Grid-Connected solar electronics - Essay Example

Grid connected solar electronics Energy saving Energy saving is the conservation of energy through the use of less power or using other sources of power with less energy (Chitode,7). Insulation is the cushioning of electronics from the damage that can be caused by much power fluctuation (Chitode, 15). The Power Factor correction is the connection between the running power and the amount of power being used (Chitode, 67). Green building is the efficient use of energy at minimum costs possible. Energy saving has made most people move toward the solar energy, this is because it is natural and it is therefore cheaper for most of us (Chitode, 80). Most of energy on earth that sustains life is the energy from the sun, which is sunlight. It is through this energy that photosynthesis occurs, that is food for the plants. The plant is after its maturity food for the human beings mostly and some animals that are not carnivorous (Chitode, 50). Renewable energy We have very many electronics at home all that use power and most of them cannot operate without power except for those which can store power for some time to be used when there is no power. It is therefore very important to ensure that those electronics are safe, not from thugs but from too much power fluctuation that can shot circuit them (Chitode, 208). The power system is therefore can be controlled so as to avoid such damages. The electricians use what we call circuit breakers. This controls the amount of power that can be used and when it exceeds the power goes off. This way the electronics will not be at risk (Chitode, 40). A power factor correction can also be installed, since it the connection between the running power and the actual amount of power being used, the power factor correction will show whether there is too much power being used and therefore correct it. It minimizes the chances of power fluctuation. Green building is therefore as it is being encouraged, using as less energy as possible. This is where solar energy comes in (Chitode, 50). A source of power that is natural and free. The only thing one needs is solar panels that are used to convert sunlight energy into electricity power. The solar panel contains the solar cells and solar photovoltaic. The solar cells and the solar photovoltaic convert sunlight energy into electricity energy for usage since one cannot use it directly. The energy is renewable, and that is the most advantageous use of it (Chitode, 96). There are very many types of materials that contain the solar photovoltaic found in the solar cells. This makes it even cheaper and can almost be used everywhere, that is places with sunlight. Some of them are the amorphous silicon and polycrystalline among others (Chitode, 190). Solar cooling is one of the uses of the solar energy that has been converted to direct current electricity energy that is by the solar photovoltaic in solar cells. This is done through thermal energy. Just like the conversion of sunlight energy to electricity energy, the solar thermal energy is used in the solar cooling otherwise known as solar air conditioning (Chitode, 210). It is the same logic used in the solar cooling, that they use in the solar heating. That is the thermal energy that is converted to heat energy. The amount of energy that is got from the sunlight radiation is almost 3850000 exajoules but only a very small amount of it is used to convert this sunlight energy from its radiation to earth is converted to direct current electricity energy (Chitode, 100). This only means that we can generate as much energy as we want from the renewable source of energy to provide the power we need to operate at people’s homes and even factories (Chitode, 250). Several solar cells are combined to form an easy to handle household photovoltaic system. This system is used to convert the direct current into an alternative current (Chitode, 156). These households then use the grid- tie inverters. These inverters work just like the circuit breakers discussed earlier. They contain the direct current and the alternative current. The direct current ensures that the maximum voltage expected and set to be used does not exceed its limit. This is through the use of the closed loop system. The alternative current ensures that the grid-tie inverter frequency remains as set and does not fluctuate. The electronics that one put in the house should have at least the same range of energy consumption. This will reduce the chances of power fluctuation and even make it easier for the grid-tie inverter. The electronics that consume much power should have their own source of energy separate from the rest or have their own main switch separate from the rest of the PV system (Chitode,130) Grid connected solar electronics. . Source: http://www.solar-systems-china.com/ The above is an example of a grid connected solar system that is used in households. The solar panels convert the solar radiation into direct current electricity energy, which then moves to the grid-tie inverter which has the direct current and the alternative current. The direct current maintains the maximum power supply for the particular household while the alternative current ensures that the right frequency is maintained. Next to it is a meter box; this is used to record the amount of power being used. It is important to