Y.M. Irwan

Clear sky global solar irradiance on tilt angles of photovoltaic module in Perlis, Northern Malaysia

The performance of a photovoltaic (PV) is highly influenced by its orientation and its tilt angle with the horizontal, due to the fact that both the orientation and tilt angle change the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the PV module. This paper presents a calculation of tilt angle and global solar irradiance on PV module in Perlis, Northern Malaysia. A mathematic method is used to calculate tilt angles and clear sky global solar irradiance, which depend on latitude and day number. The clear sky global solar irradiance consists of beam, diffuse and reflected solar irradiance. The tilt angles and clear sky global solar irradiance change every day in a year and analyzed. The monthly average beam, diffuse, reflected and clear sky global solar irradiance are shown and analyzed in this paper. The tilt angles of PV module in Perlis, Northern Malaysia are −17.16° to 29.74°. The positive, zero and negative tilt angles indicate that the PV module is facing south, on horizontal surface and north, respectively. The monthly average beam solar irradiance give a highest value compared with the diffuse and reflected solar irradiance. The average monthly beam solar irradiance of a year is, 968.36 W/m2, diffuse and reflected solar irradiance are 88.22 W/m2, and 4.70 W/m2, respectively. Based on global solar irradiance of a year, Perlis has a big global solar irradiance potential, its average is 1019 W/m2. These data show that the clear sky global solar irradiance can be used for certain application, especially in PV power generation.

Analysis simulation of the photovoltaic output performance

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation is an attractive technique to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and as a renewable energy. PV system is convert photo energy into direct-current energy. The temperature of PV modules increases when it absorbs solar radiation, causing a decrease in efficiency. The overall power output and efficiency of the PV module can decrease by ~0.5%/ C and ~0.05%/ C when the ambient temperature of module increases. In fact the efficiency of the general PV modules is only between 13% until 20%. This caused will affected the PV module lifespan. In this work, the performance of PV output power is analysis by using PVsyst software. The open-circuit voltage (Voc) of PV module, short circuit current (Isc) and every change temperature on PV module are measure and record. In this work, the result of efficiency of PV under cooling system is 14% while the efficiency of PV under without cooling system is 10.3%. The incident irradiance is 1000 W/m2, the efficiency of PV module is 13.05% while the incident irradiance is 200 W/m2, and the efficiency of PV module is 10.45%. The higher efficiency of PV cell, the payback period of the system can be shorted and the lifespan of PV module can also be longer.

Generation of wind power in Perlis, northern Malaysia

In recent years, wind energy is one of the fastest developing renewable energy sources technologies across the globe. Wind energy conversion given a serious consideration in Malaysia since it is located in the equatorial region. Wind energy generation in Malaysia is very much depends on the availability of the wind sources that varies with specific location. This paper present analysis of wind speed by using Weilbull distribution function and describes the performance on the Horizontal axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). The wind speed data and output voltage from the wind turbine is recorded per hour for a 24 hour by using Davis Vantage Pro2 Weather station and Electrocoder. A few calculations has been done to get output power from the wind to shows potentialities of wind energy weather it can be develop in Perlis.

Comparison of solar panel cooling system by using dc brushless fan and dc water

The purpose of this article is to discuss comparison of solar panel cooling system by using DC brushless fan and DC water pump. Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation is an interesting technique to reduce non-renewable energy consumption and as a renewable energy. The temperature of PV modules increases when it absorbs solar radiation, causing a decrease in efficiency. A solar cooling system is design, construct and experimentally researched within this work. To make an effort to cool the PV module, Direct Current (DC) brushless fan and DC water pump with inlet/outlet manifold are designed for constant air movement and water flow circulation at the back side and front side of PV module representatively. Temperature sensors were installed on the PV module to detect temperature of PV. PIC microcontroller was used to control the DC brushless fan and water pump for switch ON or OFF depend on the temperature of PV module automatically. The performance with and without cooling system are shown in this experiment. The PV module with DC water pump cooling system increase 3.52%, 36.27%, 38.98%in term of output voltage, output current, output power respectively. It decrease 6.36 °C compare than to PV module without DC water pump cooling system. While DC brushless fan cooling system increase 3.47%, 29.55%, 32.23%in term of output voltage, output current, and output power respectively. It decrease 6.1 °C compare than to PV module without DC brushless fan cooling system. The efficiency of PV module with cooling system was increasing compared to PV module without cooling system; this is because the ambient temperature dropped significantly. The higher efficiency of PV cell, the payback period of the system can be shorted and the lifespan of PV module can also be longer.

Experimental investigation of photovoltaic modules cooling system

The electrical efficiency of Photovoltaic (PV) cell depends on its operating temperature during absorption of solar radiation. It is well known that the power and efficiency of PV module usually falls at the rate of ~0.5%/°C and ~0.05%/°C respectively as increase of ambient temperature. A solar system was designed, fabricated and experimentally investigated in this work. To actively cool the PV module, a DC brushless fan with inlet/outlet manifold designed for uniform airflow distribution was attached at the back of the PV module. Experiments were performed with and without active cooling. In this study, the open-circuit voltage (Voc) of PV module, Voc and every change of temperature on PV module were measured and recorded using Midi Logger GL220. The characteristic of solar irradiance is recorded per minutes for a month using Davis Vantage Pro2 Weather Station. In the end, method to attach DC brushless fan to the backside of PV module is discussed. This work shows the comparison between a PV module with and without DC brushless fan.

