Solar Panel Estimator

Transcript

Solar Panel Estimator: In the file, PVestimator.trc, a general process to compute solar power has been determined. The solar panel is entered as the glass on an empty room. The details of the process are addressed on page 2 To use the file: 1) Open the file, “PVestimator.taf” 2) In the program, select create rooms. Then, select the room “Solar Panel” and select the Walls tab. The solar panel is entered by defining the area under “openings”. Define the direction and angle. This represents the solar panel total area and direction. If more panels are present, copy the room and enter the parameters as necessary. 3) 4) Make sure all the rooms are assigned to the system “Solar Panel” Select create plants, select the equipment solar generator and enter the kw/ton of the solar panel determined by the panel efficiency*3.5 (ie, 20% efficient  .2 * 3.5 = .7 KW/ton) 5) Assign systems to the plants. Heating plant is just a dummy, but needs assignment (the assignments are completed in the attached file) 6) Calculate the file 7) This file displays the monthly energy as a negative number. This is done so that the file could technically be merged with an existing file and the solar energy would offset the used energy. *Please note: TRACE does not allow negative monthly bills so it will not show profits (from the utility) for months with a net negative consumption. Here’s how it works: The room has zero loads and glass with a SC of 1 and no U-value, therefore, pure solar energy enters the room based on the glass direction. (The room also has instantaneous mass). The room is assigned to a system that consumes no energy. The “magic” happens at the plant. The plant unloading curve makes the value negative. The ambient relief curve is set that the PV array loses about 25% of its power on a hot summer day (this is where some estimation takes place) but the assumption is reasonable. The efficiency is determined based on a set of conversions: Consider Solar Panel Efficiency which is in units of (Output KW)/(Total KW of light) or kW/kW. Thus, multiplying kW/kW * 3.5 kW/1 ton = Total kW/ton. So a 20% efficient unit  .2 kW/kW * 3.5 kW/ton = .7 kW/ton