ABSTRACT
The increase in hazardous gaseous emission from the conventional source of energy has motivated
many scientists to research on the alternate sources of energy which is cleaner. The chief source of
renewable energy is the solar energy. The cleanness of this form of energy source motivated this
research work. In this work, Modeling and Simulation of a Standalone Photovoltaic
System aimed at increasing the efficiency of solar array system was developed. This work was
undertaken to develop a clean photovoltaic technology that will provide sustainable energy supply
and bring solutions to the environmental pollution that is always associated with the conventional
energy sources. The system is intended to be an environmentally friendly solution since it tries
maximizing the use of renewable energy source. This work involves the development of a PV model
using a single diode model. The developed model was further approximated to obtain the simulation
model based on the ideal operating condition of a diode. In this work, hundred cells were used to
estimate the maximum power of the developed system using MATLAB computer simulation. The
simulation result showed a maximum power of 1.2KW using one hundred cells.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE – – – – – – – – – i
APPROVAL PAGE – – – – – – – – – – ii
CERTIFICATION – – – – – – – – iii
DECLARATION – – – – – – – – iv
DEDICATION – – – – – – — v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – – – – – – – – vi
ABSTRACT – – – – – – – – – vii
TABLE OF CONTENT – – – – – – – – – viii
LIST OF FIGURES – – – — – – – xii
LIST OF TABLES – – – – – – — xiii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study – – – – – – – – – 1
1.2. Statement of the Problem – – – – – – – – – 4
1.3. Objectives – – – – – – – – – 5
1.4. Scope of the study – – – – – – – – – 5
1.5. Significance of Study – – – – – – – – – 5
1.6. Proposed Method – – – – – – – – – 6
1.7. Plan of Thesis – – – – – – – – – 6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introductory to renewable energy – – – – – – – – – 7
2.1.1. Renewable energy forms – – – – – – – – 7
2.1.1.1. Wind energy – – – – – – – – 8
2.1.1.2. Geothermal energy – – – – – – – – 8
10
2.1.1.3. Hydroelectric energy – – – – – – – – 9
2.1.1.4. Solar energy – – – – – – – – 10
2.2. Evolution of photovoltaic system – – – – – – – – 11
2.2.1. Mid- 1990s to early 2010 – – – – — – – 12
2.2.2. Current status – – – – — – – 13
2.2.3. Forecasts – – – – – – – – 13
2.3. Formation of photovoltaic cells – – – – – – – – 13
2.4. Photovoltaic system – – – – – – – – 16
2.4.1. Kinds of solar PV system – – — – — – 17
2.4.1.1. Single axis PV solar trackers – – – – – – – 18
2.4.1.2. Double axis solar trackers – – – – – – – 18
2.5. Components of PV system – – – – – – – 18
2.6. PV system design – – – – – – — 19
2.6.1. Grid connected PV system – – – – – – — 19
2.6.2. Off-grid PV system – – – – – – — 19
2.6.3. PV system component for off-grid system – – – – – – — 19
2.7. PV materials and their conversion efficiency – – – – – – — 20
2.8. PV cell – – – – – – – – – 20
2.9. PV module arrangement – – – – — – – 21
2.10. Stand-alone photovoltaic system – – – – – – — 21
2.10.1. Application of stand-alone – – – – – – — 23
2.10.2. Future stand-alone application – – – – – – — 23
2.10.3. Component models for stand-alone PV system – – – – – – — 24
2.11.
2.12.
