PV Solar Technology for Energy Cost and

Emissions Reduction in Rural Area

2021 International Conference on Green Energy, Computing and Sustainable Technology (GECOST) | 978-1-6654-3865-0/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/GECOST52368.2021.9538657

Aniekan Eno-Ibanga Dominic Okeke Logan Yelderman Sarhan M. Musa

Department of Electrical Department of Electrical Department of Psycology Department of Electrical
and Computer and Computer Prairie View A&M and Computer
Engineering Engineering University Engineering
Prairie View A&M Prairie View A&M Prairie View, TX Prairie View A&M
University University layelderman@pvamu.edu University
Prairie View, TX Prairie View, TX Prairie View, TX
aenoibanga@pvamu.edu dokeke@pvamu.edu smmusa@pvamu.edu
S

Abstract— The world in recent times has leaned towards This paper is organized as follows: methodology,
increased use of renewable energy which is because of spiking discussion and results, conclusion, and references. In the
cost of fossil fuels, environmental impact etc. Solar energy from methodology section, components of a PV system are
the sun has seen a lot of application recently mainly due to its discussed. The discussion and results section highlights
availability and scalability. Sunlight is composed of photons--
implementation of the model, simulation, and. The
packets of solar energy. When photons strike a photovoltaic
(PV) cell, they may be reflected or absorbed, or they may pass conclusion summarizes the results and observations. The
right through. The absorbed photons generate electricity. The references are provided to aid further reading and research.
energy of a photon is transferred to an electron in an atom of the
semiconductor device. An array of solar cells converts solar
energy into a usable amount of Direct Current (DC) electricity. II. METHODOLOGY
This paper presents a PV solar farm system using electricity A. Solar Cell
usage data obtained from a utility provider in a rural area
(Prairie View) in Texas, while examining factors that may affect A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a simple PN junction
solar energy integration in the area. The results of the power photodiode that can absorb the sun’s radiation. The
and voltages generated at different temperatures are analyzed photovoltaic effect is the basic physical process through which
and compared. a PV cell converts sunlight into electricity [4]. It consists of a
light generated current source, a single diode representing p-n
Keywords—Photovoltaic, energy usage, irradiation. junction cell, a series resistance Rs and a shunt resistance Rsh
describing an internal resistance of cell to the current flow [6].
A solar cell can be modeled as a diode with a photo generated
I. INTRODUCTION current source in parallel as shown in Fig. 1 [7].
Solar energy has become a pivotal source of energy in the
world at large. It is increasingly important to implement
alternative forms of energy with the growing negative effects
of climate change. Although solar panels can be quite
expensive, the energy consumption reduction can lead to long
term cost savings [1]. Being a clean source of energy, solar
systems can play a vital role in reduction of greenhouse gases
and can reduce global warming effects considerably [2].
Energy from the sun can be harnessed in form of solar
electric energy. The energy derived from the sun is greatly
dependent on weather conditions like temperature and solar
irradiation levels. Grid-connected PV systems have found
more market applications in commercial and industrial
sectors than in the residential sector [3]. Traditionally, in Fig 1. Solar cell equivalent circuit.
most urban-residential homes, the energy consumption peaks
twice a day, typically early hours of the morning and just after
dusk in the evenings, whilst the PV panels produce power The amount of solar energy reaching the cell is irradiance (S)
only during the day [3]. A possible solution for urban- given in Watts per meter square. The solar cell terminal
residential consumers would be to store the excess power current can be expressed as a function of photo-generated
during the day and use or sell it back to the grid during heavy current, diode current and shunt current as given by (1).
load demand or high energy cost periods. This configuration
is a typical example of a grid-interactive solar PV system [4].
= − − (1)

