Chapter 10 Solar Photovoltaic System Design 10.1 Solar PV System The Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) system consists of energy generating subsystem modules, energy storage subsystem battery bank and power conditioning units to supply power, either stand-alone or in conjunction with grid (grid back-up). It is gaining increased importance as a renewable source due to its advantage like absence of fuel cost, little maintenance and no noise and wear due to the absence of the moving parts, etc. In particular, energy conversion from solar cell arrays received considerable attention in the last four decades. Its size is chosen according to planned application. Several demonstra- tion units of large size solar PV power plants have been constructed, operated and monitored around the world. Most of these systems use silicon crystal solar cells. The module may be flat in geometry and use unconcentrated solar irradiance or else it may have concentrating optics (refracting or reflecting) as parts of its structure. Several options are possible in module mounting as follows: • PV modules may be placed at fixed tilt angle at which the average yearly energy generated is maximized. • The tilt may be seasonally adjusted; for example at latitude 15, 0 and latitude +15 in summer, Equinoxes and winter respectively. • The modules may be mounted on a tracking unit that follows the sun. Single angle axis trackers follow the sun daily from east to west and two axis trackers further include elevation control to correct for seasonal north-south sun movement. This is accomplished by a Power Conditioning Unit (PCU), which consists of following sub-systems: • DC interface • Charge controller • Inverter • Protection circuit • AC interface © Capital Publishing Company, New Delhi, India 2018 N. D. Kaushika et al., Solar Photovoltaics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72404-1_10 115