Solar module Testing in Nepal

1. NEPQA AND SOLAR TESTING IN RETS By Sujita Thakali
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2. CONTENT
Introduction
Block Diagram of System
Description of Components
Testing of solar panel
Photo
Conclusion
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3. INTRODUCTION
NEPQA stands for Nepal Photovoltaic Quality Assurance which is
the technical standard for the components of a Solar
Photovoltaic(PV) system.
The standard doesn’t remain constant it changes with time.
Based on this documents the RETS(Renewable Energy Test
Station) will test and certify the quality of the PV systems and
components in PV applications.
The RETS is authorized to carry out the quality test of the solar
photovoltaic system and its components and issue the certificate
using the Sampling Plan and Test Procedures of RETS.
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4. BLOCK DIAGRAM
Charge
Controller
Battery
Solar panel
AC
appliances
Mobile USB
Connection
Sun
Load Center
Inverter
DC
lamps
Flow of
Photon
Flow of
Current
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5. DESCRIPTION OF COMPONENTS
Solar Panel
Charge Controller
Battery
Inverter
Solar Pump
DC LED Lamp
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6. SOLAR PANEL
In RETS, Polycrystalline and Monocrystalline and Thin- Film PV Panel
are tested.
Required Documents
Before doing the technical specification testing the local company has to
submit the documents of certificate from the Certifying Body Testing
Laboratory (CBTL), IEC 61215 2nd Edition certificate, design
qualification and type approval documents.
Should have the letter stating that the PV panel will have 10%
degradation in efficiency in 10 years and 20% in 20 years
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7. Should have provided the letter and official documents and
agreement papers from the manufacturer company to the local
company.
Catalogue and technical specification should be provided.
Technical Requirements
The electrical components of the Solar PV is tested which include
Vmp, Imp, Form Factor(FF), Cell efficiency and Module
Efficiency and certificate is issued to the compliance only.
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9. 1. Different Capacity of Solar Panel are available which consists
of Diode for preventing from the reverse flow of electricity
from the Battery during night. Bypass diode is present in the
junction box.
2. According to the Nepal Photovoltaic Quality
Assurance(NEPQA) solar panel should be of at least 17 volts at
maximum power designed for the 12 V system voltage so that
solar panel can charged the Battery system.
3. Generally for the design of the Small Solar Home System it
consists of 36 cells. Each cell has the voltage of 0.6 V what ever
dimension it has been cut and power of the panel can be
increased by increasing the area.
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10. EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON
ELECTRICAL FACTORS
With the 2.2 ° C increase in temperature there is decrease in power
by 1%
With the 12 ° C increase in temperature there is increase in current
by 1%
With the 2.5 ° C increase in temperature there is decrease in
voltage by 1%
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11. EFFICIENCY OF SOLAR PANEL
Formula
Form factor, F.F=
𝑉𝑚𝑝 ∗𝐼𝑚𝑝
𝑉𝑠𝑐∗𝐼𝑠𝑐
Efficiency,Ƞ=
𝑉𝑚𝑝∗𝐼𝑚𝑝
𝑤
𝑚2 ∗𝐴
=
𝐹𝐹∗𝑉𝑠𝑐∗𝐼𝑠𝑐
𝑤
𝑚2 ∗𝐴
(w/m^2) or Irradiance is measured by the Pyranometer.
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12. Battery
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13. BATTERY
• There are different types of Battery available in the market. They
are Lead Acid Battery (Flooded and Sealed type), Valve Regulated
Lead Acid Battery , Ni-Metal Hydride battery and Lithium ion
Battery.
•The capacity of the battery is determined by the Ampere Hour
(AH) rather than its voltage and labelled with C10, C20, C30, etc.
Capacity rating is nothing but it is AH by Current.
•The operation life cycle of the Li-Ion/Ni-MH battery must be at
least 3000 cycles at 20% DOD and 1500 cycles at 80% DOD.
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14. •According to the NEPQA, for the battery with capacities greater than
10Ah, deviation of battery capacity from its rated value must not exceed -
5% to 20% within 10 cycles of the test. And for the battery with the
capacity less or equal to 10Ah, the deviation of battery capacity from its
rated value stated by the manufacture must not exceed the limit of -5% to
+20% within 5 cycles of test. This clause applies for all type of batteries.
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15. CHARGE CONTROLLER
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16. CHARGE CONTROLLER
1. The function of Charge Controller is to prevent from the deep
discharge with any options for manual deactivation that is adaptable to
the battery type used, applicable to advanced type like microcontroller
based Charge controller and also prevent from over charging of battery.
2. Low Voltage Disconnection(LVD) and Low Voltage Reconnection(LVR)
3. Both have the setting point within ±2% at 25°C
4. i.e. for the battery of 12V LVD should be not less than 11.4V and LVR
should be not less than 12.5V
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17. 5. High Voltage Disconnection(HVD) and High Voltage
Reconnection(HVR)
6. High Voltage Disconnection must be within the range of (14-
15)V for the 12V system and its also depends on the type of battery
used.
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18. CC CONTINUE…..
7. The charge controller must withstand the rated current from the
PV module to battery and from battery to load at an ambient
temperature range of -5°C to 40°C.
8. There are mainly three terminals in Charge Controller. One
terminal is for Panel Connection, one for the Battery connection
and another one is for Load connection.
9. For the Small Home Solar PV design the charge controller that
has USB port and lightening terminal are the main parts of the
charge controller.
