KNU 2033 INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PV SYSTEMS

Chapter 3
Basics of Electricity

KNU1073
INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM
ASSOC. PROF. DR WAN AZLAN BIN WAN ZAINAL ABIDIN

Definitions

Ohms Law and Series-Parallel Circuit

Electrical Power in DC Circuits

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

Outlines

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Charge (Q)
Represents electrical property of the atomic
particles of a material
Measured in coulomb (C)
Two types:
 Positive
The proton of an atom is positively charged
 Negative
The electron of an atom is negatively charged

1 coulomb of charge contains 6.25 x 1018 electrons

Definitions

Conductors
Materials that conduct electricity easily due to
mobility of many free electrons
In a conductor, electrons are free to move about in
the material
Examples:
 Silver, copper, steel, bronze, iron, aluminium, etc..

Insulators
Materials that do not conduct electricity easily
They have poor electron mobility
Examples:
 Glass, rubber, ceramic, wood, plastic, air, etc

Definitions

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Semiconductors
Materials that have conductivity between
conductors and insulators
May come as single-crystal or compound forms
Examples:





Silicon (Si)
Germanium (Ge)
Gallium Arsenide (GeAs)
Cadmium Sulphide (CaS)

Definitions

Current (I)
Defined as the rate of transfer of charge from one point
to another in an electric circuit
Measured in ampere (A)
Current flow when there is a potential difference between
one point to another in an electric circuit

where
I
Q
T

is current (A)
is charge (C)
is time (s)

Definitions

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Voltage
Is defined as the of work done required to move 1
coulomb of charge
Measured in joule per coulomb (J/C) or volt (V)

where
V
W
Q

is voltage (V)
is work done (J)
is charge (C)

Definitions

Electrical Resistance
Ability to prevent current flow
Measured in ohm (
)
The resistance in a material may be calculated as

where
R

L
A

is
is
is
is

resistance of material ()
resistivity of material (m)
length of material (m)
cross-sectional area of material (m2)

Definitions

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Electrical Circuit
An interconnection of circuit elements in a closed
path
Circuit elements can be in the form of:






Resistances
Capacitances
Inductances
Voltage sources
Current sources, etc

When there is a potential difference between two

points in the circuit, current will flow between the
two points

Definitions

Open Circuit
A condition in which two points in a circuit are
not connected
The resistance of an open circuit is close to
infinity

Definitions

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KNU 2033 INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PV SYSTEMS

Short Circuit
A condition in which two points in a circuit are
connected without resistance
The resistance of an short circuit is very
close to zero

Definitions

Direct Current (DC)

Is the current that is constant in magnitude
with respect to time
Examples:
 Current discharged from solar PV battery
 As the terminal voltage and polarity of the battery
is fixed, the current flows in a single direction only

Definitions

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Alternating Current (AC)

Current that varies in magnitude and
reverses its direction periodically with
respect to time
Examples:
 The current coming from grid
 In Malaysia, the grid supply reverses polarity 100
times per second for 50 cycle at 230V

Definitions

Ohmss Law
States that the voltage across a conducting
material is directly proportional to the current
flowing through it

V=IR
where
V
I
R

is voltage across resistor (V)

is current flowing through resistor (I)
is resistance of the resistor ()

Ohms Law and Series-Parallel Circuit

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KNU 2033 INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PV SYSTEMS

Ohmss Law
Can be investigated using experimental set up.

Ohms Law and Series-Parallel Circuit

Series-Parallel Circuits (Resistors in Series)

For resistors in series:
 RT=R1 + R2 + . + Rn
where
RT
R1 .. Rn

is total resistance ()
is individual resistances ()

Ohms Law and Series-Parallel Circuit

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KNU 2033 INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PV SYSTEMS

Series-Parallel Circuits (Resistors in Parallel)

For resistors in parallel:

where
RT
R1 .. Rn

is total resistance ()
is individual resistances ()

Ohms Law and Series-Parallel Circuit

Behaviour of I and V in a series, parallel and

in a series-parallel circuits can be
summarized as follows:
Series connection
 Current is the same, voltage adds

Parallel connection
 Current adds, voltage is the same

Series-parallel combination
 Current adds, voltage adds

Ohms Law and Series-Parallel Circuit

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KNU 2033 INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PV SYSTEMS

Example
A simple circuit comprises a DC source 10V and
several resistances connected in the following
figure. If R1=10, R2=20, R3=30, determine:
a)

total equivalent resistance RT of the entire

circuit

b)

current, I

c)

voltage, V

Ohms Law and Series-Parallel Circuit

For DC electricity, the relationship between

power, current and voltage is
Pdc = Idc x Vdc
where
Pdc
Idc
Vdc

is DC power delivered (W)

is DC current supplied by source (A)
is DC voltage (V)

Electrical Power in DC Circuits

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The DC power dissipated in a resistive material

can be calculated as

Pdc = I2dc x R
where
Pdc
Idc
R

is DC power dissipated (W)

is DC current flowing through
resistive material (A)
is the resistance of the material ()

Electrical Power in DC Circuits

In DC electricity, the relationship between

electrical energy, power, current, voltage and time
is given by
Edc

= Pdc t
= Idc Vdc t
= I2dc R t

where
Edc is DC electrical energy (Wh)

Electrical Power in DC Circuits

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KNU 2033 INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PV SYSTEMS

In PV power systems, energy produces is usually

measured in watt-hour (Wh).

As electricity consumption is usually billed

depending on Wh consumption per month,
it is very important to identify the amount of time that
every electrical appliance will operate daily, weekly and
monthly

This information would assist PV designers to

correctly size PV system.

