Well done guys, I have a question.

Do you do solar panels that can power the electronics of a house i guess via an inverter not just the borehole?

How much would it be? Would the inverter be able to power things like AC, fridges etc?

DRealGeesam:
Here and there

Yh! I am home.
Let the lessons begin

Ok

Solar Panels. Photovoltaic cells

There are so many types and varients of Photovoltaic cells today and the future only promises to be spiced up with more variants as technology improves.
Majorly there are 2 types of photovoltaic cells that concerns the average consumer.
That is
*Polycrystalline and
*Monocrystalline cells

Let us start with the polycrystalline cell.

Here i am with 2 solar panels that are made of polycrystalline cells.
Here

PV cells are made of silicon wafers. These silicon wafers are in crytalline forms and the form of crystal will determine if your solar panel is
*mono crystalline
*polycrystalline
*thin film
Or
*Armorpous

DRealGeesam:
PV cells are made of silicon wafers. These silicon wafers are in crytalline forms and the form of crystal will determine if your solar panel is
*mono crystalline
*polycrystalline
*thin film
Or
*Armorpous

They look different from each other too and they have different percentages of efficiency and tolerance to heat

Up close a monocrystalline panel

Notice that the cells look sort of hexagonal. That is a distinct way of recognizing monocrystalline cell.

And they look dark blue, not bright blue.

Monocrystalline is always a preferred option. I will feed u with the details as we progress

Me with a monocrystalline solar panel for your viewing pleasure.

These panels are the most efficient.

Here is a polycrystalline pv panel.
Notice that they are in squares and more blueish

To understand how solar panels work, you must see them as batteries. Only 2 things differentiate batteries from solar panels.

1. batteries use chemical energy, solar panels use light energy.

2. Batteries store energy (can be charged), solar panels dont (they cant be charged, they only deliver current on the go)

This basic understanding will come in Handy in knowing how much solar panels u need and what sort of connection will give you the currect voltage output and current out put

DRealGeesam:
To understand how solar panels work, you must see them as batteries. Only 2 things differentiate batteries from solar panels.

1. batteries use chemical energy, solar panels use light energy.

2. Batteries store energy (can be charged), solar panels dont (they cant be charged, they only deliver current on the go)

This basic understanding will come in Handy in knowing how much solar panels u need and what sort of connection will give you the correct voltage output and current out put

Quick Facts about Solar Energy

1. Solar panels have ridiculously long lifespans.

Yes! You read that right.
An average solar panel encapsulated in plexi glass will last at least 25 years guaranteed! This does not even mean it will stop working after 25 years it only means the efficiency will drop by 20%-30%.

Is that not amazing?

DRealGeesam:
Quick Facts about Solar Energy

1. Solar panels have ridiculously long lifespans.

Yes! You read that right.
An average solar panel encapsulated in plexi glass will last at least 25 years guaranteed! This does not even mean it will stop working after 25 years it only means the efficiency will drop by 20%-30%.

Is that not amazing?

2. Solar energy is one of the cheapest source of electricity.
This would sound controversial, because many know that it costs good money to set up a good solar power system.

Truth is what you will spend on fueling a petrol or diesel generator for a year can give u a decent solar power set up.

DRealGeesam:


2. Solar energy is one of the cheapest source of electricity.
This would sound controversial, because many know that it costs good money to set up a good solar power system.

Truth is what you will spend on fueling a petrol or diesel generator for a year can give u a decent solar power set up.

Other obvious advantages include

*It is noiseless

*Does not cost anything for maintenance. Just keep the surface unobstructed.

*No pollutants

*Seemless change over UPS function

*Save electricity bill.

*You are totally independent

*VERY easy to operate.

*you have all your controls indoors

*very good for security systems you want to be powered 24/7.

To me i believe solar energy is still best to make supplement the electricity from Government.

More specifics to come

DRealGeesam:
To me i believe solar energy is still best to make supplement the electricity from Government.

More specifics to come

I didn't get ur mail

TinoTino:


I didn't get ur mail

Replied sir.
Thank you.