10. The charge controller must function in accordance with the
pulse width modulation(PWM) or the maximum power point
tracking(MPPT) principles
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19. INVERTER
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20. The inverter must have the rated AC output voltage of 220V ±5%
at the battery operating voltage from DC 90% to 120% and
maximum load current from 10% to 110% of the rated value.
 Output frequency of the inverter is 50hz ±2%.
Inverter Efficiency when operating with resistive loads at full
load must be at least 85%.
The quiescent current drawn by the inverter must not exceed
2% of the rated current of the inverter.
The inverter shouldn’t produce the noise more than 60db at 2m.
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21. INVERTER CIRCUIT PROTECTION
Low battery shut down must be at battery voltage not less than
10.5 V for tubular plate battery in case of 12 V system. For 24 V
or 48 V systems low battery shut down voltage must be 10.5N
where N is the no of Batteries in series connection.
Short circuit protection of the output terminals.
Reverse polarity protection on DC input terminals.
Appropriate indicators main charging , inverter ON, short circuit
and overload
The inverter should be have cooling system or appropriate heat
sink
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22. The minimum information must be included in the label of
inverter are
a. Manufacturer’s name and model
b. Rated Power in Watt or VA
C. Input and Output voltage in Volt and Frequency in Hz
d. Charging current, Load current, power factor, efficiency
e. Inverter Type
For the PWM the quiescent current consumption must not exceed
10 mA at nominal system for less than 20 A CC and 30 mA for 20
A and above Charge Controller.
For MPPT is 20 mA for less than 20 A and 100 mA for 20 A and
above charge controller.
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23. SOLAR PUMP
The pump can be centrifugal, positive displacement, progressive
cavity, submersible or surface type meeting the safety standards of
EN 809 and complies with IEC 60034-1
Pump motor efficiency must be at least 60%.
The pump must have thermal protection against overload, reverse
polarity and temperature
The pump must use standard submersible cable for submersible
pump.
The pump or pump set must have provision of stopping operation
under dry running or insufficient energy supply.
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24. The pump must have protection against sand and silt.
Indelible label must be fixed on the pump, containing the details
1. Name of the manufacturers or distinctive logo
2. Model name and serial number
 The motor and pump must be warranted for at least 2 years.
The pump must be manufactured with non corrosive materials.
Ceramic or equivalent non corrodible materials must be used for
bearings. Rotors and impellers must be made of stainless steel with
minimum grade of AISI 304 or higher.
Oil must not be used for lubrication.
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25. LAMP
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26. • DC Led Lamp are prefer in the PV System. The viewing angle of
individual WLED must be equal to or greater than 100 degree.
•The luminous efficiency of individual WLED must be at least 100
Lumen/Watt.
•The lamp driver circuit efficiency must be at least 80%
•The Color Rendering Index (CRI) of the individual WLED must
not be less than 60 and the color temperature must be in the range
of 5000K and 6000K
•In the lamp of multiple WLEDs, the WLEDs used must not differ
by more than 10% in individual WLED parameters (forward
voltage and color temperature) at specified current.
•The rated power of Lamp must be at least 1 watt and acceptable
tolerance for all to be +/-10%.
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27. TESTING OF SOLAR PANEL
In RETS there are two types of Sampling Tests in RETS
1.PIT(Product Introduction Test)
2. Random Sampling Test(RST)
PIT is done by observing the PV module and gathering the
indelible informations label and the given 2/ 3 sample is tested for
compliance where as RST in done by taking some random samples
from the population and proceed on testing.
Even though there are 17+ Tests as specified by CEC JRC ESTI
Specification 503
Here Vmp, Imp, FF, cell and Module efficiency are find out.
It consists of the log book where the required information can be
logged in. 27

28. LOG BOOK
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29. After filling the information in the log book then it is proceed
further in Laboratory called Quick Sun Solar Simulator Setup
which consist of three rooms where one room consists of source of
light- Xenon Lamp, flash generator where as in second room there
are temperature sensor, Monitor cell, Electronic unit and another
room where there is operator who control the system through
software
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30. It is a setup in a dark room where each part of the wall is black
painted so that there is no any reflection.
Temperature Sensor is connected with the electronic unit to sense
the temperature of the simulation setup.
Monitor Cell is a unit cell which acts as a reference cell that
compares the irradiance and the uniformity with the test PV
module and calibration takes place simultaneously as the light
flash from the Xenon Lamp.
Electronic Unit acts as bridge between the PV module, Monitor
Cell, Temperature sensor, Flash Generator and PC. It is main part
of this setup because it controls the every components.
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31. PROCEDURE
Initially the panel is given a code and is hanged at the wall of the
Simulator setup.
Then after connecting the probe from electronic unit to the
module the room is closed.
The operator open the software and from the log book the
informations are filled by clicking on the Product database and
then since all the setup is ready then Measure button is clicked on.
When the Measure button is clicked the flash is stroke at the
panel from the Lamp. Then the software automatically provide the
output whether it is pass or fail.
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35. CONCLUSION
In this way Solar PV Panel testing is done with the NEPQA
standard in the rest and we overviewed other components like
Battery, charge controller , solar pump, Lamp with the NEPQA
standard.
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36. CREDITED TO
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Renewable Energy Test Station
Dr. Er. Ajay Kumar Jha (I.O.E pulchowk)
Er. Rabindra Lamichane (RETS)
Er. Madan Oli (RETS)
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37. Thank you
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