07-10-2010, 04:00 PM
[attachment=5320]
Introduction
Power supply from PHCN or NEPA has been epileptic and always irregular with outages which last up to 8 hours in a single day. When power is restored, sparks, fluctuation and voltage surge has been a common occurrence. Undoubtedly, this is not adequate or conducive for our equipment and other sensitive gadgets. This equipment can easily be damaged by voltage fluctuation, sudden power cut due to lack of constant power source.
Electrical generator which serves as an option for many people cost a lot for fueling and pollutes the environment with noise and gases that are harmful to humans and to the ecosystem. In this situation, solar energy is a very wise choice.
Solar power generated from the sun and stored in a battery, will enable you to have power supply up to 8 – 48 hours after PHCN power outage and protect your appliance from constant interruptions and power surge. The solar generating system generates electricity from solar energy or any DC source to run office and household equipments. It does not need fuel, gas, oil or moving parts (which is subject to friction and wearing and tearing of parts). It does not produce noise or air pollution. It is maintenance free and environmentally friendly. Time wastage that is experienced between PHCN outage and turning on of mechanical generators are part of the things that will not be experienced when using solar power generator. In the course of finding solution to these problems this thesis topic, solar energy generation conversion and usage, was born.
Additional features that can be included on solar systems includes:- in built battery charger, overload protection, low battery cut off, manual reset switch and automatic changeover switch. Anti-surge and AVR section can be included to achieve a more sophisticated design.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air. A partial list of other solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, day lighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.
