Design And Construction Of A 2.0KVA Solar Powered Off-Grid Inverter System

ABSTRACT

Nigeria is a country with an estimated population of 170 Million people, 65% of which are between the ages of 18 to 45 years, but only about 40% of the population has access to adequate electricity supply. The National grid is not enough, thus there is limited extension of the grid to most communities, and it would take decades to reach most remote areas in Nigeria. This leaves a majority of Nigerians who live in most of those communities with little or no access to electricity. Even the available electricity capacity generated is insufficient to meet existing power needs of the less than 40% who have access to the national grid which lead to instability of power system in our country. Therefore, it has become imperative for exploitation and establishment of other energy resources/infrastructure to complement and supplement the limited power generation and supply available in Nigeria.  Fortunately, Nigeria is endowed with abundant natural resources of renewable energy, like the sun, wind, hydros, biomass (waste) etc. As at the moment, renewable energy will be a practical alternative to supplementing electricity supply in Nigeria. In the light of this renewable energy such as solar energy from the sun becomes a source of energy that can be used instead of procuring fossil on non-renewable energy sources. Hence, a 2.0kVA power output off grid solar powered inverter is designed and constructed with 24V DC input supply by the solar array and 220V AC output from the transformer to the loads to handle these problems. Solar inverter converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Panel into a utility frequencyalternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid electrical network. It is a critical component in a photovoltaic system, allowing the use of ordinary AC-powered equipment.In Solar inverter, Solar panels produce direct electricity with the help of electrons that are moving from negative to positive direction. Most of the appliances that we use at home work on alternative current. This AC is created by the constant back and forth of the electrons from negative to positive. In AC electricity the voltage can be adjusted according to the use of the appliance.