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B. Photovoltaic Model
A 400 kW PV array is modeled in MATLAB that includes
a DC-DC boost converter and a three-phase three-level
Voltage Source Converter (VSC) [7]. The MATLAB PV
model for the rural area used in this paper is shown in Fig. 2.
The Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is implemented
in the boost converter by means of a Simulink model. The
irradiance of each of the solar panel arrays are varied at their
respective fixed temperatures to observe a representation of
how the solar farm would react to the changes in varying
weather and temperature conditions.
Fig. 2. PV array MATLAB Simulink model of rural area.
C. DC-DC Boost Converter
DC–DC converters are electronic devices which convert a
DC voltage from one level in input to another DC level at its
output. Fig. 3 shows a MATLAB boost converter model. They
are generally composed of switching devices, inductors, and
capacitors. The switch is usually an IGBT or MOSFET. A
PWM signal driven at the gate of either of them, switches it
on and off [9]. In Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
systems, this signal is controlled by the controller [10]. DC-
DC converter used in this work is a boost converter which
steps up the input voltage to a desired voltage at its output.
Input voltage of the boost is output voltage of the PV module.
The boost converter works hand in hand with the MPPT
controller to ensure that the maximum possible voltage per
conditions (temperature and irradiation) is supplied by the PV
module thus increasing its efficiency.
Fig. 3. DC-DC boost converter.
III. DISCUSSION AND RESULTS
Data obtained from San Bernard Electric Corp showed that
the average home in Prairie View consumes about 1300 kWh
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per month during peak periods. According to the US census
bureau [11], the number of homes in the Prairie View area was
about 1120 in 2019. To implement a solar farm capable of
feeding the whole area, the city would need a PV system that
can reliably generate approximately 50MWh daily. This
system is a scalable system consisting of four (4) 100kW PV
arrays. The system is modelled with Irradiation starting at
1000 Watts/meter squared and their respective temperatures,
and then varied at different points in the time duration (three
hours) of the simulation.
The PV module used in this work is SunPower SPR-315E-
WHT-D. Array 1, array 2, array 3 and array 4 are tested at a
temperature of 40, 45, 35 and 30 degree Celsius, respectively.
The data sheet of the reference model under standard test
condition (STC) is given in Table I.
Table I. MODULE PARAMETERS (SPR-315E-WHT-D)
Maximum Power (Pmax) 315W
Open Circuit Voltage 64.6V
Short-Circuit Current 6.14A
Maximum Power Voltage 54.7V
Maximum Power Current 5.76A
The power and voltage characteristics of PV arrays 1,2,3
and 4 are shown in Fig. 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively. Fig. 8
shows the combined power and voltage characteristics of all
arrays and Fig. 9 shows the voltage, current and power
injected at the grid. Array 1 is set up such that its irradiance
starts out at 1000W/m2 and drops off to 650W/m2 at 0.5hrs
then goes back up to 1000W/m2 at 2.3hrs. Array 2 is set up
such that its irradiance starts out at 1000W/m2 and drops off
to 40W/m2 at 1.5hrs then goes back up to 1000W/m2 at
2.2hrs. Array 3 is set up such that its irradiance starts out at
1000W/m2 and drops off to 100W/m2 at 0.5hrs then goes
back up to 1000W/m2 at 1.5hrs. Array 4 is set up such that
its irradiance starts out at 1000W/m2 and drops off to
370W/m2 at 1hr then goes back up to 1000W/m2 at 2.0hrs.
Fig. 4. Power and voltage characteristics of PV array 1.
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Fig. 5. Power and voltage characteristics of PV array 2.
Fig. 6. Power and Voltage characteristics of PV array 3.
Fig. 7. Power and voltage characteristics of PV array 4.
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Fig. 8. Power and irradiance characteristics of all PV arrays
Fig. 9. Three phase voltage and current injected at grid.
CONCLUSION
It was observed from the simulation results that the mean
power and current generated by the panels was directly
proportional to the irradiance level. The voltage also varied
with the different temperature of the panels. Implementation
of such a system in the Prairie View rural area would
hypothetically be efficient as the city is located on a hilly
terrain thereby increasing its chances at getting maximum
irradiance from the sun. The analysis and results obtained in
this research should serve as a technical baseline for
implementation of this renewable energy project in the city
of Prairie View.
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