Almost all the households of the country face problem of electricity-cuts or load shedding. A conventional way solving this is using Invertors with battery back-up. However, a non-conventional and upcoming method has been using Solar Energy. The equipment required for a basic Manually-Operated Solar Back-up system are:
Solar Panels
Solar Charge Controller
Battery pack
DC to AC Inverter
Wiring & Sockets
Panel Stand
Battery Rack
Now, we look at functions of each of the following equipments:
Equipment
Function
Solar Panel
Generate DC when Sunlight falls on them
Solar Charge Controller
Charges battery and prevents reverse current in case of voltage drop.
Battery
Stores Electricity DC current (as chemical energy)
DC to AC Inverter
Converts DC current from batteries to AC Current
Panel Stand
Mounts Solar Panel safely
Battery Rack
Keeps battery safe
The 3rd step is the connection diagram:
Arrangement of Equipment for Solar power backup
With Equipment and arrangement being clear, the next step is estimation of House load and based upon that System capacity. For sake of comparison, let us make a list of equipments that are to be placed on Inverter back-up in a 3BHK flat.
Equipment
Number
Watts
Total
Tube Lights
3
40
120
Fans
3
80
240
Refrigerator
1
100
100
Computer
1
120
120
Misc.
1
70
70
Total
650
Hence, the load of equipment in our case = 650 watts.
Lets say we need backup for 1 hr.
Now going in reverse order:
Capacity of DC-AC Inverter = 650/0.8 (safety factor) = 800watt
Battery Capacity = power to be delivered * time = 650* 1
Considering each battery = 12 V & number of battery = 2
650 = 2*12*AH
AH = 650/48 = 27
Hence, we need to buy 2 batteries of 12 V and 27AH each
Solar panel, needs to produce 650 watts of power on average in a day (5 hrs,0.8 efficiency factor) .
Panel wattage = 650/ (5*.8) = 162.5 watt
Thus 200 watt solar panel that produces dc electricity at 12V, would suffice.
This brings us to last and most important part. i.e. cost of the system
