass the entire light during four hours on the December solstice.
The corresponding separation distance is equal to 1.6 meters. We could also choose more than 1.6
meters and get maybe almost 6 hours of sun. However, the goal was also to let free of modules
behind the last row in order to be able to let space in case of need for another installation. It also
makes easier the work on the modules. In the same idea, the structures were laid 1 meter shifted on
the left, so that it enables the user traveling in each row.

31
As a result of the installation, an estimate of the solar loss has been possible (annex5). I obtain an
approximate loss of 3,4% of the global irradiation, so 66kWh/m².
Concerning the practical work, I also participate to the installation of the structure, I work with the
technician in order to help him and to give him the indications he needed.
Figure IV.2.b.5 evolution of the installation
 Installation of the Modules
After having installed the structure, we install also the modules, in a first time randomly. In this way,
each of them had the same inclination and exposition conditions. After that, as we saw in the second
chapter, in a photovoltaic generator, the modules in the same array are those with the most similar
characteristics. For this reason, I did measurements on each module to get their I/V curve. For that I
use the electronic equipment TRIKA/TRISEN which will be described below:
 TRIKA/TRISEN equipment:
This equipment is a very useful one concerning the installation of PV modules and also the
maintenance of them. It is composed by two equipments: TRIKA and TRISEN. Both of them
measured different physical quantities, and the combination of them allowed the user to get the
module characteristics.

32
The TRIKA can measure the values of Voc, Isc, Vmpp and Impp for the
measurement conditions. It can also measure the value for the STC.
It draws then the I/V curve for measurement conditions and STC
but also the one which corresponds to the Ideal case.
Figure IV.2.b.6 TRIKA

The TRISEN measures the global irradiance thanks to the cell it has
on its face: the equipment is positioned parallel to the module as the
picture below shows and so the TRISEN can get the same irradiance
that the panel; so that, it also calculates the inclination. A
temperature captor located on the top of it allows the users to
Figure IV.2.b.7 TRISEN measure the cell temperature.
As seen in the theory chapter, the combination of these values permits the TRIKA to draw the
characteristic curve completely. The values collected by the TRISEN are communicated to the
TRIKA through Radio signal. All the data are saved then in the SD card of the TRIKA so that the
results can be transferred then to the PC. I then did the measurements for each modules and I got for
all of them their characteristics that I presented in annex 6A-6D.
It is usual to class each module by the more similar ones in terms of Impp. Considering that this
classification still true for other weather conditions, I draw four groups which will compose the four
arrays. Unfortunately, the weather in Madrid during the period we made the measurements was
really bad, so it took a long time to get all the characteristics. And because we had to make
simulation and experiments, the correct installation has not been made.

33
CHAPTER 4: SECOND OBJECTIVES
1°) Virtual simulation of the system
a. Introduction an presentation of the software
Because this project aims to produce electricity in reducing the CO2 and other gasses emission, it is
important, to have an idea of the fuel consumption of the diesel engine during the year. For this
work, I used the software HOMER, which is first of all a software optimization in order to design
the system you need. It takes into account many parameters like fuel cost, inflation rate or discount
rate, which will help it to find the better solution. The user is also able to ask HOMER to simulate
the system with many values of one or several parameters: for example, see the evolution if the fuel
price increases or decreases.
In our case, the system was already designed. My work has been to build the exact system in Homer
and to launch the simulation to evaluate the fuel consumption. So that optimization was not
necessary.
b. Building of the system on Homer
The first step was to build the system with the real characteristics of each component. Indeed,
HOMER has a library in which the most current component are available, and can be used to create
the system, however, in our case, the different components used were not defined in the library, so I
created them helping me of the datasheet of each one.
After having created the components, came the step of the building of the system. First of all, I had to
create the load profile of the installation. In order to be realistic with the photovoltaic production, we
considered a consumption of 4 kWh per days considering 4 hours of irradiance per days and 1kW of
photovoltaic production per hours. This correspond to a production average, in winter the production
can be lower as well as in summer, it can be higher. We considered a constant load for the all year. The
profile is described below:

