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A MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

ON

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the award of degree of

Master of Technology in Energy management.
Submitted by
Swati Bajpai
Guided by
Dr R C Chaudhary
Reader

SCHOOL OF ENERGY & ENVIORNMENTAL STUDIES

(FACULTY OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES)
DEVI AHILAYA VISHWA
VIDHALAYA, INDORE 452017 MAY-2012

CERTIFICATE

The Project title

Design and Analysis of Solar Inverter

Submitted by Swati Bajpai who has worked under my supervision and guidance, is
approved for the submission for the partial fulfillment of the degree in Master of
Technology in Energy Management

Date:

Guided by
Dr R C Chaudhary
Reader

SCHOOL OF ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

(FACULTY OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES)
DEVI AHILYA VISHWA VIDHYALAYAINDORE- 452 017
MAY-2012
2

Table of Content:
SL NO.

DESCRIPTION

PAGE.NO.

1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6

Solar Energy
Solar Energy Facts
Solar Energy for home
Advantages of Solar Energy
Why solar energy?
Applications for solar energy
Common Solar Equipments

2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6

How photovoltaic cells work

Voltage-Current (V-I) Characteristic
Types of Solar Panel
Crystalline Silicon
Thin Film
Concentrators
Thermophotovoltaics

3
4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

How Solar System Works.

Consumption Detail Per Month of Electricity
Light Bulb
Washing Machine
Color TV
Refrigerate
Iron

5
5.1
5.2

How an Inverter Works.

PWM Inverters.
Schematic
Layout

6
7
8

Result
Conclusion
Refrences

Solar Energy
Solar electricity is the energy which is extracted by Sun using solar power plants. Sun is the
richest source of energies like light and heat. Huge amount of energies are available for us to
take and make big impact on our electricity requirements. Our sun throws as much amount of
energy on earth in one day which is equivalent to the energy requirement for the entire year
For better understating about what solar energy is and how it generated we need to know bit
more about Sun which provide us with this amazing source of energy. Solar energy is radiant
energy which is emitted by Sun. One interesting question which one may ask is how sun
manages to provide such amount of radiant energy constantly, what does sun possess which in
result produces such massive amount of energy ? It is obvious that all this energy comes from
within the core of sun. This huge ball is full of gases like hydrogen and helium, hydrogen atoms
however is present on larger scale. Energy is formed because of nuclear fusion reaction when
hydrogen atoms combine to form helium; this entire process takes place in the core of the sun
which is the hottest part.
Extreme high pressures and temperatures are formed due to nuclear fusions reaction which in
result hydrogen atoms to break apart and their nuclei to combine or fuse. One helium atom is
formed when four nuclei of hydrogen are fused together; however helium atoms posses lesser
mass then four hydrogen atoms. During the nuclear fusion reaction some of the matter is lost
which is release into the space, this matter comes out into space as radiant energy.
Sun surface is about 109 times bigger then surface of the earth. It takes millions of years for
energy generated from the center of the sun to reach to the surface of the sun. Our mother earth is
about 149.63 * 106 kilometers away from the sun, and light takes about 8 minutes and 31
seconds to reach to the surface of the earth. Light from the sun travels 186,262 milers per second
to reach to earth. Energy emitted from the sun which reaches earth is in massive amount and can
be extremely dangerous for mankind on earth if direct exposure is made.
Earth posses layer of ozone which filters all harmful radiant energy and allows only that light
and heat energy to the surface of earth which benefits living organisms. The energy which finally
reaches earth is very low to the amount of energy filtered, yet this amount of energy is sufficient
to provide enough electricity to the earth for entire year. Some portion of energy is reflected back
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into space, little portion is used to evaporation process, some amount of energy is utilized by
land, oceans and plants, still rest of the energy is up for us to take and produce solar electricity
out of it.
The Sun is made of atoms too. Mostly they are ionized, so we should think of the Sun as being
made of nuclei and electrons.
We can find out by analyzing sunlight, as we will see shortly.
The result

About 75% (by mass) H.

About 25% (by mass) He.

A small amount of heavier elements.

The middle of the Sun is a very hot gas. It is ionized: all of the electrons have been ripped away
from the nuclei because it is so hot. The nuclei available are mostly 1H, quite a lot of 4He, and a
few 2H and 3He. (There are a few other types, but they are not so important for us.)
What is happening in the middle of the Sun is analogous to burning methane:
C H4 + 2 O2 --> C O2 + 2 H2 O
In this reaction, the final molecules have less internal energy than the starting molecules. Since
energy is conserved, the extra energy is released as energy of motion of the molecules. That is
the gas gets hotter. The amount of energy involved is 5.5 eV each time the reaction above
happens.
As we have seen, much more energy than that must be involved in the reactions inside the Sun
and other stars. The evidence is strong that the overall reaction is "burning" hydrogen to make
helium:
4 1H + 2 e --> 4He + 2 neutrinos + 6 photons

The high energy photons produced by the nuclear process don't get far. They are absorbed and
heat the gas. The helium remains in the middle of the Sun. The neutrinos easily zip out of the
Sun. (Neutrinos easily zip through most anything, reacting with matter only rarely.)

In this reaction, the final particles have less internal energy than the starting particles. Since
energy is conserved, the extra energy is released as energy of motion of the nuclei and electrons
in the solar gas, the production of lots of low energy photons and, finally, the energy of the
neutrinos, which just zip right out of the Sun. That is the gas gets hotter and has lots of photons
(and neutrinos). The amount of energy involved is 26 MeV = 26 x 10 6 eV each time the reaction
above happens.
Solar Energy is the energy received from the sun that sustains life on earth. For many decades
solar energy has been considered as a huge source of energy and also an economical source of
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energy because it is freely available. However, it is only now after years of research that
technology has made it possible to harness solar energy.

Some of the modern Solar

Energy systems consist of magnifying glasses along with pipes filled with fluid. These systems
consist of frontal glass that focuses the suns light onto the pipes. The fluid present in the pipes
heats up instantly. In addition they pipes are painted black on the outside so as to absorb
maximum amount of heat. The pipes have reflective silver surface on the back that reflects the
sunlight back, thus heating the pipes further. This reflective silver surface also helps in protecting
everything that is on the back of the solar panel.
The heat thus produced can be used for heating up water in a tank, thus saving the large amount
of gas or electricity required to heat the water.

