UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING

MEC 4105

GROUP MEMBERS: Jumal Jacobus USI#: 1012578

Kishan Singh 1014740
Taalib PERSAUD 1016787
Rahul Madramootoo 1015618
LAB #1: PERFORMANCE OF THE SOLAR ARRAY
LECTURER: Mr. Persaud
AIM: TO TEST THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SOLAR ARRAY.

NOTES: this experiment allowed the characteristics I/V curve to be plotted and the peak power
point to be calculated for the ambient conditions at the time of test. From these results, the array
efficiency at different light levels can be found. Further test was done by obscuring part of the
solar array to imitate the effects of shading.

PROCEDURE:

1. The apparatus was setup as described in the manual.

2. SW1 and SW2 was placed in the middle (off) position.
3. A result table was created using the VDAS program.
4. The variable resistance was connected to the sockets of output 1 on the control cabinet.
The variable resistance was set to maximum (fully anti-clockwise).
5. SW1 was switched to direct, this connects the array directly to output 1. After the settling
period of 5 seconds, a stable reading of the array current, voltage and solarimeter was
displayed.
6. The reading of ambient temperature, the array current, array voltage and solarimeter
output was recorded.
7. The variable resistance was decreased after every ten (10) minutes, in suitable magnitude.
At each step, the array current, array voltage and solarimeter output was recorded.
8. The I/V and P/V curves were plotted for the ambient conditions at the time of the test.
9. The surface area of the array was calculated. The peak power was divided by the surface
area to obtain the peak power developed for each square metre (in W.m -2). The answer
was divided by the solarimeter reading and then multiplied by 100 to obtain the
efficiency of the array.
10. The experiment was repeated by covering 1/3 of the surface area of the array.
RESULTS:

FOR FULLY UNCOVER ARRAY, THE FOLLOWING DATA WAS COLLECTED:

Time TE4 Voltage and Current TE4 Radiation Intensity Test Conditions Calculated Parameters
Time Array Voltage Array Current Output
Solarimeter
Voltage
Output Ambient TemperatureArray Power System (Output 2
(s) (V) (A) (W.m-2)
(V) (°C) (W) (W)
Data Series 1
0 19.0 0.32 883 25.0 6
935
940
995 18.6 0.46 839
837
839 33.0 9
1585
1850 18.1
18.2 0.69 802
794 33.0 12
13
1885
2120 18.2
18.1 0.69 794
781 33.0 13
12
2220 16.3 1.51 776 33.0 25

The above data was use to plot the characteristic curve:

(i) I/V

(ii) P/V
FOR 1/3 UNCOVERED ARRAY, THE FOLLOWING DATA WAS COLLETED:

Time TE4 Voltage and Current TE4 Radiation IntensityTest Conditions Calculated Parameters
Time Array Voltage Array Current Output
Solarimeter
Voltage
Output Array Angle Ambient TemperatureArray Power System (Output 2)
(s) (V) (A) (W.m-2)
(V) (degrees) (°C) (W) (W)
Data Series 1
0 12.5 0.22 691 15 33.0 3
300
305 12.0
0.4 0.28
0.00 680
679 15 33.0 30
600 12.0 0.28 660 15 33.0 4
1200
1205 11.8
0.2 0.45
0.00 621 15 33.0 50
1800
1805 11.5
0.1 0.52
0.00 580 15 33.0 60
2400 10.7 0.99 532 15 33.0 11

The above data was use to plot the characteristic curve:

(I) I/V

(II) P/V
DISCUSSION

The results from the experiment were used to plot the graphs as shown. The current vs voltage
was similar as it was thought about how it would behave. As the current increases the voltage
decreases and vice versa. For the fully exposed PV panel, it was apparent that the power graph
looked very similar to the current graph, and when superimposed one can see a distinct
similarity. However, the radiation intensity does have an effect on both the power and current
graphs. What is important is that the voltage stay above a given value, the current and power
may fluctuate depending on the solar intensity but the pv performance is hinged on voltage much
more than current. The small deviation for both graphs is due to the small change in the solar
intensity within that time period for the fully uncovered panel. Even though high and low
radiation intensity affects the performance of PV systems; one limitation was the angle of the
panel which was not really considered in this laboratory. The peak power was recorded at
twenty-five watts (25W). This peak power occurred when the resistance was small in value, also
the array voltage was the lowest, and array current at its highest.

For the 1/3 uncovered array, the plotted data was similar to that of the fully uncovered array at
15 degrees. However, this was proven more efficient than the fully uncovered data. This is so
because at the continued low radiation intensity, that small area will tend to produce power close
to that of the fully uncovered array. Here peak powered recorded was eleven watts (11W).

From comparison of the two conditions it shows, that the more available space the array has to
collect the irradiance of the sun the higher will be the array power. Some factors contributing to
the efficiency of the array are, the reflectiveness of the array and the wavelength of the rays
reaching the array. However, climatic conditions will also affect the efficiency, since it was a
fairly cloudy day. The efficiency of the array was calculated to be 10.7%, which is expected
from this type and size of solar array.
CONCLUSION

In conclusion, from the recorded results, the voltage output of the solar panel was linear for a
short period of time with a constant decrease with the current for most of the experiment. A
similar result was shown for the power for the fully uncovered array. However, there was a
difference in the threshold when 1/3 of the array was uncovered. Hence we can clearly say that
the performance of the solar panel is dependent on the voltage output more so than the
fluctuating current and power. However, this isn’t 100% assurance since the results were taken at
a single angle. Given the location of the experiment, and the affecting factors, the results did not
deviate much from what was expected. From the conditions applied, the solar array performance
is directly proportional to the surface area of the array available to the sun rays and thus is
affected by cloud cover.