Solar Power Design Manual

Solar Power Design Manual

Teach Yourself Solar Power
Finally, an easy-to-follow guide to generating power from the sun, anywhere

Richard Stubbs lives with his wife in south-west France. Richard lived for many years in mid-Wales, where he worked for a renewable energy company as an engineer and director. During this time the solar power business changed from being largely experimental to a serious way of providing power for applications all around the world. Richard started in the renewable energy business in 1989 on a training scheme.

He learned how to design solar power and other renewable energy systems from first principles and ended up designing systems for major development agencies. Richard has travelled widely to places like Angola and Yemen to train technicians for the medical refrigeration programme. He has extensive experience in medical, domestic and water supply systems.

The Solar Power Design Manual eBook starts from first principles to guide you through the process of designing, specifying and installing your own self-contained solar power system, anywhere in the world. You can try it for 60 days, and if you don't know everything you need to know about solar power by then, he'll give you your money back!

With the Solar Power Design Manual you will learn:

• How solar power works, with simple diagrams
• How to make the most of the power available
• How to choose the right components
• The best way to estimate the available solar energy
• How to decide when solar power is not the answer
• How to make sure that the system continues to work for years to come 

This 64 page book is intended to give the reader sufficient knowledge to design and install a stand-alone solar power system anywhere in the world. It covers the principles of photovoltaic power generation and energy conversion and goes on to outline the necessary design and installation procedures. The resources required are included where necessary and there are illustrations as appropriate. It is recommended that you read the entire book before attempting any of the procedures within.

Contents

1 Introduction 
1.1 Scope 
1.2 Experience
1.3 Disclaimer 
2 Basic Principles
2.1 Volts, Amps and Watts 
2.2 The Photovoltaic Effect
2.3 Modules
2.4 Energy Storage 
2.5 Control and Conversion 
2.6 Operation
3 Suitability 
3.1 Energy requirement 
3.2 Other power sources
3.3 Solar resource
4 System Components
4.1 Modules
4.2 Batteries
4.3 Controllers
4.4 Inverters
5 Design 
5.1 The design process 
5.2 Initial estimates 
5.3 Site Survey
5.4 System sizing
5.5 Component selection
5.6 Wiring
6 Installation and Commissioning 
6.1 Safety
6.2 Array
6.3 Battery
6.4 Control equipment
6.5 System Commissioning
7 Maintenance
8 Appendices
8.1 Appendix 1 – Insolation Maps
8.2 Appendix 2 – Battery Voltages 
8.3 Appendix 3 – Cable Data 
8.4 Appendix 4 – Example wiring diagrams
8.5 Appendix 5 – Power ratings of common appliances

In case you're not sure, Richard has thrown in the Solar Sizing Excel® spreadsheet template as well. He wrote this for himself, to save having to do all the calculations manually, and it includes a couple of worked examples to show what's possible. I think you'll find it extremely helpful.