Solar Energy Facts

Solar Energy is already being successfully used in residential and industrial settings for cooking,
heating, cooling, lighting, space technology, and for communications among other uses. In fact,
fossil fuels are also one form of solar energy stored in organic matter. With fossil fuels making
major impact on the environment and raising issues of pollution and global warming, solar
energy has increased in its importance to industries and homes. While the reserves of fossil fuels
are restricted, there is no limitation to the availability of solar energy.
With improvement in solar energy technology and the increase in prices of fossil fuel, solar
energy is gradually becoming more and more affordable. In addition, there is additional cost in
the form of importation and transportation, required for oil, coal and gas.
On a surface on the Earths orbit, normal to the sun, solar radiation hits at the rate of 1,366 Watt
Per Meter Square. This is known as solar constant. While 19% of this energy gets absorbed in the
atmosphere, 35% gets reflected by clouds. So, the solar energy that reaches sea level is much
reduced.
In the last few years, the cost of manufacturing of photovoltaic cells has gone down by as much
as 5% in a year and the percentage of government subsidies have gone up. This means that every
year, it is becoming more and more affordable to use Solar Energy. In 2004, the global solar cell
production increased by as much as 60%. The amount of energy released by a single Kilo Watt of
solar energy unit is equivalent to burning as much as 76 Kg of coal that releases over 135 Kg of
carbon dioxide.
As per energy industry giant, Shell more than 50% of the global energy in 2040 is going to be in
the form of renewable energy.
Solar Energy for home
In the last few years the number of photovoltaic installations on homes connected to utility grid
has grown significantly. And, the demand for Solar Energy has grown due to policies in green
pricing from utilities and government rebate programs. The demand has also grown due to the
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interest of households to get electricity from renewable, non-polluting and clean source.
However, most of the users are interest in solar energy, but they can pay only a limited premium
for it.
The returns on the initial high costs of installation are in the form selling solar energy to the grid
at premium rates and also in the form of long-term savings that come in the form of not having to
pay any utility bills.
When you have a solar system that is connected to the utility grid, the regular generation of
electricity is used at home and the excess electricity is exported to the utility. In this type of setup
you would not require any batteries because any additional demand will be met from the grid
supply. However, if you want to be free of the grid, battery storage will be required to supply
power during nighttime and during cloudy or stormy conditions.
Vacation homes or holiday homes that dont have access to the grid can utilize Solar Energy in a
more cost-effective manner as compared to relying on the grid for running wires to the remote
location. People living in remote areas having sufficient sunlight can get reliable power in the
form of solar energy. The basic components required in the solar power system consists of a solar
panel, battery for storing all the energy gathered during daytime, a regulator and essential
switches and wiring. These types of systems are commonly known as Solar Home Systems
(SHS).
Solar Energy Cost
When you want to install Solar Energy system at home, you would require it to be sufficient for
meeting all electricity requirements in home for a day plus it should generate enough power to
store for 3 to 5 days for contingency purpose. Such a system would keep supplying power and
getting charged when the days are sunny. During rain or winters it would be able to keep backup
charge for a couple of days until the sun emerges. This means that such a solar power system is
going to supply you a regular flow of electricity.
Solar panels are one of the most important factors in the generation of Solar Energy. On an
average, 1 Sq. Ft. of Solar Panel generates 10.6 Watts of power. And, the cost of 1 Sq. Ft. of
Solar Panel is approximately Rs. 4,500. 10.6 Watt of power is sufficient to light a room. So, if

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you want to power appliances like television, refrigerator and computer, you would need more
solar panels.
You would have to consider solar grid-tie, and install 60 to 70 solar panels on the roof to meet
the overall electricity requirement of your home. You must know that the cost of installing solar
panels is not at all cheap.

Advantages of Solar Energy

Solar Energy has more advantages than you can point out the disadvantages. When it comes to
considering solar power as mainstay source of energy for home and industrial settings, it beats all
other conventional sources of energy.
Once the initial cost of installation is met, the electricity generated by solar panels is free of cost.
In a stand-alone solar power system you dont have to pay any utility bills. Another positive in
installing solar power systems is that government offers lots of rebates and incentives to cover
the initial cost. You can also sell the additional electricity generated by your system. Sometimes
the utility company will give you credits for selling the excess amount of electricity.
Another good thing about solar power is that the cost of the technology is decreasing almost
every few months and the efficiency is improving significantly. Today, you can find different
types of solar solutions that are more convenient to install. Solar Energy is a renewable and clean
source of energy and you dont have to pay any transmission cost. This is because the energy
would be produced and consumed at the same place.
Depending upon your budget, you can get all or a part of your electricity requirements fulfilled
by solar energy. When batteries are used in the system to store electricity you can become
entirely independent of the grid. This also means that you dont have to get bothered by power
failures in the grid, as you would be able to enjoy seamless supply of electricity.
Before we delve into the discussion of why solar energy is so needed in the world today, well
first look into what solar energy really is. By definition, solar energy is that beaming light and
heat that is generated from the sun. Solar energy has been used by human beings since time

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immemorial. Solar power is used in a widespread of the ever so progressing technologies of the
world.
The radiation that comes from solar energy along with the resultant solar energized resources
such as wave power, wind, biomass and hydroelectricity all give an explanation for most of the
accessible renewable energy that is present on earth. However, only an infinitesimal portion of
the existing solar energy is used.
So the question of why solar energy, that persists in the minds of many, is because solar energy
can prove to have an immense amount of constructive and helpful impact on you and on the
environment as a whole. Contrasting to the fossil fuels that we consume and use on a daily basis,
solar energy does not fabricate the excessively injurious pollutants that are liable for
the greenhouse effect which is known to lead to global warming. Solar power use reduces the
quantity of contamination and toxic waste, not to forget pollution that the engendering plants
have to produce. Global warming is an issue of great interest. In the recent times, with more
awareness about the harmful effects of global warming, the issue is taken with great interest.
There is in point of fact a massive belief that the use of fossil fuel is a contributing factor to the
cause of global warming, which will ultimately result in the demise of the planet altogether.
Probably the best part about why solar energy is that it is a renewable source of energy, which
basically means that it will stay there forever, it will be consumed for all practical human usages.
Oil, coal etc, is all bound to finish one day and eradicate from the face of the planet. So why not
put them in the storage and use something more useful, is a basic question that many people have
today.

