Thursday, May 24, 2018

Solar Electricity for a Farm

In May 2018, I visited a farm overseas and installed a Photovoltaic System (900W) on the farm. They have no grid electricity supply.


Photovoltaic System for the Farm

The system proposed is a 900 Watts Photovoltaic System that can provide up to 2 KW of electricity to the farm. The daily usage has to be budgeted to ensure that the batteries storage is not fully discharged by excessive electricity usage.

System Specifications:

900 Watts Photovoltaic System (6 pieces of 150W Solar Panels)
Power Inverter, 24Vdc to 230Vac, 2,500 Watts
Lead Acid Batteries 12Vdc 200 AH – 4 pieces (Operating at 24 Vdc)
Budgeted Daily Energy Usage: approx 2,600 Watt-Hour per Day
Standby Battery Storage: 3 days



 

The Schematics for the Photovoltaic System is shown below.

The estimated energy usage for the farm based on their daily operations using the following electrical equipment and appliances:
  1. Water Pump (500 watts) uses 3 hours daily
  2. LED Lamps (10W x 5 pieces) uses 6 hours at night
  3. Fan (40W x 2 pieces) uses 10 hours at night
  4. Spot Light (10W) operate 12 hours at night for security

If the farm restricts the energy usage to the above duration, the photovoltaic system will be able to provide their daily energy needs.


The ampere meter shows the solar charging current of 18.7 Amps into the lead acid batteries.


A change-over switch between generator and solar allows easy switching between the two systems.

Donation of the Photovoltaic System.

  • Photovoltaic System Cost – SGD 4,500
  • Tools (Hammer Drill & Battery Operated Hand Drill) – SGD 160
In July 2018, the inverter had died. It was brought back to Singapore and send back to the shop to repair. It was found that all the fuses and MOSFET were burned. Still trying to understand what caused the inverter to die.

In October 2018, I bought a new inverter online, 2500W pure sine wave solar power inverter DC 12V 24V 48V to AC 110V 220V digital display. It cost me SGD$213.73.

Manage to get someone to bring over and install the inverter. The system is working again.





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