34
Figure V.1.b Daily load profile
To design this curve, I try to imitate a consumption model curve and to be the closer as possible to the
consumption we wanted: 4kWh/day
HOMER takes also in consideration the location of your installation, indeed, it is important when you
realized this kind of simulation to know the true place in order to have the good solar and temperature
data. Therefore, it is possible to enter the geographical coordinates of the place or search directly on
the map and point it.
After this step, the software needed the resources information data. This concerned here the
solar data and the temperature data. The Solar data are divided in two categories: The global
horizontal irradiance and the direct normal irradiance. The last one corresponds to the power
received per unit of area by a surface which is perpendicular to the sunrays which fall on it. The
first one corresponds to the sum of the direct normal irradiance plus the diffuse one. For this, I
used data collected by meteorological station and I import it to HOMER:
The other resources HOMER needed were temperatures and fuel data. Fuel was already present
in the library with its characteristics, only I had to give the liter price. Concerning temperature
HOMER gave me the possibility to download the data directly from an internet from its
database.
c. Presentation of the results
As stated before, the aim of the simulation is to evaluate the participation of the diesel
generator and by the way, the fuel consumption of the system. HOMER gives after its
calculation a detailed report in which the different curves of power for each component, but
also the curves of comparison between each of them, and economics curves. The interesting

35
parts of report concerning the comparison between the modules and the engine production are
given in annex 7: a little bug appears concerning the price of replacement for the PV generator:
the report took 0 euro even if I put in the price of investment.
First of all, we can see that the participation of the Photovoltaic generator is superior to the (see
report in annex)
We can also notice that during the winter, the diesel generator produce more than during the
summer, which seems logical because of a lower irradiance during this season. So the diesel
consumption is increased in winter. The consumption average is 1.76 L/day so 0.0732 L/hour.
According to the simulation data, the consumption reached its maximum in January (see graph
up) with a value of almost 0.2 liters.
However, we are still observing that the consumption average is lower during the summer than
during the winter.
Finally we can see that in general, if the system had been conceived without photovoltaic
generator, the diesel consumption would be almost three times more than in the case of this
hybrid system: this confirm the efficiency of creating a hybrid system in term of environment.
In fact, the production of electricity has more renewable energy origins.
Thanks to this simulation, we can know estimate for a constant load, the consumption of fuel of
the system.
2°) Running and real tests on the system
After having simulated the system, the next step was to launch the real tests on the system. This
aimed to get an example of functioning of it for a predetermined load and consumption.
a. Connection of the engine
The first stage was to find a solution in order to connect properly the diesel engine to the
inverter. The connection must let the inverter command the start and stop of the engine, when
batteries state of charge are critic and when solar energy is not available.
Searching on the inverter datasheet, it appears that the inverter is able to be set (thanks to its
software VE CONFIG) to start the engine. This option is called transfer switch

36
As it can be observed, the setting is done depending on the battery state of charge but can also
take into consideration the load. For example, when consumption becomes too much high and
the batteries can’t give the sufficient energy, as well as the solar generator, the diesel engine
can help the system to get the wanted production.
Concerning the connection, the inverter owns the ATS connection (automatic transfer switch)
which is intended to be connected to the ATS generator connection. The problem we met is that
the generator we had didn’t have the automatic start possibility. As seen before, just the
mechanic and electric start. We finally opted for giving back the diesel engine to the
manufacturer in order to install on it the ATS wires.
The connection has been done after the experiment presented in the next paragraph because of
the delay we had to wait.
Figure V.2.a Modification of the engine
The procedure has been first to calculate the AC cables section (see annex 8 A). After that, the
two AC cables and the two signal cables for the ATS have been connected between each
component (see pictures in annex 8 B)
The multifunction relay is an electro mechanics relay with the broaching NO COM NC (normal
open, common, normal close). When the relay is closed, the start signal is transmitted and the
engine start, when the relay is open, the circuit is open, and the engine stops. Here the engine
has to start when the voltage battery lower limit is reached. So the relay has to be normally
open.
After, the procedure has been to set this relay. Thanks to the guide of VE CONFIG given by
Victron Energy, and thanks to the example of setting for the automatic start of an engine, the
settings have been made.

