Download ESW House Electrification IDEA 398: Final Report

Solar Electric System
Our design utilizes the typical elements of a solar electric system, as illustrated in Figure
1. A typical system consists of a photovoltaic array (solar panel), charge controller,
battery, inverter, and loads. In order to reduce costs and power consumption, our system
will be limited to DC (direct current) loads, thereby eliminating the need for an inverter.
Though the configuration of the components is standardized, the sizing of components
requires further calculations, which will be discussed later in the report.
Figure 1: Typical solar electric system3
Table 1 briefly explains each component’s function in a solar electric system. A more
thorough explanation can be found in Appendix B.
Table 1. Solar electric system components and their functions
Component
Photovoltaic (PV) Array
Charge Controller
Battery
Load (Appliances)
Function
Converts sunlight to electricity
Regulates current from PV array to battery and from
battery to load
Stores electrical energy
Uses electricity to serve users
3
Sun, N. W. S. (March 16, 2008). Typical PV System <http://www.malignani.ud.it/WebEnis/NorthWindSouthSun/power/images/pvsystem.gif>
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