CONSTRUCTION OF A SOLAR ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR

LIGHTING AND CHARGING OF MOBILE PHONES

BY

ALIU EMMANUEL OLANREWAJU

(F/HD/20/3730010)

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE
YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY,
YABA, LAGOS.

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR A

HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA (HND) IN
PHYSICS SCIENCE

FEBRUARY, 2023

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project write-up has been done by me, and it is a record of my own

research work. It has not been presented in any previous application for a higher degree of this or

any other institutions. All citations and sources of information are explicitly acknowledged by

means of references.

……………………………….…… ………………………
Aliu Emmanuel Olanrewaju Date

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 CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this project report was carried out by ALIU EMMANUEL

OLANREWAJU with Matric Number: F/HD/20/3730010 of the Department of Physical

Science, Yaba College of Technology, Yaba Lagos.

____________________ ________________
DR NZEKWE, N. M. Date
Project Supervisor

____________________ ________________
MR OBA, M.O. Date
Project Coordinator

___________________ ________________
MR. ADEWOYIN, K.A. Date
Head of Department

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 DEDICATION

With profound gratitude this project is dedicated to Almighty God, who has been with me from

the beginning and has granted me the grace to successfully complete this work. I also dedicate

this work to my family, friends and future generations.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Through all things, my profound gratitude goes to God Almighty who has given me wherewithal

to carry out this project report.

I also want to express my gratitude to my amiable supervisor DrNzekwe, N. M. for his moral

support, positive criticism and devotion of time towards the success of this project. Many thanks

to him also for his useful advice and technical support throughout this journey.

My in depth gratitude goes to my family for their love, support, and sacrifice. Your contribution

towards the success of this project is highly appreciated.

God bless you all.

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 Abstract

Power supply in Nigeria is epileptic and very erratic. Most rural areas are not connected to the
national grid lines; this is due to the unavailability of the required power sources to meet with the
needed electricity demand. Nigeria is yet to diversify her power supply in order to have
alternative means and more constant supply of electricity.This project is aimed at constructing a
solar device that could be used for lighting, charging of mobile phones and other electronics via
USB. Selected electronic devices were set up and soldered on a circuit board using a designed
circuit. They were tested and assembled on a metal case prepared for the device. The test results
obtained from the constructed solar device were effective for five lighting ports for 4, 5, and 7
watts DC bulbs. The two USB ports had outputs of 5.0 volts DC. Various utilities were derived
from the use of this solar device ranging from maximum to moderate and least utilities
depending on individual choices. The equipment can be relied on and best recommended for
usage in rural areas and places where electricity is not regular or not available.

Keywords: Solar Energy, Charge controller, USB ports, Lighting ports, DC to DC conversion.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Declaration ii

Certification iii

Dedication iv

Acknowledgement v

Abstract vi

Table of Contents viii

List of Figures xi

List of Tables xii

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms xiii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the Study 1

1.2 Solar PV Technology 2

1.3 Statement of Problem 4

1.4 Aim and Objectives 6

1.4.1 Aim 6

1.4.2 Objectives 6

1.5 Scope of Study 6

1.6 Significance of Study 6

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Energy and Sources 9

2.2 Solar energy 9

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2.3 Energy background in Nigeria 10

2.3.1 Energy need in Nigeria 11

2.4 Types of solar energy 12

2.4.1 Passive solar energy 12

2.4.2 Active solar energy 12

2.5 Technologies developed to harness solar energy 12

2.5.1 Photovoltaic solar technology 12

2.5.2 Solar thermal technology 12

2.6 Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy system 13

2.7 Solar module 13

2.8 Types of PV solar grid system 14

2.8.1 Off grid stand-alone system 15

2.9 Solar charge controller 15

2.9.1 Types of solar charge controller 16

2.9.1.1 Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) 17

2.9.1.2 Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) 17

CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHOD 19

3.1 Materials 19

3.2 Method 20

3.2.1 Block diagram of the complete system 22

3.2.2 Solar charge controller circuit 23

3.2.3 Low battery cut off circuit 25

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3.3 Assembling of the whole circuit 25

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 27

4.1 Testing and Recording 27

4.2 Result 27

4.3 Discussion 31

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 32

5.1 Summary 32

5.2 Conclusion 32

5.3 Recommendation 32

References 33

Appendix 1 37

Appendix 2 44

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Voltage charge rate per hour 44

Table 2 Voltage and current discharge rate per hour 45

Table 3 Voltage charge rate per hour 47

Table 4 Voltage and Current discharge rate 49

Table 5 Voltage and Current charge rate 51

Table 6 Voltage and Current discharge rate 52

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Solar module 14

Figure 3.2.1 Block diagram of the complete system 22

Figure 3.2.2 Solar charge controller circuit (SCC) 23

Figure 3.3 Photograph display of the solar charge controller (SCC) 24

Figure 3.2.3 Low battery cutoff circuit 25

Figure 3.5 Uncovered case 26

Figure 3.6 Covered case 26

Figure 4.1 Voltmeter calibration 27

Figure 4.2 Voltage and current charging rate 28

Figure 4.3 Discharged voltage and current against time 29

Figure 4.4 Degree of satisfaction derived in the choice of experimented bulbs 30

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

PV Photovoltaic system

DC Direct current

AC Alternating current

SCC Solar Charge Controller

MOSFET Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect

PWM Power width modulation

MPPT Maximum power point tracking

DisCos Distribution companies

GenCos Generation companies

TCN Transmission company of Nigeria

SHS Solar Home System

USB Universal serial bus

PHCN Power Holding Company of Nigeria

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