An estimation of electricity bill saving could be

performed using Wh consumption.

Electrical Power in DC Circuits

Electrical appliances use either AC or DC.

Since PV modules produces DC outputs,

conversion into AC is necessary.

This requires the use of inverter.

An equipment that converts DC electricity generated by
PV module into AC.

Efficiency of inverters may range from 85% to

95% depending on topology and application.

Up to about 15% of total AC power is converted

into heat and warm up the inverter.

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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Advantages and disadvantages of AC system

Advantages

Disadvantages

Easy to step up or step down

voltage using transformer

Requires inverter, thus costly

Lower losses in cables

Dangerous voltage e.g 230V

AC loads are cheap and easily

available
Common AC switchgears can be
used

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

Advantages and disadvantages of DC system

Advantages

Disadvantages

Directly connected to loads

Complicated circuit to change DC

level

No power losses on converters

Higher transmission current from

power generator to loads

No additional converters required Bigger size cable to reduce

voltage drop and cable losses
Less dangerous voltage
e.g. 12V or 24V DC

Required specialize DC rating

switchgears and fuses

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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KNU 2033 INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PV SYSTEMS

In addition, we need to install inverter when:

The PV system is connected to grid
Long distance between AC generator and load in
hybrid systems
 Higher voltage reduces size on transmission cable
DC switchgears (e.g. fuses, circuit breakers ets.) are
costly

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

AC Waveforms

Amplitude is the maximum voltage reached by the signal,

measured in volts, V.
Peak voltage is another name for amplitude.

Peak-peak voltage is twice the peak voltage (amplitude).

Time period is the time taken for the signal to complete

one cycle, measured in seconds (s),

Frequency is the number of cycles per second, measured

in hertz (Hz).

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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RMS Value

The value of an AC voltage is continually changing from zero

up to the positive peak, through zero to the negative peak
and back to zero again.

Clearly for most of the time it is less than the peak voltage,
so this is not a good measure of its real effect.

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

RMS Value

Instead we use the root mean square voltage (VRMS)

which is 0.7 of the peak voltage (Vpeak):
VRMS = 0.7 Vpeak and

Vpeak = 1.4 VRMS

These equations also apply to current.

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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RMS Value

The RMS value is the effective value of a varying voltage

or current.

It is the equivalent steady DC (constant) value which gives

the same effect.

For example a lamp connected to a 6V RMS AC supply will

light with the same brightness when connected to a steady
6V DC supply.

However, the lamp will be dimmer if connected to a 6V

peak AC supply because the RMS value of this is only 4.2V
(it is equivalent to a steady 4.2V DC).

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

RMS Value

AC voltmeters and ammeters show the RMS value of the

voltage or current.

If the peak value is meant it should be clearly stated,

otherwise assume it is the RMS value.

In everyday use AC voltages (and currents) are always

given as RMS values because this allows a sensible
comparison to be made with steady DC voltages (and
currents), such as from a battery.

For example a '6V AC supply' means 6V RMS, the peak

voltage is 8.6V.

The UK mains supply is 230V AC, this means 230V RMS so

the peak voltage of the mains is about 320V!

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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Frequency is the number of changing of polarity in one

second.

Example:
50 Hz means to times changing of polarity in every
second

It can also be derived from the reciprocal of period,

where
f
T

is frequency (Hz)
is period (s)

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

In pure sinusoidal waveform, the instantaneous voltage is

expressed as:
v(t) = Vpeak x sin (t)
where
v(t) is instantaneous value

Since the waveform is sinusoidal, taking the average would

give a zero value
The voltage is non-zero and has an effective value that can drive a load

The effective value is the root mean square (rms) value and
defined as:

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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In AC system for Malaysia, rms voltage is 230V and the

frequency is 50Hz.

There is also non-sinusoidal waveform which consist of

many frequency components.

All components except the fundamental (50Hz) are called

harmonic components
Distort final waveform

High quality meter must be used to measure true rms

values of voltage and current.

In GCPV systems, waveform generated by inverter may or

may not be pure.

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

This purity is expressed in term of Total Harmonic

Distortion (THD).

where
Vrms
V1

is true rms value (V)

is rms of fundamental component (V)

The lower the THD, the better the inverter.

Square wave is approximately 40%
Modified sine wave is approximately less than 40%
True sine wave is considered as less than 5%

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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For an AC circuit that has purely resistive load, behaviour

of current and voltage in the AC circuit is shown as:

The current and voltage are in phase.

The power delivered to load is:

Pac = Irms x Vrms
where

Pac
Irms
Vrms

is AC power delivered (W)

is AC rms current of load (A)
is AC rms voltage of load (V)

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

For an AC circuit that has purely inductive load, behaviour

of current and voltage in the AC circuit is shown as:

The current lags behind voltage measured in terms of angle

known as displacement angle.

The power used by the load is:

Pac = Irms x Vrms x cos
where
is displacement angle between I and V in radian

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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The power used by the load is:

Pac = Irms x Vrms x cos
where
is displacement angle between I and V in radian

The term Irms x Vrms is called Apparent Power (VA).

The term cos is called Power Factor (PF).

Lower PF appliances can be a problem due to high current

required but low real power consumed by appliances.

High I means bigger cable sizes to reduce voltage drop.

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

For an AC circuit that has capacitive load, the behaviour of

current and voltage in the AC circuit is shown as:

The current leads voltage.

This behaviour is used as a corrective measure to counterbalance effect from inductive load.
 The process is called power correction factor

Electrical Power in AC Circuits

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THANK YOU!!!

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