do so as to know whether there is much energy being wasted or whether energy is actually being conserved. Current then flows to the consumer unit that then supplies the rest of the household with power. May it be light, heat, air conditioner and all sorts of electronics that use power (Chitode, 145). Almost every household has unique power consumption depending on electronics that are used. The system also depends on a few other things like the location of the household, size of the solar system and the type of photovoltaic in the solar cells. The better the solar photovoltaic in the solar cells the better the system and vice versa is true (Chitode, 150). The circuit connection and the wiring are also very important. When it comes to the direct current and the alternative current, they ought to be fixed well otherwise it will not be an energy saving system any more (Chitode, 150). An average hardware cost for a household solar energy can be, lets for instance take the system size to be 2.5kW with a micro inverter phase, take the photovoltaic arrays as 209 square feet. The average daily consumption can therefore be approximated as 10.9Kw. The Watts peak of the grid-tie inverter size could therefore be 2800. The price of the list will therefore be very minimal since the daily consumption is not a lot, which is compared to other sources of energy like water. The price will be approximated to around $20000. Its tax credit totals to around $6000, the net price adding up to $15000. The system is very cheap because the net price of those systems could add up to twice the amount of this system (Chitode, 150). DC-AC inverters There are different types of inverters depending on where one wants to use it. The first one is the centralized inverter that is the grid and the photovoltaic depend on the inverter for functioning. The strings are connected in a straight line so that just one inverter is used to influence the power (Chitode, 150). The direct current and the alternative current in it ensure that there is no voltage fluctuation. The direct current therefore ensures that maximum power point does not exceed. However, this method is not used much when installing the solar systems at home. This is because the method is not lithe enough (Chotode, 200). The other type of inverter is the string inverters. This has several inverters attached together by a series of strings. This is because of the loop hole found in the first type of inverter. In this type of inverter, every string attached to an inverter has a maximum power point that controls voltage at each level of the system (Chitode, 200). The other type of inverter is the micro-inverter. In this micro-inverter, the inverter and the photovoltaic are linked to one electric device. In that case, the photovoltaic does not have to cause the fluctuation since its just one. The last type of inverter is the Multi-string inverter. In this case, one string is used to attach several photovoltaic and therefore one maximum power point is used to monitor the power supply (Chitode, 200).The feasibility of the photovoltaic grid system is the use of batteries. This is because; there is no sunlight everyday therefore the battery can be substituted for it. The battery just like the solar energy is a way of saving energy even though it is not renewable (Chitode, 200). Conclusion The solar energy is the most preferred way of energy saver. This is because it is a natural source of energy and it is renewable. It is therefore the cheapest method to supply energy with. When the insulation is done correctly especially by use of the inverters and not just an inverter, but the right inverter to suit the system well then the green building is achieved. The solar panel that is used to draw sunlight rays should also be a good model. The most important part of the solar panel is the solar cells (Chitode, 250). As discussed earlier, they contain the solar photovoltaic that is used to convert these solar rays to direct current electricity. By so doing so, one will have the full control of your power usage and no one can limit it for you unlike other sources of electricity. The government which is the monopoly and sole supplier of power in most countries, when using the solar energy you do not have to deal with the government because you do not use their services (Chitode, 260). One save yourself the stress of being worried all the time at the end of the month that is if your budget is tight and you do not have money to pay your bills. Another advantage of solar energy is that it charges itself in that it can be used at night when there is no sunlight (Chitode, 260). The wiring of the solar system is also not hard to do, and one can always read the manual and fix the wiring yourself. As long as one can read and understand then it is that simple. The other advantage is that it can be used in very remote areas where other sources of power have failed. This is because there are few requirements, and the main issue here is the energy from the sunlight (Chitode, 270). The solar system however has few limitations, places like Europe where they rarely see the sunshine is very difficult for the solar system to work there. This happens during the summer and few days when they happen to be lucky (Chitode, 278). Work cited Chitode, J S. Consumer Electronics. Technical Publications, 2007. Print, pg 1-278 Read More