Abhik Milan Pal^1,, Subhra Das¹, N.B. Raju²

Photovoltaic power system, through direct conversion of solar irradiance into electricity, can be used as electrical power source for home to meet its daily energy requirement. In this paper detailed design of a standalone photovoltaic power system for uninterrupted power supply of a residential building in a typical urban area is presented. The process of acquiring photovoltaic power involves designing, selecting and determining specifications of different components that are used in the system conforming the load estimation. Accomplishment of this process depends on a variety of factors, such as geographical location, weather condition, solar irradiance, and load consumption. This paper outlines in detail the procedure for specifying each component of the standalone photovoltaic power system and as a case study, a residence in Gurgaon, India with typical energy consumption is selected. Detailed cost analysis including installation and maintenance of a solar PV system during its life span have been carried out also. The analysis shows though the initial investment is high, still, within few years it not only returns this amount but also gain substantial dividend during the system life span.

photovoltaic array, inverter, charge controller, battery, module orientation, payback period