37
The interface for the programming of the transfer switch with VE CONFIG is given in annex
8C. For programming the start and stop of the engine, the relay as to be set as a multifunction
relay (first window for settings) the little checkbox on the right top corner allows the inversion
of the virtual switch (on=open off=close or on=close off=open); the useful setting is here
on=close and off =open.
In this case, we wanted to start the engine when battery voltage goes under a certain limit. This
limit had been set as 60% of depth of discharge: 11.75V. This is programmable in the SET VS
ON tab. In the VS OPTION tab, it is possible to set a minimum of switch on duration (here 15
min)
Finally, in the SET VS OFF, the value of the Battery voltage has been set as 14.2 which
correspond to the absorption voltage. Other condition of switch off as “no AC input” or “no VS
ON condition for” can be set in this tab.
Concerning the simulation, I did not have time for a real functioning of the system and a real
test. Just note that the relay has been well set, it goes off when the battery voltage reaches the
low limit and it opens again when the battery voltage is again acceptable. However, concerning
the engine, this one does not start properly. I realized a scheme of the circuit (annex 8D) to try
to find out the reason of the mal functioning. After a test of run, it appears that one can hear the
12V relay click several times instead of one, during the period that the inverter send the signal.
It is most likely that the problem comes from and bad contact in the relay (maybe because of
the solenoid) which does not transmit the signal to the starter relay. I had no time to make other
test, however, a simple change of this component could solve the problem. It can also be tried,
in a first time, to connect through a little electric bridge the contact between the cable from the
inverter and the one which transmit the signal after the activation of the 12V relay. In other
words, the 12V relay could be replaced by a direct connection: So that the engine will start
when the inverter relay will be activated, and it will stop when the relay will open again.
b. Theoretical part of the experiment
The second step was to launch the system in real conditions to get an example of functioning of
it: a consumption curve, a flow curve from the battery.
For that, a data scanner as been used and also shunts:

38
The first step has been to create a model of consumption in a theoretical way: for that, I first
made some measurements of the consumption of each load we had in the laboratory:
 6 AC lights (100 W) Corresponding to the maximum power

 One heater/ventilator (2500 W) consumed
First of all, the system was run in order to get this consumption values (by the way, as the
engine was still not prepared, the first measurements were done without back up engine, still
the inverter owns a over discharge protection, it had no risks for the batteries)
For each loads, the following consumptions have been found:
 1 light: 0.083 kW
 Ventilator: 0.552 kW
 Heater: 1.283 kW
The simulation has been done trying to test the system for a private individual consumption. It
is characterized by a little peak around 12 and a bigger around 21. An example is given in
annex 9. Considering the different loads we had and considering the maximum power that the
inverter could deliver, I tried to draw a similar profile composed by one consumption value for
each hour, and simulating the two peaks.
I finally create the profile, with a minimum constant value of 0.083 kW, corresponding to one
light on (annex 10). As the inverter can work with an output power of 1600 kW for an input
power of 2000, the objective was to reach at least 1500 W. The following simulation previews
1459 W, which is quite close to this value. As it had been considered in the virtual simulation,
the mean of the daily consumption is around 4kWh (4.5kWh).

