Optimal Sizing Procedure for Standalone PV System for University Located Near Western Ghats in India
Shaema Lizbeth Mathew1, S. Berclin Jeyaprabha2, Anagha.C.K3
1Shaema Lizbeth Mathew, EEE Department, Karunya University, Coimbatore, India.
2S. Berclin Jeyaprabha, EEE Department, Karunya University, Coimbatore, India.
3Anagha.C.K , EEE Department, Karunya University, Coimbatore, India.
Manuscript received on March 30, 2014. | Revised Manuscript received on April 14, 2014. | Manuscript published on April 30, 2014. | PP: 223-229 | Volume-3, Issue-4, April 2014. | Retrieval Number: C2694023314/2013©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: This paper presents an optimal sizing procedure and tracking for standalone photovoltaic system located in one of the remote areas of India. This work is based on the meteorological data in Thondamuthur region where Karunya University is located and load demand profile of Computer Technology Centre of Karunya University. The PV array tilt angle is designed optimally based on the optimization algorithm. The PV array can be tilted at various angles in order to receive maximum global solar energy in different season. This strategy of tilt angle adjustment can reduce the use of electromechanical or pure mechanical devices, reduce the number of site visits and increase the solar radiation capturing efficiency. PV array size and storage battery capacity are calculated based on numerical method and compared with intuitive method using MATLAB. It is proved in this paper that the system designed by intuitive method is more expensive than the system designed by the numerical method as the former is based on the worst month data.
Keywords: Array size, Battery capacity, Optimal Sizing, Optimization of energy sources, PV tilt angle.