Step4: Sizing of Solar Array capacity

 

To calculate the solar array capacity needed for a system with two days of autonomy and an energy consumption of 41.5 kWh, we can follow these steps:

1. Calculate Daily Energy Consumption: Since the autonomy is two days, we divide the total energy consumption by 2 to find the daily requirement.

2. Solar Array Capacity Before Oversizing: Divide the daily energy requirement by the solar hours to get the initial capacity of the solar array needed.

3. Apply Oversizing: Increase the initial capacity by 25% to account for inefficiencies and losses.

4. Calculate Number of Modules: Divide the final solar array capacity by the power of one solar module to find out how many modules are required.

Let's do the calculations:

1. Daily Energy Consumption = Total Energy Consumption / Number of Days = 41.5 kWh / 2 days

2. Initial Solar Array Capacity = Daily Energy Consumption / Solar Hours

3. Final Solar Array Capacity = Initial Capacity (1 + Oversize Percentage)

4. Number of Modules = Final Solar Array Capacity / Power per Module

Given:

- Total Energy Consumption = 41.5 kWh

- Number of Days = 2

- Solar Hours = 4 hours/day

- Oversize Percentage = 25%

- Power per Module = 300W = 0.3 kW

Now, let's calculate:

Based on the calculations:

1. The initial solar array capacity needed is approximately 5.19 kW before applying the oversize factor.

2. After applying the 25% oversize, the final solar array capacity required is approximately 6.48 kW.

3. To achieve this energy demand with 300W solar modules, you would need approximately 22 modules (rounding up to the nearest whole module for practicality).

So, you'd need around 22 of the 300W solar modules to meet the specified energy demand with the given parameters.