Why solar energy?

Because, it is ultra clean, natural and a sustainable source of energy that you can utilize in the use
of making solar electricity, solar heating appliances, solar cooling appliances and also solar
lighting appliances.
Another key aspect of using solar energy is that it has massive financial benefits. They can
generally be seen in the reduction of your utility bills. As you would be consuming solar power
for the electricity that you use, the heating, the cooling and the lighting of your environment.
Statistically, in the United States, Americans are known to be consuming 25% of the worlds oil
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production on a daily basis. On the whole, the planet is being drained of its oil resources and the
energy prices are only bound to go up. To only mend your own personal cost of energy needs is
probably one of the smartest things to do and not to forget a very valuable future investment,
when measured up to the unavoidable rise in the cost of energy in recent times as well as the not
so far future. Solar energy systems are very much affordable, and with the help from the local,
state and the federal programs that are now available to help in the installation costs, they seem
to make much more sense than using other sources of generating energy apart from the solar
energy.
Conversely, if you take benefit of the law that was passed in 2005, which is mainly referred to as
the law of the net metering, you can actually end up saving on the price of the batteries and use
extra power back into the utility network, which if you ever have the need to use it, can do so
easily. This in short means that the utility corporation actually turns into being your own personal
storage facility, with absolutely no extra fund cost to your wallet.
On the global front, creating the use of solar energy seems to be one of the best options available.
The change in the climate world over is a serious threat to our planet which is causing much of
the problems. The emission levels of carbon dioxide that we generate by the constant use of
fossil fuel are literally killing our planet. The usage of solar energy will only provide us with a
clean environment, a life where we will not have to constantly worry about the ever so reducing
resources to provide us with the basic comforts of our life. With net metering, the ever so
reasonably priced solar technology and the ultimate willingness to change this situation around,
you can augment the energy competence of your home, and in due course accomplish net zero
fossil fuel expenditure and utilization. You will also save the planet from dying out by using solar
energy!

Applications for solar energy

Solar power plants are relatively common than what we have witness in past decay. There are
many reasons which we have been discussing through out on different section of website that it
is important to adopt some kind of alternative source of power generation before we run out of
current sources which produce electricity for us at present. The most obvious and realistic choice

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is solar energy. Solar energy is available in abundant amount on earth and shifting our electricity
requirements on solar energy is most likely to be the option in coming future.
Solar plants have already start providing electricity to us on different levels and scales. What we
have all witness since our childhood is solar power calculator or wrist watch but now thankfully
things have moved way on. Solar power gadgets or huge solar power arrays are seen producing
massive amount of electricity for domestic and commercial areas. Solar power usage is not
constant through out the world. Developed countries more obviously have larger solar power
consumption than developing countries. For instance Abengoa Solar launched commercial solar
plant in Seville Spain, it produces 20Megwatts of electricity. Solar Applications can be divided
into three categories for understanding them better. Solar applications are available in sectors like
Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Agriculture. Lets discuss these sectors in detail and
know what work has been done in given sectors.

Residential solar power

There are numerous solar powered based devices available in market which are used in
residential sector, products like solar power heater, geezer, outdoor garden lights, battery
chargers etc. These days entire homes can be powered by solar energy. Appropriate solar cells
type is used and joined together in modules. These modules of cells are mounted on the roof of
the home for direct exposure to the sun light. This sun light is then converted into electricity
using solar cells and then transfer into electric system of the house. If power requirement of
house is higher then what solar power plant is producing then it can be used supplementary to
reduce utility bills and incase if more power is produced than it is required, your electric plant
grid station may use net metering and purchase the amount of electricity sent to grid station by
your solar power plant. There are systems available which hold battery backups and store the
access amount of energy. This energy can be used when conventional electricity is out.

Industrial Solar Power

Solar energy applications : solar energy is been in use in industry and provides multiple
industrial applications, especially when power is required in remote locations. Solar power can
be useful in such industrial applications where small kilowatt energy is required. Some examples
of remote location solar powered applications are TV Station, Radio broadcasting towers,
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repeater stations, radio telephones etc.Solar power also facilitated electricity in transportation
signaling system. In Japan, there are cities which are totally equipped with solar power traffic
signal systems and does not require conventional electricity to operate. Other transportation
system includes navigation systems, light houses in oceans, runway lights on airports, security
camera in dark etc. Other industrial applications where solar power is used are environmental,
situation equipment and protection systems for well heads, bridges pipelines etc. Such
applications where electricity load is high, solar power can prove cost effective by configure
hybrid electric power systems, that joints photovoltaic solar power system with small generators
that operates on fuel or natural gas. Solar power is highly reliable and can work on locations
where conventional electricity is not reachable. Space is one of the examples for it. Satellites are
powered by solar power from the day first when first satellite was launched in Space Solar car is
another most sophisticated application of solar energy. PV is installed on the surface of the car
which converts sun light into electricity to power up a car. Such cars are not yet available for use
in market, but they are bound to come for launch commercially very soon in future.

Commercial Solar Power

Commercial building like offices, school, clinics, community halls, hospitals etc can also take
advantage from solar energy electrification. In office buildings, glass/glass PV modules can
provide cover over atria, which provide shaded light inside the building. PV systems can also be
installed on vertical wall office building in several ways, Curtain wall system, rain screen over
cladding etc.

Solar Energy Equipments for Home

Solar energy is not only utilized by governments and industry to produce power but is of many
uses to household. There is an array of solar equipments to be used in home. First of all, there
are solar panels that are used to produce electric current. This electric current is conserved in
a battery at the back. However for the conversion of electric current to the usable energy like
alternate current an inverter is used. This inverter turns the direct current into alternate current to
support the functioning of electrical appliances. Other solar equipments which can be used at
home include solar pool heating systems, solar water heaters, solar ovens and solar cookers.
Solar energy can be used directly and indirectly. Direct consumption of solar energy is possible
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only if we conserve sunlight using solar equipments. However the indirect consumption includes
the modules such as passive solar heating. The basic purpose of domestic solar equipments is
that the end users can also benefit form this free sources of energy and conserve the electricity
produced by using fossils. The design of solar equipments is really simple and small. Domestic
solar equipments are adjusted according to the need of the home. For example the solar water
heating system can be deployed in your back yard.