39
c. Presentation of the first experiment and results
Figure V.2.c Experiment progress
In order to create a similar consumption than the one created before, each hour; a different
combination of loads has been turned on. For instance, the first 10 hours of the day,
corresponds to one light on. A description of these combinations is given in annex 10.
Considering the progress of the first experiment, no major problems have been detected. Only
the battery voltage was not good:
Each cell of batteries has a voltage of 2 V. The bank being composed by six batteries, it results
that the voltage is of 12 V. However, when they are connected to the solar generator, it is
acceptable to get a voltage between 13 V and 14 V. The results are presented in annex 11.
As it can be observed, the battery voltage reaches a maximum of 17 V. considering the

experimental conditions, this corresponds to the moment when the loads were not at the
maximum but when the solar production was high (during the day):
In fact, the experiment was launched during the morning, at 10:00 AM. That is to say that the
voltage peak corresponds to the time 3:00 PM. A time when consumption is at minimum and
solar production is almost equal to its maximum.
Interpretation: either one of the two charge controller is not working well or the batteries are
damaged.
A test was made during the day, without consumption to get a voltage curve of the battery. As
it can be observed on the curve in annex 12, the voltage reaches around 13 V on its maximum.

40
The maximum corresponds to the moment when solar irradiance is at its highest point. Even if
the test gave us positive results, the same problem occurred in the days after. A possible reason
is that the day of the experiment, the weather was good but however a bit cloudy. That is to say
that the solar production did not reach its maximum and thus, the electrical flow to the battery
was not enough to over pass the maximum state of charge authorized.
In those conditions, the only possibility was that one of the charge controllers did not run well.
As each of them had their own circuit, I measured the battery voltage with just one of them
connected. It has been observed that when the OUTBACK was connected, the battery voltage
didn’t reach dangerous values, but when the CIRCUTOR was connected, the voltage reached
17 V. In other words, the CIRCUTOR did not well run.
After having search more information about it, we figure that the programming of the charge
controller is possible once a password given in the manual is entered:
In fact, whatever the reason, maybe a lot of time without running, the charge controller had a
voltage limit for the battery equal to 59V. So the controller was running good, the
programming just did not correspond to the battery voltage.

41
CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVE
To conclude this report of my Internship, I would first say that it teaches me a lot on the solar
energy and particularly on the photovoltaic energy. Indeed, the first part of my internship was
dedicated to learn the essential knowledge of the photovoltaic science and industry application.
Then, the different objectives I had, which concerned the hybrid system, gave me an example
of what can be the work of a solar energy engineer, and gave me new abilities and experience
in this field, concerning the method of work.
The project on which I worked was already designed. Therefore, my work can be divided in
two parts: a first part which has consisted in “normalizing” the system, in other words, it has
consisted in getting a system which responds to the norms (cables) and which has a more
rigorous displaying (photovoltaic layout) allowing a better control of the functioning and an
higher efficiency. The second part of my work which concerned simulation and running, has
permitted to get an example of real use of the system and to point out the several problems the
system could met when running. It permits to fix some parameters of the system as for the
charge controller. The connection to the generation has been done. Now, the last thing to do is
to test the system in real condition having the back-up engine.
Even if this I did not have time to run the finished system, all the part of connection of the
Diesel engine to the system has been done. The following test on the system will show if all the
settings have been well done.
As a following perspective of my work, it could be a useful thing to create a kind of manual of

the system.

42
REFERENCES
Books and documents:
 Planning &installing Photovoltaic System

 Sistemas Híbridos- Soluções Energéticas para a Amazônia 2008
 Manual-A-Guide-to-VEConfigure-EN
 Manual-MultiPlus-Compact-2000-230V-EN
 Courses received in the field of Photovoltaic solar energy
Websites:
 http://www.ies.upm.es/
 https://www.victronenergy.com/

43
APPENDIX
Appendix 1A

44
Appendix 1A(second part)

45
Appendix 1B

46
Appendix 1B(second part)

47
Appendix 1C

48
Appendix 1C(second part)

49
Appendix 1D

50
Appendix 1D(second part)

51
Appendix 1E

52
Appendix 2
Example of section calculation

Connection of the PV generator to the charge controller:
𝐼∗𝜌∗𝐿
𝑆 =2∗
𝑈∗𝜀
The factor 2 corresponds to the come and back of the circuit. Concerning the current, we take
in consideration the maximum current that the cable could endure: 2*Isc= 17.88A, because of
the three modules in each arrays in series
The tension considered will be 3*18.43=55.29 because of the two arrays in parallel.
ρ=0.017 Ohm*mm²/m
Finally in this kind of installation, and for continu current, the voltage drop to consider is
ε=0.5%
After calculation the section obtained is almost 12 mm2. The normalized cables have thus a
section of 16 mm2

