Design, Implementation, Evaluation And Cost Analysis Of Solar Driven Alternator Power System With Frequency And Voltage Stabilizer

ABSTRACT

Power supply from the national grid is inefficient and unreliable, hence the need to provide alternative source of power. It is imperative that if the country is to be self-sufficient in power generation, transmission and distribution, it must be based largely on indigenous engineering initiative and researches to design, adapt, develop and manufacture local based renewable energy. This research work was focus on a design, implementation, evaluation and cost analysis of a solar driven alternator. Materials includes the 5KVA alternator, solar energy panels, charge controller, power inverter, automatic voltage and frequency stabilizer and 12V 200Ah dry cell batteries. Four approaches were adopted to achieved the aim of the research work.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                        INTRODUCTION

1.1                                           BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Nigeria is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources, like biomass, wind, small and large scale hydro with potential for hydrogen fuel, geothermal and ocean energies. Except for the large scale hydropower generating station which serves as a major source of electricity, the current state of exploitation and utilization of renewable energy resources in the country is very low [8].

According to Adewumi IO [3] and Ajav EA [4] in their work stated that power generation, transmission and distribution has been an indispensable factor in the progress of an economy, ranging from manufacturing, banking, media, health care, aviation, etc. Environmental pollution which leads to degradation or depletion of ozone layer is one of the major problems caused by the use of generator with fossil fuels. Increase in the cost of fossil fuel which has been one of the major prime movers in the internal combustion engine (ICE) has been noticed. This can be accounted for based on the rapid decrease in the level of oil well. [2] has observed that significant worldwide interests and efforts are currently being directed at the development and production of improved forms of renewable energy  – solar energy.

solar energy converts direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid electrical network. It is a critical balance of system (BOS)–component in a photovoltaic system, allowing the use of ordinary AC-powered equipment. Solar power inverters have special functions adapted for use with photovoltaic arrays, including maximum power point tracking and anti-islanding protection.

In this work, solar panel used produces direct electricity with the help of electrons that are moving from negative to positive direction which with other mechanisms such as motor and gear mechanism rotates the pulley of the alternator. The alternator generates electricity from the spinning coils inside of it. These coils are spun by the pulleys in the engine of the car, and the engine gets its power from gasoline. The electricity generated by the alternator is used to power our appliances.

An alternator produces a sine wave which can be used for running lights, televisions, lights, motors etc.

The solar driven alternator will utilize the batteries to provide power supply to the area of application in the event of power outages and during downtimes (when the generator is off). The batteries are charged in a ratio using power supply from both the AC mains and the solar energy solution.

However, the aim of this work is to use an alternator to produce electricity which is driven by a solar energy.

1.2                                                  PROBLEM STATEMENT

As a result of continuous power failure and fluctuation in power supply by Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), sensitive appliances and system are affected by interruption power supply and also the blackout also affect human generally in that it takes away our happiness. Then, this project is to provide a back-up and to provide a reliable power supply from a renewable energy source (solar panel) to drive an alternator which powers some selected home appliances.

1.3                                         AIM/OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this work is to use an alternator to produce electricity which is driven by a solar energy. At the end of this work, this device shall be designed, implemented, evaluated and the cost of producing this device shall be analyzed.

1.4                                           SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Solar driven alternator is useful in making appliances work at residential and industrial levels, such as:

1. A Solar driven alternator is better optimized for solar power than the regular one. For example, it will prioritize power supply from the solar panels. This means that when the energy from the Sun is adequate like during afternoons, the alternator will draw power entirely from the solar panels to power your home or office even if public power supply is available. This can lead to huge savings on power bills.
2. Similarly, a Solar driven alternator will prioritise charging from solar panels, enabling your batteries to charge via the PV panels even when public power supply is on, leading also to savings on your power bills.

• Solar inverter has always helped in reducing global warming and green house effect.

1. Also use of solar inverter helps in saving money that would have used for buying fuel for conventional generator
2. A solar driven alternator helps in converting the Direct current in batteries into alternative current. This helps people who use limited amount of electricity.
3. Solar driven alternator is the best way and they are better than the normal electric ones. Also their maintenance does not cost much money.

• Solar driven alternator can work when there is no Sunlight but provided their battery is charged fully with the help of Sunlight

1.5                                 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This device converts solar energy to mechanical energy which finally produce electric energy. It uses energy from the sun (solar panel) which is derived to control the movement of the alternator with the help of rotating gears that rotates the pulley of the alternator which finally produce electricity.

Solar power of this device consists of solar panels, charger controllers, inverters and rechargeable batteries, while the mechanical and electrical part of the work is the alternator.

• This device is rated in 5kva that means any load more than 500w should for no reason applied to this device.
• The intensity of the Sun varies throughout the day. This creates an over-charging problem if the panels are connected to the battery directly, and It should also be able to tell you when you connect the panels wrongly (i.e. positive to negative, etc) and also provide protection against short-circuit. For this reason a charge controller must be used to offer protection from high voltage and current from the panels.
• The frequency and voltage stabilizer is used to overcome the problem of frequency and voltage fluctuation

1.6                                                  DEFINITION OF TERMS

The major and important terms used in this work is defined as below:

Kva: Kilo volt amps. A measurement of the electrical ‘pressure’ and ‘quantity’ to a building.

Loads:  The equipment that is using the electricity supplied to a building.

Solar panel: Solar panels are those devices which are used to absorb the sun’s rays and convert them into electricity or heat.

Alternator: An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.

1.7                                               PROJECT ORGANISATION

This work is organized in such a way that every reader of this work will understand how this work is been made. Starting from the chapter one to chapter five focused fully on the topic at hand.

Chapter one of this work is on the introduction to this work. In this chapter, the problem statement, aim/objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms were discussed.

Chapter two is on literature review of the work. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.

Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.

Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.

Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.