Common Solar Equipments

Solar energy products are becoming common now. Moreover the development in this sector has
taken it to toward some really different inventions like solar hand bags and solar caps. There is a
long list of solar equipments ranging from the solar power systems to solar cookers and solar
lights. Some important solar equipment include solar street lights, solar lantern, solar panels,
solar lamps, solar energy collectors, solar portable kits, solar inverters, solar battery chargers,
solar power generators, photovoltaic panels, solar batteries, solar cars, solar cells, solar
jackets,solar water pumps, concentrated solar power plants and many more. The use of all these
solar equipments doe not put much pressure on your pocket once they are installed.

Some Uses of Solar Equipments

Solar panels are used to transform solar heat into electricity. Solar panels can be attached to the
existing electricity grids for saving electricity or can be used alone. Solar cookers and ovens can
save a lot of electricity used during cooking. The solar energy cookers cook food in the same
way but the end product id relatively healthy. Solar street lights can conserve sunlight all day
long and stay luminous in the night. Solar heating systems are a cost effective way of
transforming water into steam. This useful steam is then used to support the industrial machinery.
The use and production of solar equipments is increasing as the world is shifting to alternative
and renewable energy sources. Make a simple solar cooker at your home by using cardboard and
silver foil. Use it and find out how simple it is use solar appliances. These solar appliances can
save a lot of energy for you. In order to make the use of solar equipments common it is
important to guide the students about its benefits. This would shift our next generation
automatically towards its use.

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How photovoltaic cells work

Photovoltaic is the other name for Solar cells, photovoltaic cells are responsible for producing
energy out of sun light it receives. Photovoltaic or solar cells are made of special materials which
are semi-conductors. These semi-conductors produces electricity when sun light falls onto its
surface. Solar electric cells are simple cells to use, they are do not require any thing but sun light
to operate, they are long lasting , reliable and easy to maintain. Normally solar panels life time is
twenty five years.

Voltage-Current (V-I) Characteristic

Extracting the maximum amount of power from the solar panel is difficult due to the nonlinearity
of the Voltage-Current (V-I) characteristic. Figure shows the V-I characteristic for Solar Panel

The blue line in Figure 2-1 is the actual V-I characteristic and the pink line corresponds to the
power as a function of the voltage (P = I*V). As you can see, the voltage to current relationship
is not linear, which makes it a little more difficult to determine the maximum power point. The
maximum power point on a linear curve would occur at the midpoint of the V-I characteristic.

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However, in the case of a nonlinear relationship, the power needs to be determined by calculating
the voltage to the current. To get the maximum power from the solar panel, the solar panel must
always be operated at or very near the point where the power curve is at a maximum, its peak
point. However, this operating point will constantly change due to the constantly changing
ambient conditions. In fact, the temperature and other affects such as irradiance alter the V-I
characteristic changing the operating point that would allow us to pull out the maximum amount
of power. As a result, we need to constantly track the power curve and keep the solar panel
operating at the point where the maximum amount of power would be achieved.
Irradiance is a characteristic that deals with the amount of sun energy reaching the ground. The
irradiance reaching the earth in ideal conditions is 1000W/m2. However, this value is altered
significantly depending on where you are located geographically, the angle of the sun, and the
amount of haze or cloud cover preventing all of the suns energy from reaching the ground. Since
solar panels run strictly off the energy emitted from the sun, their output is affected by the
changing irradiance. The Figure 2-2 below demonstrates the affect irradiance has on the output
of solar panels.

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How photovoltaic cells work, and what are there types.

There are many types of solar cell technologies which are under development, but four of them
are most commonly used, these technologies are crystalline silicon, thin films concentrators and
thermo photovoltaic solar cell technologies. These cells are integrated to other solar power plant
components to make electricity available. Lets study these technologies in detail.

Crystalline Silicon:
Crystalline silicon cells are quite widely used in most solar power plants. These types of cells
contain two layers, positive layer and negative layer just like in most semiconductors. Positive
layer exist on the top side whereas negative layer exists on button. Electric field is created with
in these layers. Photons from sun light strikes on semiconductors in result electrons are released,
electrons are electric charge. This electricity is transferred as direct current (DC) in panel.
There are some cells available which are made from polycrystalline silicon, these type of cells
are made of multiple but small in size silicon crystals, these kind of cells are relatively cheaper to
be produced but there efficiency is compromised, where as single silicon crystal cells have better
performance.

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Applications of silicon solar cell

Ordinary silicon cells are smaller in size hence produce small amount of electricity. One silicon
cell can be used for powering up calculator or wrist watch. To produce enough energy from these
types of cell for lightening up entire home modules of silicon cells are require to be made in
which these cells are connected together. These modules are building blocks for solar power.
More and more modules are connected together for increasing solar electric power capacity.
Arrays of modules are made for power generation in satellites.
Thin Film
Thin film solar cells are simple, durable lighter and easier to assemble when we compare it with
silicon module solar cells. Amorphous is used to build best quality thin film cells. In these form
of solar cells atoms arrangement is not in particular order. It is very efficient type of cell; it can
convert over 90% of usable solar energy to electricity when it is exposed to light only by using
amorphous silicon thin film cell which is only one micron thick. Thin film cells have advantage
of being cost effective , they are required lesser amount semiconductor materials.

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Application of Thin Films

These types of cells are not produced individually, but they are developed in modules and then
joint together to frames and rest of the plant. Thin layers of semiconductors are used to
manufacture thin films by using backing materials like plastic or glass. These backing materials
are directly coated with anti-reflected materials and protective layers. Thin films are designed to
match the shape of backing materials; this enabled these types of cells to be extremely flexible in

Concentrators
One can easily understand the working of concentrator cells, they works just as optical lens do.
Concept is very much same as in magnifying glass. In concentrator cells light is concentrated
using lens to fall on solar cells to produce maximum energy as possible. By using concentrator
cells lights intensity is increase by targeting on certain area, which in result increases electricity
production.
Most of concentrator cells produced these days are made up of crystalline silicon material. But
there are materials like gallium arsenide and gallium indium phosphide have proven to be much
more effective in performance when compare with silicon in solar cells, there are chances for
these cells will increase in use in future.