53
Appendix 3
Result given by the application Victron toolkit
Comment: The application is a tool which is very useful concerning the breakdown: its
interface is easy to use and it presents plenty of solution for a lot of malfunctioning.

54
Appendix 4 B

55
Appendix 4B(second part)

56
Appendix 5
Global irradiance data
Row measurements entered by the user to get the graph presented in the report
Calculation of the losses

57
Appendix 6A
array 1 module 1
array 2 module 2
array 3 module 3
Example of results obtained thanks to TRIKA and TRISEN equipment
a1 a2 a3 a4
m1 m2 m3 m1 m2 m3 m1 m2 m3 m1 m2 m3
Voc 21.99 22.05 22.33 21.95 22.09 22.14 21.96 22.18 22.02 21.65 22.01 21.74
Isc 8.08 7.95 8.25 7.89 8.06 7.95 8.06 8.34 7.99 8.07 8.23 7.9
Vmpp 17.64 17.82 17.87 17.62 17.93 17.71 18.05 18.46 17.28 17.66 17.55 17.24
Impp 7.54 7.57 7.57 7.44 7.53 7.52 7.2 7.98 7.49 7.22 7.42 7.16
Pm 133 134.9 135.3 131.1 135 133.2 130 147.3 129.4 127.5 130.2 123.4
Table of characteristics: the modules have been classified by Impp in 4 groups

58
Appendix 6B

59
Appendix 6C

60
Appendix 6D

61
Appendix 7
The rose part

corresponds to the
generator production

62
Appendix 7(second part)

63
Appendix 8A

64
Appendix 8B
Extract of the manual of user
Picture of the relay: Brown connected to

NO and Blue to COM.
connection of the relay to the engine
AC connection
Relay light indicator for activation

Relay broaching
AC IN Connection

65
Appendix 8C
VE Config:

66
Appendix 8D
Scheme of automatic start. The principle of functionning is:
When the Victron relay closes, the start signal is given to the 12V relay and to thetimer card.
Then, the 12V relay closes and feeds the solenoid valve but also the relay input of the timer
card (starter relay). This last one closes and after a moment opens again (timer) to avoid
overheating and battery discharge. When the genset start, it produces 230V, which opens the
230V Relay, which cut the starter before the end of the timer.
To stop the engine, the victron relay open, no signal feeds the solenoid valve, the engine stops.

67
Appendix 9
P
o
w
e
r
(W)
TIME (H)
Qualitative example of the daily profile consumption of individuals

68
time(h) consumption(W)
Appendix 10
1 0,083
Daily profile consumption
2 0,083
1,6
3 0,083 1,4
4 0,083 1,2
1
Power (W)
5 0,083
0,8
6 0,083 0,6
0,4
7 0,083
0,2
8 0,083
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
9 0,083
time(hours)
10 0,083
01:00 -> 10:00: 1 light 19:00 -> 20:00: 1 light + ventilación
11 0,166
11:00 -> 12:00: 2 lights 20:00 -> 21:00: 2 lights + heater (mínimum power)
12 0,332
12:00 -> 13:00: 4 lights 21:00 -> 24:00: 1 light
13 0,166
13:00 -> 14:00: 2 lights
14 0,083
14:00 -> 18:00: 1 light
15 0,083
18:00 ->19:00: 4 lights
16 0,083
17 0,083
Compatibility with the inverter (modelo Multiplus compact 2000):
18 0,332
Output maximum power at 25°C = 1600 W
19 0,635
Pmax= 1449 W < 1600 W OK
20 1,449
21 0,083
22 0,083
23 0,083
24 0,083

