Tutorial 1: EEET 2334/35 Renewable Electrical Energy Systems

Problem 1:
At what angle should a South-facing collector at 36◦ latitude be tipped up to in order to have it be normal to the sun’s rays at solar
noon on the following dates:
a. March 21. Ans: 36o
b. January 1. Ans: 59o
c. April 1. Ans: 32o

Problem 2:
For the simple equivalent circuit for a 0.005 m2 photovoltaic cell shown in Fig. 2, the reverse saturation current is I0 = 10−9 A and at
an insolation of 1 sun the short-circuit current is ISC = 1 A,. At 250C, find the following:
a. The open-circuit voltage. Ans: 0.5325 V
b. The load current when the output voltage is V = 0.5 V. Ans: 0.72 A
c. The power delivered to the load when the output voltage is 0.5 V. Ans: 0.36 W
d. The efficiency of the cell at V = 0.5 V. Ans: 7.2%

Fig. 2

Problem 3:
Figure 3 shows two I-V curves. One is for a PV cell with an equivalent circuit having an infinite parallel resistance (and no series
resistance). What is the parallel resistance in the equivalent circuit of the other cell? Ans: 2 ohm

Fig. 3

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© G. M. Masters, Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems, Wiley, 2004
 Tutorial 1: EEET 2334/35 Renewable Electrical Energy Systems
Problem 4:
A module with 40 cells has an idealized, rectangular I-V curve with ISC = 4 A and VOC = 20 V as shown in Fig. 4. If a single cell has
a parallel resistance of 5 Ω and negligible series resistance, draw the I-V curve if one cell is completely shaded. What current
would it deliver to a 12-V battery (vertical I-V load at 12 V)? Ans: V=19.5-5I Ans: 1.5 A

Fig. 4

Problem 5:
Suppose the I –V curve for a PV module exposed to 1-sun (1 kW/m2) of insolation is as shown in Fig. 5:

a. What load resistance R would result in the maximum power delivered to the panel at 1-sun? How much power would that be
(watts)? Ans: 4 ohm and 100 watts
b. Suppose the hour-by-hour insolation striking this single panel is given in the following table (e.g., from 7:30 A.M. to 8:30 A.M. the
insolation averages 200 W/m2):

If current (at any given voltage) is directly proportional to insolation, carefully draw the hour-by-hour I –V curves for the module. For
the resistive load determined in (a), what would be the energy (watt-hr) delivered by this panel in a day’s time? Ans: 340 Watt-
hours
c. If the module is equipped with a maximum-power-point tracker, what energy would be delivered in a day’s time? What
percentage improvement does it provide? Ans: 500 Watt-hours

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© G. M. Masters, Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems, Wiley, 2004
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