22

Application of Concentrator cells

Concentrator cells are widely used in high tech industries like space and satellites etc,
concentrator cells are reliable cells thats why these cells used in such sensitive and expensive
space operations. These cells produce way more energy even by using low quality and less
expensive semiconductors materials comparing other solar electric cells.
A normal concentrator cell is consist of lens which help focusing sun on perfect spot of cell,
assembly of solar cell, device to waste of extra heat, wires for connectivity etc. These units are
capable of combining with other units of different shapes and sizes to form bigger modules.
Concentrator cells best works in direct sunlight, dry climates. Tracking devices must be used
with these types of cells so that they can manage to keep their direction towards sun.
Thermo Photovoltaic
Thermo Photovoltaic cell uses different technology to produce electricity. Thermo- means heat,
these cells converts heat into electricity; rest of it works as same as photovoltaic cells which
converts light into electricity. The only difference between thermo-photovoltaic and photovoltaic
is that thermo photovoltaic cells uses semiconductor which are designed for long wavelength,
invisible light like infrared rays released by hot objects. This way of generating electricity is very
neat and clean and also simpler to what we experience in power generation using generators,
steam turbines etc.
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Applications for Thermophotovoltaic Cells

These kinds of cells are very useful as they do not require much of maintenance works. They
cannot only convent heat energy from sun into electricity but can also convert heat from any
source into electric energy. Heat sources like fuel combustions, combustions of gasses etc.
thermophotovoltaic cells like all other types of solar cells do not release any by product which
can harm environment, thats why they are clean sources of energy. Thermophotovoltaic cells
can be used in furnaces in future to produce their own electricity, can also be useful in battery
charging and power generators

How Solar Power Works

There is hardly any one who has not heard about solar energy, and if one knows what solar
energy is, it is certain to be known that sun has some thing to do with it. Well sun has almost
every thing to do with; it is only sun who manages to provide 1000 watts per square meter. That
is enormous amount of energy to take, if we have enough solar cells array to place on open land
to capture energy.

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There is one most common example for solar product is calculator which we use in our homes
and office. These calculators do not have batteries but operates on solar cells and usually it
remains on and do not have off buttons, for them to keep on working only light is required. There
are little advance examples for solar power applications available in fewer parts of the world,
solar application like solar signals on highways, emergency road signs, emergency call boxes,
parking lights and garden lights.
Proper solar panels are getting common these days, these solar panels can take up the entire
electricity load of home, although this is not yet that common but definitely on the way to be
very useful and adoptable in coming future. That time is not that far when most of our homes
will be using solar power home.
How Solar System Works.
To understand how solar power planels work and provide electricity I have broken down its
working and processes in to steps for better understanding. These steps are mentioned with the in
the order as it happens in given solar plant. Steps like Sun light, Earth surface, Photovoltaic
Cells, Weather Station, DC switch, Inverter, Transformer, AC switch, Electric meter.
1. SUN LIGHT: Sun is the only source for light for earth, sun produces enormous amount
of energy due to fusion reactions with in its core. Portions of energy are travelled to the
surface of the earth; these portions of energy are called photons. Sun light passes through
different layers before entering into atmosphere of earth, these layers have specific
filtration process which filter harmful energy and light and prevent it to reach on earth.
The energy which gets in the atmosphere is reflected and absorbed by earth, crops water,
oceans etc and some of the energy is reflected back into space. Rest of the energy is
available to take to produce energy from.
2. Earth Surface: Earth receives enormous amount of radiant energy from the sun, even
after reflection of most of the energy during traveling from sun to earth. This energy
available is still on huge scale to be converted into electricity using solar panels. Sun light
is the most important part to complete life cycle of human beings and other living
organisms including animals and plants. Combination of sun light, sea and atmosphere

25

creates wind pressure which keeps weather systems of earth intact, these winds can also
be utilized for producing electricity with help of wind machines.
3. Photovoltaic Cells: The most important component of solar panel which produces
electricity is photovoltaic cells. The basic function of photovoltaic cells is to convert sun
radiant energy into electricity. The word photovoltaic it self means light energy, photo
means light and voltaic means energy. Each photovoltaic cell is packed into modules
which are called arrays. These cells produce DC direct current when sun is shining
directly over them, produced electricity is then send to building electric system or grid
station for next step.
4. Inverter: Inverter is device which converts direct current (DC) into usable Alternative
current (AC). Photovoltaic cells produce direct current which inverter converts into
alternative current so that it can be consumed by building. Most of electric devices like
computers, house lights, air conditioners etc require alternative current (AC) to operate.
These are four steps which are must to be taken place for any solar panel to work. However there
may be some additional steps which can be installed by different companies to enhance and
improve the maintenance and overall performance or entire solar panels. These steps may
include, electric meter, weather station device, DC switch disconnection module, Transformer,
AC switch disconnection module, data acquisition module, electricity distribution panel module.
Electric meter: These electric meters are used for the same purpose as our normal electric
meters are used for. They keep the record of energy being consumed which is produced by solar
panels. Normally electric energy is measured in watts or kilowatts. Most of solar panels come
with electric meters especially when panels are designed to produce energy on large scale.
Data acquisition module: Data acquisition module is important module which receives inputs
from weather station module and electric meter. It is normally designed in such a way that it
gathers important information to calculate weather conditions and output of solar panels.
Weather Station module: Weather station is another useful add-on for solar panels. As name
suggests it keeps the record of weather conditions. Weathers conditions are very crucial as far as
26

the performance or solar panels are concern, therefore keeping weather conditions as record is
important. These modules are normally located near photovoltaic cells or arrays. Weather station
normally have anemometer to keep the record for wind speed, pyranometer keeps record for
solar energy falling on solar panel arrays and of course thermometer to measure temperature. All
these

inputs

are

then

send

to

data

acquisition

module

for

further

processing.

Transformer: Transformer is an important component for any electric system; it makes sure that
electricity coming from inverter is compatible with electric voltage of house, building office etc.
DC switch disconnection module: This module helps professional solar panel electricians to
disconnection solar panel from the rest of its system. When DC switch is off, electricians can do
maintenance task on the rest of solar panel components.
AC switch disconnect module: This module allows electricians to disconnect electric supply of
house or building from photovoltaic system. With AC switch turned off maintenance of solar
photovoltaic system can be performed.
Electricity distribution panel module: This module is designed to receive energy from solar
panels which is then combined with other electricity supply company. From here this energy is
passed on electric wiring all over the building, house office etc to run electric appliances.