Working of PV array
Solar Module Modeling
– – – — – – –
– ———–
25
26
2.13. Method of improving photovoltaic efficiency – – – – – – — 28
2.13.1. PV solar trackers system – – – — – — 28
2.13.2. MPPT techniques – – – – – – — 31
2.13.2.1. Conventional method – – – – – – — 31
2.14. DC-DC converter – – – – – – — 32
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2.14.1. Buck converter – – – – – – — 32
2.14.2. Boost converter – – – – – – — 33
2.14.3. Buck-Boost converter – – – – – – 34
2.16. Review of related work – – – – – – – – 35
2.17. Proposed research – – – – – – – – 40
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction – – – – – – – – – 41
3.2. Mathematical modeling of PV cell – – – – – – – – – 41
3.3. Assumption and approximation – – – – – – – – 44
3.4. Estimation of maximum parameters – – – – – – – – 44
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Introduction – – – – – – – – – 46
4.2. Simulation Parameter – – – – – – – – – 46
4.3. Simulation Result – – – – – – – – – 47
CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1. Summary – – – – – – – – – 54
5.2. Achievement – – – – – – – – – 54
5.3. Recommendation – – – – – – – – – 54
5.4. Conclusion – – – – – – – – – 55
REFERENCES – – – – – – – – – 56
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
The increase in demand of energy and the depletion of fossil fuel have increased the interest of
people in alternative energy sources. For energy security and diversity, it is necessary that
serious attention is given to renewable energy source [1]. The general opinion shared by most of
the specialists supports the idea that the exclusive dependence on the energy produced from
fossil fuels (coal, oil, nuclear, etc.) is hazardous, unsustainable and harmful to the environment.
In this context, many developed countries (e.g. USA, Germany, Spain, Denmark, France, Italy
etc.) have launched ambitious programs for supporting the rapid development of alternative
energetic technologies based on solar energy, wind energy, tidal and wave energy, biomass etc.
One of the most promising renewable energy sources characterized by a huge potential of
conversion into electrical power is the solar energy. The conversion of solar radiation into
electrical energy by Photo-Voltaic (PV) effect is a very promising technology, being clean, silent
and reliable, with very small maintenance costs and small ecological impact. The interest in the
PV conversion systems is visibly reflected by the exponential increase in sales in this market
segment with a strong growth. There are various types of sun tracking systems, classified based
on their kinematic motion, type of solar collector, solar absorber type, concentration ratio and
indicative temperature range. These systems are summarized as follows: stationary, single-axis
tracking, two-axis tracking, and multi axis tracking [3].
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The continuous evolution of the technology is determined by a sustained increase of the
conversion efficiency of PV panels, but nonetheless most of the commercial panels have
efficiencies no more than 20%. Many researchers have worked and developed techniques to
increase the PV panel conversion efficiency. Some PV efficiency improvement techniques are
solar tracking [1, 2], optimization of solar cells geometry, enhancement of light tracking
capability and use of new materials. The output power produced by the PV panels depends
strongly on the incident light radiation. The continuous change in the sun earth relative position
results in a continuously changing incident radiation on a fixed PV panel. The point of maximum
received energy is reached when the direction of solar radiation is perpendicular to the panel
surface. When this is done, there is always an increase in the output energy of a given PV
system. Many of the solar panels had been positioned on a fixed surface such as roof.
The utilization of renewable energy is continuously increasing as per requirement. We know that
green energy can be recycled such as solar energy, hydro power, wind energy, biomass energy,
tidal energy etc. These renewable forms of energy will play a very important role in future
because the non renewable energy is continuously minimizing or decreasing and there will be a
day when it will finish. Since the generation of power from solar energy is relatively low, it is
necessary to increase the power generation from this energy source. The solar power is becoming
more and more reliable source of energy for many industrial and housing applications. As sun is
a moving body, this approach is not the best method. One of the solutions is to actively track the
sun using a photovoltaic (PV) device that is sensitive to the sun irradiation. The Automatic
hybrid PV system is based on natural and clean solar power. This is a whole automated system
with self decision making capability. In many researches, PV module’s performance and
maximization efficiency of solar radiation are studied as PV cells have stimulated great interest
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in solar tracker systems. Photovoltaic generators work most efficiently when the sun is directed
perpendicular to their panel surfaces for most mechanical tracking systems. Using a solar tracker
for the PV panel dramatically upsurges the initial and operational costs, but in return this results
in an increase in the system efficiency. The work done by [1, 2] pointed out that the use of oneaxis
solar tracking systems can increase the energy output up by 20% with cost increase of 10%,
whereas two-axis solar tracking systems can increase the energy output up by 40% with cost
increase of about 30%, over a fixed solar system. Today’s developments in automatic control
systems lead to enhancement of contemporary power generation techniques. Solar tracking is
one of the automated methods to best accomplish the task of increasing power output of PV
panels by matching the tilt angle of the panel to the seasonal and daily changes of the sun’s
altitude. To get the most out of the energy output of a PV system, a sun tracker is used to line up
the collection PV system to the changing sun’s position in the sky with seasonal variations and
time. An ideal sun tracker should forward the photovoltaic panel to the sun, by compensating for
changes in the sun’s altitude and azimuth angles.
