A Non-Technical Introduction to Solar Power

There are four primary components to solar electric power systems. Known also asa "solar power system", they include solar panels, charge controllers, batteries, and inverters.. All of these components are necessary to have a functioning solar electric (PV or solar power) system.
The solar panel is the cornerstone of the solar electric power system. The solar panel(s) acts as a battery charger. When several solar modules are wired together a "solar array" is created. The size of the solar array determines the amount of power that will be produced by the system.
A charge controller is an important system component that regulates the voltage generated from your renewable energy system and properly maintains your batteries. It protects your batteries from being over and under charged, and ensures maximum battery life.
Batteries are used to store the energy that is created by your solar power system. Typically, loads receive their power from batteries instead of directly from the output of a solar panel. A solar panel produces a high voltage that will damage electronics if loads are powered directly. Batteries will provide you with the energy you need at night.
The last major component is the Inverter. The inverter converts the DC (Direct Current) energy stored in your batteries and turns it into the AC (Alternating Current) power you use in your home. Inverters are rated by wattage and the quality of their output. You can use a 50 watt inverter that plugs into your car 12 volt outlet to power a computer, or you could have a 4000 to 1,000 watt inverter system that powers your home.
These major components can be put together in many different ways. Minor components like wire, disconnects,circuit breakers, and fuses are also needed for a complete system.

Solar Power

Solar energy is the greatest forms of energy that mankind has ever encountered. Besides, it is the driving factor behind every form of life on earth. It is the most important form of energy. It being free and inexhaustible becomes the best benefit for mankind. It is a vast and clean energy. It serves as an alternative to fossil fuels.
What is solar power? In simple words, it is conversion of sun’s energy into electricity through solar energy technologies. It can be made use of heating, lighting, electricity etc.

In India, there are so many villages in the World which are inaccessible from the point of village electrification. 100% village electrification in any country may not be possible when there are so many inaccessible villages are electrified.

Therefore, these villages can be considered for electrification through non-conventional methods including the one of solar system. This method is known to be one of the best available options for village electrification particularly when there is a bleak power scenario situation prevalent in under-developed or developing countries. This World is blessed with so many resources including Solar Energy from the Sun. One has to make maximum use of this solar energy from the Sun.
Further, the solar electric systems work on photovoltaic principle. The heart of the system is the solar cell. The single crystal silicon solar cells convert solar energy directly to electricity. This electricity then charges the battery through a battery charger.

The electrical energy thus stored in the battery is then utilized through inverter (DC to AC) or converter (DC to DC) for various purposes such as lighting, pumping and running of the TV.
The benefits of solar photovoltaic energy are numerous – such as it operates on the freely available solar energy thus saving the expenditure on electricity and fossil fuels, no fear of power cuts, it is trouble free, pollution free and noise free and has a long life and are reliable, it is easy to handle and operate.

What is important is that there is negligible cost of operation and maintenance. Therefore, it is better if we promote the use of solar photovoltaic (SPC) systems such as SPV home light systems, SPV street light systems, small capacity SPV power plants, solar generators, building integrated photovoltaic systems and solar lanterns.

This way, there would be a greater contribution towards improvement of quality of life in rural areas through use of environment-friendly solar lighting systems, which don’t need any fossil fuels or emit any pollutants and are free from health and fire hazards.

This would also contribute to providing an alternative to the conventional grid electrification for meeting rural energy requirements.

Simple Solar Energy

A Solar lantern is a simple application of solar photovoltaic technology, which has found good acceptance in rural regions where the power supply is irregular and scarce. Even in the urban areas, people would prefer a solar lantern as an alternative during power cuts because of its simple mechanism.
A solar lantern is made of three main components – the solar PV panel, the storage battery and the lamp. The operation is very simple. The solar energy is converted to electrical energy by the SPV panel and stored in a sealed maintenance-free battery for later use during the night hours. A single charge can operate the lamp for about 4-5 hours.
Besides the solar lantern, a solar cooker is also a simple application of solar photovoltaic technology. A solar cooker is like a hot box, in which we can cook our food without any cooking gas or kerosene, electricity, coal or wood. We donot need to spend even a single paise on fuel. The cooker works with the solar energy, which is available free.

In a solar cooker, we can boil, bake and roast and in a cooker for domestic use, we can cook food for four to five persons. Bigger size solar cookers are also available for cooking food upto 15 persons.
Solar street lighting system is designed for outdoor application in unelectrified remote rural areas. This is an ideal application for campus and village street lighting. The system is provided with battery storage backup sufficient to operate the light for 10-11 hours daily.

The system is provided with automatic ON/OFF time switch for dusk to dawn operation and overcharge / deep discharge prevention cut-off with LED indicators.

The SPV modules are having a service life of 15-20 years. Tubular batteries provided with the solar street lighting system require lower maintenance, have longer life and give better performance as compared to pasted plate batteries used earlier.
Home lighting systems are powered by solar energy using solar cells that convert solar energy (sunlight) directly to electricity. The electricity is stored in batteries and used for the purpose of lighting whenever required.

These syste4ms are useful in non-electrified rural areas and as reliable emergency lighting system for important domestic, commercial and industrial applications. The SPV systems have found important application in the dairy industry for lighting milk collection / chilling centres mostly located in rural areas.