27

Consumption Detail Per Month of Electricity For Average House (approx):

For Selected Item:

For Washing Machine

1 Washing Machine
2. Amps rating.
3. Voltage Rating - Usually 230 Volts
4. Amps x Volts = Watts
5. Watts/1000 = kilowatts or kW
6. Hours used in month (use an average)
7. Kilowatts x Hours = Kilowatt Hours or kWh
8. Cost of electricity (in price per kWh)
9. kWh x PAISE = Cost (in paise) to run the Item for 1
month
10. Divide by 100 to get to Cost in Rs to run Item for 1
month
11. Number of the same Items in the house
Total Amount

1 Amps
230 Volts
230 Watts
.23 kW
20
Hours
4.6 KWh
450 Paise
2070 Paise
20.70
1
21

Rs

items
Rs

For Light Bulb

1.Light Bulb
2. Amps rating.
3. Voltage Rating - Usually 230 Volts
4. Amps x Volts = Watts
5. Watts/1000 = kilowatts or kW

0.174 Amps
230 Volts
40 Watts
.04
kW
28

6. Hours used in month (use an average)

7. Kilowatts x Hours = Kilowatt Hours or kWh
8. Cost of electricity (in price per kWh)
9. kWh x PAISE = Cost (in paise) to run the Item for 1
month
10. Divide by 100 to get to Cost in Rs to run Item for 1
month
11. Number of the same Items in the house
Total Amount

180
7.2
450
3240
32.4
2
65

Hours
KWh
Paise
Paise
Rs
items
Rs

For Color TV

1. Colour TV
2. Amps rating.
3. Voltage Rating - Usually 230 Volts
4. Amps x Volts = Watts
5. Watts/1000 = kilowatts or kW
6. Hours used in month (use an average)
7. Kilowatts x Hours = Kilowatt Hours or kWh
8. Cost of electricity (in price per kWh)
9. kWh x PAISE = Cost (in paise) to run the Item for 1
month
10. Divide by 100 to get to Cost in Rs to run Item for 1
month
11. Number of the same Items in the house
Total Amount
29

.87 Amps
230 Volts
200 Watts
.2 kW
140 Hours
28 KWh
450 Paise
12600 Paise
126

Rs

1
126

items
Rs

For Refrigerate

1. Refrigerate
2. Amps rating.
3. Voltage Rating - Usually 230 Volts
4. Amps x Volts = Watts
5. Watts/1000 = kilowatts or kW
6. Hours used in month (use an average)
7. Kilowatts x Hours = Kilowatt Hours or kWh
8. Cost of electricity (in price per kWh)
9. kWh x PAISE = Cost (in paise) to run the Item for 1
month
10. Divide by 100 to get to Cost in Rs to run Item for 1
month
11. Number of the same Items in the house
Total Amount

30

2.174 Amps
230 Volts
500 Watts
.5
kW
500
Hours
250 KWh
450 Paise
112500 Paise
1125

Rs

1
items
1125
Rs

For Iron

1. Iron
2. Amps rating.
3. Voltage Rating - Usually 230 Volts
4. Amps x Volts = Watts
5. Watts/1000 = kilowatts or kW
6. Hours used in month (use an average)
7. Kilowatts x Hours = Kilowatt Hours or kWh
8. Cost of electricity (in price per kWh)
9. kWh x PAISE = Cost (in paise) to run the Item for 1
month
10. Divide by 100 to get to Cost in Rs to run Item for 1
month
11. Number of the same Items in the house
Total Amount

31

5.21 Amps
230 Volts
1200 Watts
1.2
kW
10
Hours
12 KWh
450 Paise
5400 Paise
5400
1
54

Rs
items
Rs

For Fan

1. Fan
2. Amps rating.
3. Voltage Rating - Usually 230 Volts
4. Amps x Volts = Watts
5. Watts/1000 = kilowatts or kW
6. Hours used in month (use an average)
7. Kilowatts x Hours = Kilowatt Hours or kWh
8. Cost of electricity (in price per kWh)
9. kWh x PAISE = Cost (in paise) to run the Item for 1
month
10. Divide by 100 to get to Cost in Rs to run Item for 1
month
11. Number of the same Items in the house
Total Amount

.174 Amps
230 Volts
40 Watts
.04
kW
300
Hours
12 KWh
450 Paise
5400 Paise
5400

Rs

2
items
108
Rs

Total Electric Consumption

SL No. Particulars

Amount (Elec. Bill For 1

Month)
32

1
2
3
4
5
6

Light Bulb
Washing Machine
Color TV
Refrigerate
Iron
Fan
TOTAL

65
21
126
1125
54
108
1499

Cost of Project:
Sl
No
1
2
3
4
5
6

Particular

Amount

Solar Panel (18v)

Battery (12v)
Transformer
Relay
Component
Miscellaneous
Total

1400
600
220
20
350
200
2790

33

How an Inverter Works

So how can an inverter give us a high voltage alternating current from a low voltage direct
current.
Let's first consider how an alternator produces an alternating current. In its simplest form, an
alternator would have a coil of wire with a rotating magnet close to it. As one pole of the magnet
approaches the coil, a current will be produced in the coil. This current will grow to a maximum
as the magnet passes close to the coil, dying down as the magnetic pole moves further away.
However when the opposite pole of the magnet approaches the coil, the current induced in the
coil will flow in opposite direction.
As this process is repeated by the continual rotation of the magnet, an alternating current is
produced.

Now lets consider what a transformer does. A transformer also causes an electric current to be
induced in a coil, but this time, the changing magnetic field is produced by another coil having
an alternating current flowing through it. Any coil with an electric current flowing through it will
act like a magnet and produce a magnetic field. If the direction of the current changes then the
Polarity of field changes.
Now, the handy thing about a transformer is that, the voltage produced in the secondary coil is
not necessarily the same as that applied to the primary coil. If the secondary coil is twice the size
(has twice the number of turns) of the primary coil, the secondary voltage will be twice that of
the voltage applied to the primary coil. We can effectively produce whatever voltage we want by
34

varying the size of coil.

