UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

MALAYSIAN SPANISH INSTITUTE

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY (HONS.) MECHATRONICS

(AUTOMOTIVE) AND APPLIED ELECTRONICS

STB 47203
POWER ELECTRONIC & DRIVE

LAB #4
SINGLE PHASE INVERTER
(SOLAR PANEL APPLICATION)

Marking Scheme: Marks

Circuit Construction /Results /40
Conclusion /20
Timeliness /8
Lab protocol /12
Teamwork /12
References /8
Total /100%
  

UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR  

MALAYSIAN SPANISH INSTITUTE  
 

STB36303
POWER ELECTRONICS AND DRIVES  

LAB 4
SINGLE PHASE INVERTER
(SOLAR PANEL APPLICATION)

PREPARED BY: 

STUDENT’S NAME  ID NUMBER 

NUR BATRISHA BALQIS BINTI MOHD SURAIS  54215119229 
NURUL FARHANA BINTI MOHD FADZLI  54215119170 
NURUL FARHANAH BINTI ZAKARIA  54215119177 

LECTURER’S NAME: TS. DR. NURAZLIN BT MOHD YAAKOP

OBJECTIVES
• To study and measure the output voltage of a photovoltaic solar panel.
• To understand the concept of solar panel.

EQUIPMENTS/COMPONENT REQUIRED
• Solar panel array
• Voltage regulator
• Single phase Inverter
• Lamp
• Multi-meter
• Oscilloscope

INTRODUCTION
Basic Solar Power System

The solar panel converts sunlight into DC electricity to charge the battery. This DC
electricity is fed to the battery via a solar regulator which ensures the battery is charged
properly and not damaged. DC appliances can be powered directly from the battery, but
AC appliances require an inverter to convert the DC electricity into 240 Volt AC power.
Some DC appliances can be connected to the regulator to take advantage of the Low
Voltage Disconnect and protect your battery.
Solar PV panels are comprised of many small photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic meaning
they can convert sunlight into electricity. These cells are made of semi-conductive
materials, most often silicon, a material that can conduct electricity while maintaining the
electrical imbalance needed to create an electric field. When sunlight hits the
semiconductor in the solar PV cell the energy from the light, in the form of photons, is
absorbed, knocking loose a number of electrons, which then drift freely in the cell.

The solar cell is specifically designed with positively and negatively charged
semiconductors sandwiched together to create an electric field. This electric field forces
the drifting electrons to flow in a certain direction- towards the conductive metal plates
that line the cell. This flow is known as an energy current, and the strength of the current
determines how much electricity each cell can produce. Once the loose electrons hit
metal plates, the current is then directed into wires, allowing the electrons to flow like
they would in any other source of electric generation.

Detailed Components and Description

Components Description
Solar panel Solar panels are classified according to their rated power output in
Watts. This rating is the amount of power the solar panel would be
expected to produce in 1 peak sun hour. Solar panels are used to
convert light from the sun, which is composed of particles of
energy called "photons", into electricity that can be used to power
electrical loads.
Solar regulator The purpose of solar regulators is to regulate the current from the
solar panels to prevent the batteries from overcharging which can
causes damage to the batteries. It is also used to sense when the
batteries are fully charged and to stop or decrease the amount of
current flowing to the battery. A regulator can also provide a direct
connection to appliances, while continuing to recharge the battery.
Battery Deep cycle batteries that are used in solar power systems are
designed to be discharged over a long period of time (e.g. 100
hours) and recharged hundreds or thousands of times, unlike
conventional car batteries which are designed to provide a large
amount of current for a short amount of time.
 Inverter An inverter is a device which converts the DC power in a battery
to 240V AC electricity. Inverters come in two basic output designs,
pure sine wave and modified sine wave (squarewave). Modified
sinewave inverters make the conversion from DC to AC very
efficiently, and they are relatively inexpensive.

PROCEDURE
(i) Output voltage from solar panel, solar regulator, lead acid battery, and inverter was
measured without any connection.

Solar panel = 9.96 V DC

Solar power regulator = 2.66 V DC
Lead acid battery = 3.40 V DC
Inverter = 11.60 V AC

(ii) Solar panel was connected to solar regulator

(iii) Solar regulator was connected to battery

(iv) Battery was connected to inverter

(v) The complete circuit was shown in the Figure below

Figure 1: Off grid solar panel installation

(vi) Output voltage was measured when t=0m, t=15m, t=30m, t=45m.
(vii) The data was recorded in the table below

Multimeter
t0= 0 min t1= 15 min t2= 30 min t3= 45 min
reading of
Solar panel 13.12V 17.65V 19.65V 19.78V
Solar power
regulator (with 323.3mV 331.4mV 334.8mV 335.1mV
connection to
battery)
Lead Acid 0.387V 0.600V 2.597V 2.576V
battery
Inverter 2.575V 2.575V 2.575V 2.575V

CONCLUSION

We learned from this experiment that this solar inverter uses solar energy to generate
electricity for free. As a result, it is environmentally friendly, pollution-free, and can be
utilized in three phases for both industrial and home purposes.

In this experiment, we created an inverter that can deliver power to the bulb. However,
our batteries have reduced their voltage slightly after 30 minutes. Due to the reduction of
reactive power feeding from the transformer it has reduced the total line current and
caused to reduce the power loss of the total system.

Discussing if we connect solar panel directly to battery, the batteries may function, but it
is not a smart move. When the sun is directly overhead, a typical 12-volt solar panel that
can be used to recharge a battery may really be producing close to 20 volts, which is far
more voltage than the battery requires.