69
Appendix 11
Maximum voltage time: It has corresponded the lowest consumption

and to the maximum of irradiance in the day
Consumption profile by experiment

1600
1400
1200
1000
Power (W)
800
600
400
200
0
-200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Time (min)
Profile of the real simulation
Battery Voltage
18
16
14
12
Voltage (V)
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 500 1000 1500
Time (min)
Results of Voltage battery

70
Appendix 12
Battery Voltage without consumption

13,6
13,5
13,4
Voltage (V)
13,3
13,2
13,1
13
12,9
12,8
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Time (min)
The maximum is reached at the same moment; just the value is different => cloudy wetter

71

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Adjustment of a Photovoltaic-Diesel hybrid system and

Second year internship report

Sector: Mechanics and energetics

Problematic: How getting a hybrid photovoltaic system with standards?

Hugo REY – Internship Report

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my industrial supervisor

I would then express my gratitude to my academic supervisor M. Eric Delacourt,

I would also like to express my gratitude to my family which always supported me in

Hugo REY – Internship Report

CHAPTER 1: PRESENTATION OF THE INTERNSHIP ENVIRONMENT ......................................... 6

1°) Internship in a foreign Country: Spain .......................................................................................... 6

a. Presentation of the country ........................................................................................................................6

b. History of the “Instituto de Energía Solar” ...............................................................................................7

2°) Investigation groups ........................................................................................................................ 8

a. Instruments and system integration (ISI) ..................................................................................................8

b. Photovoltaic system ..................................................................................................................................9

c. Renewable distributed generation and intelligent control (GEDIRCI) .....................................................9

d. Silicon and new solar cell concept (SNSCC) ..........................................................................................10

e. III-V conductors ......................................................................................................................................10

3°) Place of work.................................................................................................................................. 10

c. The roof ...................................................................................................................................................11

CHAPTER 2: PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT ................................................................... 11

1°) Context ........................................................................................................................................... 11

2°) Components of photovoltaic and hybrid systems working principle ............................................ 12

b. Battery and accumulation systems ..........................................................................................................17

c. Charge controller .....................................................................................................................................19

e. Back-up generator ...................................................................................................................................22

Hugo REY – Internship Report

CHAPTER 3: FIRST OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................ 24

1°) Prior works ..................................................................................................................................... 25

a. Normalization of the connections ............................................................................................................25

b. Solve of the inverter breakdown .............................................................................................................26

2°) Photovoltaic generator layout ....................................................................................................... 27

a. Presentation of the place and previous installation .................................................................................27

b. Completed work ......................................................................................................................................28

CHAPTER 4: SECOND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................... 34

1°) Virtual simulation of the system.................................................................................................... 34

a. Introduction an presentation of the software ...........................................................................................34

b. Building of the system on Homer............................................................................................................34

c. Presentation of the results .......................................................................................................................35

2°) Running and real tests on the system ............................................................................................ 36

a. Connection of the engine .........................................................................................................................36

b. Theoretical part of the experiment ..........................................................................................................38

c. Presentation of the first experiment and results.......................................................................................40

CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVE ........................................................................................ 42

Hugo REY – Internship Report

Figure I.1 Picture from a wikipedia article: electricity

Hugo REY – Internship Report

1°) Internship in a foreign Country: Spain

a. Presentation of the country

Figure II.1.a.2 European and Spanish Flag

Figure II.1.a.1 Map of Spain

Spain is a democracy organized in the form of a parliamentary government under a

Hugo REY – Internship Report

Figure II.1.a.3 Puerta del sol, Madrid

b. History of the “Instituto de Energía Solar”

Figure II.1.b.1 IES building

Hugo REY – Internship Report

2°) Investigation groups

The institute of solar energy is divided in five research teams:

a. Instruments and system integration (ISI)

Hugo REY – Internship Report

c. Renewable distributed generation and intelligent control (GEDIRCI)