If we connected a direct current from a battery to the primary coil it would not induce a current
in the secondary as the magnetic field would not be changing. However, if we can make that
direct current effectively change direction repeatedly, then we have a very basic inverter. This
inverter would produce a square wave output as the current would be changing direction
suddenly.

This type of inverter might have been used in early car radios that needed to take 12 volts
available in the car and produce the higher voltages required to run radio valves (known as
in America ) in the days before transistors were widely used in the tubes.

A more sophisticated inverter would use transistors to switch the current. The switching
transistors are likely to be switching a small current which is then amplified by further transistor
circuitry. This will still be a square wave inverter.
35

The Sine Wave Inverter

To get a sinusoidal alternating current from the output of our transformer, we have to apply a
sinusoidal current to the input. For this we need an oscillator
An amplifying transistor can be made to oscillate by feeding some of the amplified output back
to its input as positive feedback. We will all have heard this effect at sometime when someone is
setting up a PA or microphone system. If the microphone is too close to the speaker, some of the
output from the speaker is fed back to the microphone and inputted to the amplifier again.
The positive feedback in an electronic circuit can be tuned using extra components to produce
the frequency we require (generally either 50 or 60 cycles per second to mimic mains electricity).
If a crystal is used to control this frequency, as in a battery watch or clock, the frequency can be
very accurately controlled
As with simpler switching transistor circuit, the oscillator will be producing a low current output.
This will then need to be amplified by what will be roughly equivalent to a powerful audio
amplifier to produce the high current for the primary coil of the transformer (the frequency of
mains AC current is roughly equivalent to the lowest notes on a bass guitar).

36

The transformer, while being very useful, does not do something for nothing. While increasing
the voltage, the current will be reduced, and the power (voltage x current) will stay the same
(less any inefficiency of the transformer). In other words, to get 1Kw of high voltage AC current
out, you have put 1Kw of low voltage AC current in.

Grid Tied Inverters

If the above example were a grid tied inverter, ie able to feed power back into the national grid, it
would need to use a sample of the mains voltage to then be amplified within the inverter, or to
synchronize the oscillator with that sample.
Grid tied inverters will also sense if there is a "power cut" and disconnect themselves from the
grid. If they did not have this facility, in the event of a power cut, your inverter would be
attempting to power all your neighbours houses and would present an electrocution risk to
anyone working on power lines that had supposedly been turned off.

The Main Inverter Types

1. Square wave or modified sine wave.
2. Sine wave (sometimes described as "Pure Sine wave")
3. Grid-Tied

Square Wave or Modified Sine wave

The square wave form will be as shown above right and the modified sine wave form will have
had some attempt to round the corners off though will still have some sharp corners or spikes.
Compare this to the Sine wave form below right.

37

Many AC appliances will work perfectly well a modified sine wave form wave.
Some appliances such as computers, televisions, radios or music centres have in built power
supplies that reduce the voltage, rectify it to produce a DC current, and smooth it to give a steady
DCvoltage.
This process will often smooth out any spikyness that was in the original AC supply.
However, any inductive load (one where the power passes through a coil, as in a power supply
transformer or a motor) causes the voltage and current to be out of phase (their appropriate
graphs do not line up). Modified signwave inverters do not cope with this so well, causing the
appliance to use more power than it would otherwise. This extra power consumption will cause
the motor or transformer to run hotter than it would otherwise and may reduce it's life.
It will also mean that the inverter will need a slightly higher power rating to power the same
appliance.
There is also the possibility that your television picture may not be as good as it should and
anything with

a timer (eg bread

maker)

may not

run at the

correct

speed.

There may also be a noise problem. Any equipment that may give a quiet hum when connected
to the mains supply, is likely to give a more annoying buzz. My own experience has shown this
to be true with a ceiling fan, particularly when running on the lower speeds.
These potential problems will need to be balanced against the price difference (modified sine
wave converters will be significantly cheaper than pure sine wave) taking into account the
appliances you expect to be using.
38

Grid-Tied
A Grid-Tied inverter is capable of synchronising with an existing mains electricity supply
(synchronising its sine wave output so that it is at the peak voltage point at the same time as the
mains supply). This type of inverter can be used (where your electricity utility company allows it
and with a modified meter if required) to enable you to push your spare electricity into the grid
system. In some cases your normal electricity meter will simply run backwards when you are
supplying power.

A grid tied inverter designed to be used without a battery (and therefore no charge controller),
may have MPPT technolology built into it's input circuitry.
String Inverters
Inverter designed to accept high input voltages (upto 600 volts in commercial systems) may be
called String Inverters, refering to the series connected panels, used to produce the higher
voltages, being connect as a string.
DC Input Voltage
You may already have the rest of your system setup and you are already committed to using a
particular voltage. You may however still be able to choose.
The lower the input voltage you are using, the higher the current you will need to use. If you
compare a 12 volt and a 24 volt inverter of the same power rating, the 12 volt item will need to
draw twice the current. To carry that current, the cables from your battery to the inverter will
need to be 4 times the size.
A higher voltage system is likely to be more efficient although you will find that most inverters
on the market are either 12 or 24 volts. A 48 volt inverter will be more difficult to find and may
therefore be more expensive.
AC Output Power

39

Any inverter will have a quoted output power which will be the maximum power level they can
provide continuously, measured in watts or killowatts. Inverters will normally however cope with
higher levels of power for a short period, enabling them to deal with a short power surge that
many appliances will draw at turn on. Practically all electrical appliances will draw extra current
for a split second at switch on, including low energy light bulbs. The power output characteristics
will vary between different inverters but they may be able to produce 10% over the rated figure
for 5 minutes, 50% over for 5 seconds, more for 1 second. Continuous output power capabilities
of any inverter may be affected by the battery supplying the DC input voltage. The battery will
need to be large enough to be able to supply the high current needed for a large inverter without
the battery voltage dropping too low .Continuous output power capabilities may also be affected
by the ambient temperature. An inverter that is producing high power will produce heat that is
normally dissipated with the help of a fan. If you are experiencing high air temperatures, your
inverter may not be able to cope with continuous high outputs without over heating and shutting
down.
Inverter Efficiency
By efficiency, we are really saying, what percentage of the power that goes into the inverter
comes out as usable AC current (nothing is ever 100% efficient, there will always be some losses
in the system). This efficiency figure will vary according to how much power is being used at the
time,

with

the

efficiency

generally

being

greater

when

more

power

is

used.