Maximum voltage angle optimization of uninterruptible power supply on three-level transformer-less photovoltaic inverter

This paper presents a new topology of three-level transformer-less photovoltaic (PV) inverter. In this topology, a 240V AC system is developed from a full bridge inverter circuit using PIC microcontroller (PIC16F628A-I/P) connected to an array of PV panel through a power factor correction circuit. The output waveform of the inverter depends on the type of pulse driver. The inverter is connected to the utility supply, on the clear day, the ac load is served by the inverter but on the cloudy day or night where solar irradiance is low, the inverter through its PIC microcontroller automatically changes from the usage of inverter to the utility supply. Objective of this paper is to optimize the maximum voltage angle to obtain the lowest current total harmonic distortion (CTHD) of the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) on the three-level single phase transformer-less inverter. In this paper, the maximum voltage angle optimization of the AC three-level waveform transformer-less PV inverter is developed and created by a microcontroller PIC16F627A-I/P changing maximum voltage angle of the AC three-level waveform from 20° to 180°. Resistive load of 30 W lamp and inductive load of 20 W water pump are applied to the transformer-less PV single phase inverter. The result shows that the lowest CTHD of 15.448% is obtained when the maximum voltage angle is 134°.

Parameter determination of 0.5 hp induction motor based on load factor test-a case study

The load can influence the efficiency of the induction motor. Even if the load has higher or less load factor, it can reduce the efficiency of an induction motor by several percentage. By knowing this, it is important that an induction motor be loaded with an appropriate or load factor of 100%. In this paper, the experiment is conducted to prove that efficiency decreases when the 0.5 hp induction motors is interfaced under low load factor condition and in this case a 65% load factor. The induction motor is interfaced with a DC generator and a variable resistance as load. In order to determined the efficiency and the mechanical output power of the induction motor, the voltage of the induction motor is varied from 0–415 volt and the appropriate data is taken. This is then analysis and several calculation formulas are used to determine the motors parameters. After that the losses are segregated and from this we can compare the efficiency values in which it shows low efficiency of 66.62% based on output/input method and 66.34% by using the losses formula. This proofs that at low load factor the efficiency of the induction motor reduces.

Power capacity enhancement of transformerless photovoltaic inverter

A conventional inverter uses a transformer. Some transformers connected in parallel are needed to obtain a high power inverter. They cause the inverter has a big in size, expensive cost and low efficiency. To solve the problem, a transformerless photovoltaic inverter (TPVI) is suitable to be applied. This paper proposes a paralleled full bridge circuit (FBI) to enhance the power capacity of three-level transformerless photovoltaic inverter. It has a pulse driver circuit, five full bridge inverter circuits and a power factor correction (PFC) circuit. To obtain the high power capacity of the TPVI, five FBI circuits are connected in parallel. Each FBI circuit uses MOSFET IRFP460 which has rating current of 20 A, therefore the total FBI circuit has applicable maximum current of 100 A. Its main energy source is a photovoltaic (PV) array that consists of three unit PV modules connected in series, each unit has voltage of 81 V and power of 60 W. Some three unit PV modules are connected in parallel to fulfill the demand of high alternating current (AC) power. In this research, the AC three-level waveform of the TPVI is developed using a PIC microcontroller.

Simulation study of air and water cooled photovoltaic panel using ANSYS

Demand for alternative energy is growing due to decrease of fossil fuels sources. One of the promising and popular renewable energy technology is a photovoltaic (PV) technology. During the actual operation of PV cells, only around 15% of solar irradiance is converted to electricity, while the rest is converted into heat. The electrical efficiency decreases with the increment in PV panels temperature. This electrical energy is referring to the open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current (Isc) and output power generate. This paper examines and discusses the PV panel with water and air cooling system. The air cooling system was installed at the back of PV panel while water cooling system at front surface. The analyses of both cooling systems were done by using ANSYS CFX and PSPICE software. The highest temperature of PV panel without cooling system is 66.3 °C. There is a decrement of 19.2% and 53.2% in temperature with the air and water cooling system applied to PV panel.

Effect of Maximum Voltage Angle on Inverter Performance Applied in Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)

Uninterrupted power supply (UPS) sits between a power supply such as wall outlet and devices to prevent undesired feature that can occur within the power source such as outages, sags, surges and bad harmonics from the supply to avoid a negative impact on the devices. This paper presents a photovoltaic (PV) powered UPS using microcontroller PIC16F628A-I/P. It is a standby UPS whereas if the main power source fails to supply power to loads, a battery powered inverter turns on to continue supplying power. The battery is charged by the PV using solar charger and transfer switch controlled by the microcontroller. In this research, AC three-level waveform single phase inverter was developed and created by a microcontroller PIC16F627A-I/P with varied maximum voltage angle from 200 to 1800 and tested to a load of 240 V, 20 W AC aquarium water pump, and also analyzed effect of maximum voltage angle on the three-level single phase inverter performance. The result showed that maximum voltage angles of the inverter effected on root mean square value of AC voltage, current and power. If the maximum voltage angle was increased, therefore value of the AC voltage, current and power would increase. The maximum voltage angle would effect on the current total harmonic distortion (CTHD), the lowest CTHD of 15.448% was obtained when the maximum voltage angle was 1340.