TYPES OF SOLAR POWER SETUPS
1. Grid tie (selling excess electricity to the energy company): this can only work in developed countries where power companies pay when you contribute to their supply. Cant work in Nigeria for now.

2.Independent: for places without power supply from the main grid eg. Out country, a very remote farm, on a cruise boat, in the village.

3. Grid tied with Battery Bank (not selling excess electricity to government): Best for Nigeria, cos the setup is for places with inconsistent power supply.

These are the major setups you can have

DRealGeesam:
TYPES OF SOLAR POWER SETUPS
1. Grid tie (selling excess electricity to the energy company): this can only work in developed countries where power companies pay when you contribute to their supply. Cant work in Nigeria for now.

2.Independent: for places without power supply from the main grid eg. Out country, a very remote farm, on a cruise boat, in the village.

3. Grid tied with Battery Bank (not selling excess electricity to government): Best for Nigeria, cos the setup is for places with inconsistent power supply.

These are the major setups you can have

The 3rd option works as a backup and this is good for Banks, homes, small industries where you need contant power supply

The 2nd option makes you your own electric company. You manage your own electricity supply.

I will be concentrating on 2 and 3 cos they are the ones that are applicable to Nigeria.

Illustrations coming up shortly.

You have inverters that can work directly with solar panels, but the common inverter cant work without batteries, so you need a charge controller

Below are illustrations of the 2 setups

For large systems
You need special inverters called "String tied inverters"

They can work with voltages as high as 1000v

And best for systems above 5kva.

Many people that are into the solar power business in nigeria dont know what string tied inverters are and they just use the "normal" inverter for large systems

DRealGeesam:
For large systems
You need special inverters called "String tied inverters"

They can work with voltages as high as 1000v

And best for systems above 5kva.

Many people that are into the solar power business in nigeria dont know what string tied inverters are and they just use the "normal" inverter for large systems

These inverters mostly transformerless. So you will need a step down transformer system especially for systems above 20kva.

These inverters can be 97% efficient unlike systems using charge controllers that can only be 30%-80% efficient

Inverters are rated by their Maximum continues Load, which is measured in KVA or Watts. But if you want your inverter to last it is best you use an inverter that is rated much more than your electrical need

Solar Charge Controllers
There are 2 types of charge controllers
1. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controllers


2 MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking)

What are their differences

Pictures coming soon (have to compress them first)


2.

Here is an MPPT
Charge controller
(More pictures coming)

Mppt charge controllers are the best, their power conversion is as high as 87% little energy is wasted because they can convert excess voltage into current. This is good news because this means they can work well even when the sky is cloudy.
This is posible because it is usually easy for the solar cells to achieve their voltage but they need maximum sunlight to generate current. With MPPT charge controllers, the easily generated voltage is converted to current and this adds up to you Amps in charging.

Good Job.

Hope the running cost of maintaining/replacement of batteries is factored into the economics.

DerealGeesam, pls can all this solar invaters use any type of bulb or do you have special bulbs for them

Beulah09:
Hope the running cost of maintaining/replacement of batteries is factored into the economics.

Whatever way one looks at it. Solar power is still cheaper than most other source of energy even with the cost of the batteries. The only cheaper alternative is wind energy, but u will need batteries to store the energy produced against times the wind is not blowing.

irokop:
DerealGeesam, pls can all this solar invaters use any type of bulb or do you have special bulbs for them

You can use ANY bulb (lighting) with solar inverters sir. BUT energy saving bulbs will make u use them longer. The normal incandescent bulb consumes about 4-8 times the energy that an energy saving bulb will consume, so it is best to use energy saving bulbs when using inverters or any other source of alternative energy, even generators.

DRealGeesam:


Whatever way one looks at it. Solar power is still cheaper than most other source of energy even with the cost of the batteries. The only cheaper alternative is wind energy, but u will need batteries to store the energy produced against times the wind is not blowing.

There is a reason why Solar is not the primary source of energy all over the world. Economics is the primary reason.

That said, in the Nigerian environment, Solar is a good option. People just need to understand that there is associated running cost after the installation. Battery cost is not 'cheap'. Most dont include it in to their calculation.