Efficiency may vary from something just over 50% when a trickle of power is being used, to
something over 90% when the output is approaching the inverters rated output. An inverter will
use some power from your batteries even when you are not drawing any AC power from
A 3Kw inverter may typically draw around 20 watts from your batteries when no AC current is
being used. It would then follow that if you are using 20 watts of AC power, the inverter will be
drawing

40

watts

from

the

batteries

and

the

efficiency

will

only

be

50%.

A small 200W inverter may on the other hand only draw 25 watts from the battery to give an AC
output of 20 watts, resulting in an efficiency of 80%.
Larger inverters will generally have a facility that could be named a "Sleep Mode" to increase
overall efficiency. This involves a sensor within the inverter sensing if AC power is required. If
not, it will effectively switch the inverter off, continuing to sense if power is required. This can
40

usually be adjusted to ensure that simply switching a small light on is sufficient to "turn the
inverter on".
This does of course mean that appliances cannot be left in "stand-by" mode, and it may be found
that some appliances with timers (eg washing machine) reach a point in their cycle where they do
not draw enough power to keep the inverter "switched on", unless something else, eg a light, is
on at the same time.
Another important factor involves the wave form and inductive loads (ie an appliance where an
electrical coil is involved, which will include anything with a motor). Any waveform that is not a
true sine wave (ie is a square, or modified square wave) will be less efficient when powering
inductive loads - the appliance may use 20% more power than it would if using a pure sine wave.

PWM Inverters.
Now a days most of the inverters available in the market utilizes the PWM (Pulse Width
Modulation) technology. The inverters based on PWM technology are superior in many factors
compared to other inverters designed using conventional technologies. The PWM based inverters
generally use MOSFETs in the output switching stage. In such cases the inverters are generally
termed as PWM MOSFET inverters. The inverters based on PWM technology has a lot of
protection and control circuits compared to the traditional inverters.

What is PWM technology

PWM or Pulse width Modulation is used to keep the output voltage of the inverter at the rated
voltage (110V AC / 220V AC) (depending on the country) irrespective of the output load. In a
conventional inverter the output voltage changes according to the changes in the load. To nullify
effect caused by the changing loads, the PWM inverter correct the output voltage according to
the value of the load connected at the output. This is accomplished by changing the width of the
switching frequency generated by the oscillator section. The AC voltage at the output depend on
the width of the switching pulse. The process is achieved by feed backing a part of the inverter
output to the PWM controller section (PWM controller IC).Based on this feedback voltage the
PWM controller will make necessary corrections in the pulse width of the switching pulse
41

generated at oscillator section. This change in the pulse width of the switching pulse will cancel
the changes in the output voltage and the inverter output will stay constant irrespective of the
load variations.
Oscillator circuit
Oscillator circuit generates the switching frequency. Generally the oscillator circuit will be
incorporated in the PWM IC itself.

Driver circuit
Driver circuit drives the output section of the inverter according to the switching frequency.
Transistors or Specially designed driver ICs are employed in the driver circuit.The driver circuit
is some what similar to a preamplifier.
Output section
Output section drives the load. It consists of a step up transformer for stepping up the battery
voltage to the line voltage and an array of switching MOSFET devices for driving the primary of
the step up transformer. The output voltage will be available at the secondary of the step up
transformer.

42

Schematic:
First of all draw the schematic in DIP TRACE software

43

PCB LAYOUT

44

Inverter PCB Layout Positive:

45

Inverter PCB Layout Negative

46

Result
60 watt inverter
2. Amps rating.
3. Voltage Rating - Usually 230 Volts
4. Amps x Volts = Watts

0.26 Amps
230 Volts
60 Watts
47

5. Watts/1000 = kilowatts or kW
6. Hours used in month (use an average)
7. Kilowatts x Hours = Kilowatt Hours or kWh
8. Cost of electricity (in price per kWh)
9. kWh x PAISE = Cost (in paise) to run the Item for 1
month
10. Divide by 100 to get to Cost in Rs to run Item for 1
month

.06
kW
660Hours
39 KWh
450 Paise
17550 Paise

Total Amount save per month

175

175.5 Rs

Rs

Conclusions
To complete this project in an effective manner a thorough understanding of solar technology
and important aspects of it is essential. A variety of different applications were researched and
determined whether or not they are even feasible at the current state of solar technology. The
most feasible application for solar power is for remote locations requiring small quantities of
power to run lighting, pumps, and other low power applications. Thats why we design a solar
inverter of 60w to fulfill the above requirement. The sun has the ability to give off lots of energy
however solar panels can only convert a small amount of solar energy to electrical energy due to
inefficiency in solar panel technology.
48

References
Aldous, Scott. How Solar Cells Work. How Stuff Works. Nov. 2, 2002.
<http://fitness.howstuffworks.com/solar-cell.htm?printable=1>.
Bogus, Klaus and Markvart, Tomas. Solar Electricity. Chichester, New York.
Wiley Press, 1994.
Distributed Power Solutions Home Page. 2003. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
<http://www.distributedpowersolutions.com/education/support.asp>.
Nation Center for Photovoltaics. Turning Sunlight into Electricity. 20 Oct. 2002.
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/pv/siatomic.html>.
National Solar Supply Home Page. 2003
http://www.nationalsolarsupply.com/page.asp?id=18
Neville, Richard C. Solar Energy Conversion. The Netherlands: Elsevier Science, 1995.
Optima Batteries Home Page. 1996-2004. Johnson Controls Inc.,
49

<http://www.optimabatteries.com/faq.asp>.
Rincn-Mora, Gabriel and Zadeh, Hassan. Current Sensing Techniques for DC-DC
Converters. 2002. <http://users.ece.gatech.edu/rinconmora/
publicat/journals/mwscas02/isense.pdf>.
Sayigh, A.A.M., ed. Solar Energy Engineering. New York, USA:
Academic Press, 1977.
Ziemer, Rodger. Signals and Systems: Continuous and Discrete 4th Ed.
New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall, 1998.

50