Solar energy is the most available source of energy resources, especially in region where sun shine is
abundance like Nigeria, other Africa, tropical and the equatorial regions. Lots of researches are carried
out to improve the efficiency of the solar cells. The efficiency of the solar cells was merely 17% in the
early 90’s and it has increased to 35% in the later period. But still it has some drawbacks [4]. One among
them is the relatively high cost and the other is their low efficiency even at the current rate of 35% [5].
The important drawback among all of them is the positioning of the solar cells, especially during the
summer season when the sun shines more than 16 hours a day and maximum energy is not extracted from
the cells. The solar tracker is a device used to track the movement of the sun. It aligns the photovoltaic
panels in the optimum position of the angle of incidence of the sun, during the day hours and increases the
amount of energy collected from 35% to 50% [6]. It is necessary to keep the panels in a perfect angle of
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incidence to the sun. Hence the model has the capability of moving on both sides with the help of two
stepper motors. One of those motor helps to turn the panel in the east to west direction while the other
motor helps in the movement of the component in the changing altitude angle these approaches and
methods all point at energy maximization [4]. Solar energy generation system is designed with the study
of different applications to improve the efficiency by adding the tracking equipment to operate in threeaxis
closed loop solar tracking system, which increases the efficiency of a conventional solar power
generating systems with low power cost.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
One of the challenges facing Nigeria as a country is erratic power supply. For any nation to grow
in terms of technology, advancement in industrial production and management, the pivotal factor
is the energy. For couple of decades now, Nigeria is still in the category of a developing country
because her inability to meet up with the energy demand for sustainable development. Naturally,
we have all it takes to maintain and sustain power uninterruptedly in Nigeria through renewable
energy. Other developed countries in the world harness wind energy, solar energy, biogas, etc
into different forms of energy to improve their economy and their standard of living. Although
there are many places in Nigeria where solar stands are installed, this thesis aims at efficiency
maximization by developing a model that could enhance the efficiency of PV cells.
1.3. Aims and Objective of the Study
This thesis aims at maximization, optimization, and increase in efficiency of the photovoltaic
solar system. Energy is central to national development and technological advancement in
Nigeria; therefore it is pertinent to look into the energy maximization. Hence, the sole aim of this
research is to develop a model that maximizes solar energy conversion. Other objectives of the
work include:
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· To develop a model for maximum energy tracking.
· To carryout performance evaluation on the developed model.
· To use the developed model to estimate the maximum power of a PV system.
1.4. Scope of the Work
This work will cover initially the study of photovoltaic solar system, maximum power point
tracking (MPPT) techniques. Development of a mathematical model, simulation of the
developed model and analysis of the simulation result.
1.5. Significance of Study
Photovoltaic cell is formed from the simple arrangement of diodes which produces direct current
(DC) due to the movement of electrons as the intensity of the sun increases. This is the principle
of production of photo-voltage. Due to some certain environmental conditions like temperature,
pressure, ideality factor of the diode, energy gap, shading effect, cloud and mathematical
parameters of the diode, the production of mobile electron in the diode crystal is normally
insignificant, hence reduces the level of the output voltage. However, this research is important
especially during the fabrication of mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline diode cells. The
introduction of the estimated maximum parameters into the diode crystal as developed in this
research could improve the sensitive of the diode to sunlight.
1.6. Proposed Method
There are many approaches and attempts to harness the solar energy system. But the effective
method and techniques is to increase the efficiency of the system output. Since energy from the
sun is inexhaustible, an effective method is needed therefore in harnessing the energy from the
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sun. In this work, an estimated maximum parameter will be used in the simulation and analysis
of a single diode model.
1.7. Plan of Thesis
This work is organized as follows: Chapter two reviewed the literature and other tracking
techniques. Chapter three, showed the research methodology of the proposed model. Chapter
four detailed the model result with discussion. Chapter five provides recommendation for further
work and concludes the work.
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