About mini grid of 10 kW capacity

kcbibek310

We are thinking of designing solar mini grid for rural areas of capacity 10 KW. Can anyone help me with this by providing reading material on this, so that we can design a reliable system.

BB.

We can walk you through the basics of such a design (paper designs are always a good place to start). For example we would first ask about your loads and location...

10 kWatt load is a peak load--Need to know how many hours per day (sort of like miles per hour vs miles driven per day). If you have a well pump that needs to run 1 hour per day... That is much different than a home which may take power for 5 hours or day, or a business that runs 8-10 hours per day.

And, where (roughly) will the system be installed. Solar panels only generate electricity in full sun... Seasonal variations, shading by trees and mountains, or even overhead power lines can "kill" solar panel output power. There are various websites you can look up for "hours of sun" per day (other units are common too):
http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

Kathmandu
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 62° angle:
(For best year-round performance)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
5.81	6.53	6.89	6.66	6.12	5.16
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
4.40	4.60	4.69	6.15	6.32	5.94

Also, selection of equipment depends on what is "local/available" to you...

We do have some information about books and stuff here:

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/4426/working-thread-for-solar-beginner-post-faq/p1

For smaller systems, the math and system design is pretty basic (like wiring up a boat with 12 volt power, 12 volt loads, AC inverter, etc.).

For large system (10kWatt is not a small system), getting local professional help/engineering is probably going to be very useful.

-Bill

Dave Angelini

Both Outback and Schneider Electric also have some excellent info on mini grid or micro-grid as it is now being called.

http://www.outbackpower.com/applications/off-grid
https://solar.schneider-electric.com/solution/residential-off-grid-solar/