Solar-Powered House System Design

This paper proposes to design a small-scale photovoltaic system to regulate, store, convert and manage solar power for use in residential settings. The system utilizes a solar panel to supply power to batteries and an AC inverter. Batteries' energy is used to satisfy the power needs of a standard household. The proposed constructed system is a scaled down physical model. The system consists of a programmable controller, photovoltaic panel, a buck converter used to charge the batteries, and a single-phase inverter to supply power for the residential loads. The controller monitors every aspect of the system including battery voltage and solar panel voltage and then determines where the home needs to draw its power from. The control system also plays a vital role in the buck converter design. An input from the solar panel is connected to the system, which then determines the duty cycle needed to step down the voltage from the panel to an acceptable and safe voltage to charge the battery. This design of a Photovoltaic system is able to meet the power demanded by an average house located in Statesboro, Georgia, and thus reduce the load on the municipal power grid.