DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SOLAR POWER BANK A CASE STUDY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE LABORATORY

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ABSTRACT

This Project entitled “DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOLAR POWER BANK” was designed to expose the participants to the practical skills needed in designing a solar power bank. The specification of the solar system is: Solar Panel, Mounting Equipment, DC to AC inverters, Wiring and Fuse Box Connections, Utility Power Meter, e.t.c. Through this research, the research were able to acquire the basic skills needed to trained interested persons.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title – – – – – – – – – – – i
Declaration – – – – – – – – – – ii
Certification – – – – – – – – – – iii
Dedication – – – – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgement- – – – – – – – – v
Abstract – – – – – – – – – – vi
Table contents – – – – – – – – – vii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study- – – – – – – 1
1.2 Statement of problem – – – – – – – 3
1.3 Aim and objectives of the study – – – – – 4
1.4 Significance of the Study – – – – – – 4
1.5 Research methodology – – – – – – – 5
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Definition of solar – – – – – – – 7
2.2 Brief history of solar – – – – – – – 8
2.3 Usefulness of power – – – – – – – 11
2.4 Types of solar – – – – – – – – 12
2.5 Components of a solar – – – – – – – 13
2.6 Description of the case study – – – – – – 15
2.7 Importance of Solar Power System – – – – 16
2.8 Solar System Implementation Procedure – – – – 17
2.9 Challenges in Setting up Solar Power System – – – 19
2.10 Review of related research works – – – – – 20
2.11 Proposed Solar Power System – – – – – 20
CHAPTER THREE
SYSTEM DESIGN
3.1 Design process – – – – – – – – 22
3.2 Design components – – – – – – – 22
3.3 Solar panel – – – – – – – – – 23
3.4 Mounting Rack – – – – – – – – 25
3.5 DC to AC Inverter – – – – – – – 27
3.6 Wiring and fuse box connection – – – – – 29
3.7 Utility power meter – – – – – – – 29
3.8 Battery – – – – – – – – – 31
3.9 Charge controller – – – – – – – 33
3.10 Surge protector – – – – – – – – 34
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Design Implementation – – – – – – – 38
4.2 Installation Procedure – – – – – – – 40
4.3 Integration Testing – – – – – – – 44
4.4 Purpose of Integration Test – – – – – – 46
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary – – – – – – – – – 47
5.2 Problems Encountered and Solution – – – – 47
5.3 Recommendation – – – – – – – 49
5.4 Conclusion – – – – – – – – 50
References – – – – – – – – 51

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

According to EU estimates, there are more than a billion people in the world living without electricity. Due to high investment costs for expanding the public grids and low power requirements; it would be uneconomical to connect these remote areas to the utilities in the medium run. Under these circumstances stand-alone PV systems present a logical alternative. Stand-alone PV systems are autonomous power grids being supplied with energy from a photovoltaic generator. Examples of such systems include electricity supply systems on islands, for isolated settlements or entire villages. According to EU estimates, approximately 300,000 farmsteads and buildings in Europe alone are not connected to the public power grid. In such cases, stand-alone photovoltaic systems are often the most economic solution.
Solar Power Bank is the conversion of sunlight into electricity either directly using photovoltaic (PV), concentrated power backup use lenses or mirror or tracking system to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaic covert light into electric current using the photovoltaic effect.
According to Brandon (2010), Photovoltaic were initially and still being used to power small and medium sized appliances from calculator power by a single solar cell to off-grid homes power by a photovoltaic array. They are an important and relatively inexpensive source of electrical energy where grid power is inconvenient, unreasonably expensive to connect, or simply unavailable. However as the cost of solar electricity is falling, solar power bank is also increasing being used even in grid-connected situations as a way to feed low-carbon energy into grid.
Commercial concentrated power bank plants were first developed in 1980s.The 392 mw ISEGS CSO installation is the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert of California. There have been concerns about having transformer less electrical systems feed into the public utility grid. The concerns stem from the fact that there is a lack of galvanic isolation between the DC and AC circuits, which could allow the passage of dangerous DC faults to be transmitted to the AC side. 
The need for alternative solar power in the software laboratory, Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro is in the increase on daily basis due incessant power failure and increased number of students who constantly need power supply to run programs in the laboratory. In view of the above, this research is designed to implement alternative power backup system – the inverter system in the software laboratory.

1.2 Statement of the problem

This research work is particularly designed to address the following problems associated with the case study:
Insufficient electricity problem in the department for student practical’s.
Solve the problem of lack of long lasting electric power for offices.
Prevent the frequent damage to computer due to power interruption
Reduce the rate at which many students graduate without having adequate knowledge of solar power bank and how such could be installed into a functional system.
Poor weather condition is a major problem that affect the Solar Power Panel especially in a geographical area where there is no sunshine especially Delta State.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SOLAR POWER BANK A CASE STUDY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE LABORATORY