ITC504 Assignment 1: Solar Home Management Display Design & Rationale

This assignment presents two alternative interface designs for a Solar Home Management display, focusing on a control panel for managing a grid-tied solar system. Alternative 1 features a simple grid-tied system with optional battery integration and screen displays for various information, emphasizing the conversion of DC to AC current and switch controls for system components. Alternative 2 also uses a grid-tied system with micro inverters and covered solar panels for protection. The rationale behind Alternative 1 highlights its cost-effectiveness, ability to send excess energy to the grid, and automatic voltage adjustment. The assignment recommends Alternative 1 due to the unnecessary energy waste associated with the protective layers in Alternative 2, referencing external sources for supporting information. Desklib provides access to this assignment along with a wealth of study resources.

ITC504 Assignment-1
The Solar Home Management
Your Name
Student No

Alternative -1 / Screen-1

Alternative -1 / Screen-1 Description
• The alternative 1 is shown in the above image.
A small and simple grid tied solar system is
built.
• The energy from all solar panels goes to the
grid-tied inverter. Battery is optional. We can
use battery in between this route.
• Different screen is available for different
information e.g. solar panel, battery display etc.

Alternative -1 / Screen-1 Description
• The grid-tie inverter is converting the DC
current to the AC current to use in the house
and to send the excess current to the grid.
• Switch buttons are given for each option e.g.
battery on/off, grid on/off and solar panel
on/off.
• It is good to switch off the solar panel in case
of worst weather conditions.

Alternative -2

Alternative -2 Description
• In alternative 2, the solar panel system is also
grid-ties system as it is the cheapest way to
make the solar panel system.
• In this, micro inverters are used.
• The cover is also placed at the solar panels for
security.

Reasons for Alternative-1
• The grid-tied system is cheap in comparison to
the simple solar panel system that use only
the battery and a simple DC/AC converter.
• The Grid-tied solar system send the excess
energy to the grid.
• The grids are the virtual battery backups that
are more cheaper than ejected batteries.

Reasons for Alternative-1
• The grid-tied inverters adjust the voltage itself.
No need to use any other instrument.
• It synchronise the voltage along with the grid
voltage.
• When the sun goes, the power that has gone
to the grid, we can take that back. That is why;
the grids are virtual batteries.

Reasons for Alternative-2
• Alternative-2 is having all the features of grid-
tied solar systems. In alternative-2 the solar
panels are covered for protection.
• In alternative-2, micro inverters are used. In
this, the AC current of all micro inverters is
added and divided later.

Recommendation
• Alternative-1 is better than alternative-2 as in
alternative-2 protection is given which is not
needed.
• The protection wastes the energy in between
the solar panels and protection layers.
• A thin layer is already applied on the solar
panels.

References
solarnation.com 2015, So what are the components of a Solar
Power System?,
Viewed on 11th August 2017 < http://www.solar-nation.org/so-
what-are-the-components-of-a-solar-power-system >
Energy Matters 2016, How a grid connected solar power
system works,
Viewed on 11th August 2017
< http://www.energymatters.com.au/residential-solar/how-
solar-power-works/>