Date of Award

Spring April 2009

Access Restriction

Campus Access only Research Projects

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Systems Engineering

School or College

Seaver College of Science and Engineering

First Advisor

Frederick Brown

Second Advisor

Arnold Galloway

Third Advisor

Bohdan W. Oppenheim

Abstract

The intent of this document is to integrate a solar power system as an environmentally "green" commercial project. This proposal is to install and monitor Photo Voltaic (PV) Array modules at various building sites as part of a commercial economic and environmental effort. Permacity Solar along with Mangan Inc. will put together a solar array system generating SOOKW (kilo watt) Direct Current (DC) covering nearly 45,000 square feet of a standing seam roof area with a PV system, which sits among more than 200 existing skylights, and will be tied into the existing power utility grid.

This project is put together with a unique warehouse roof design, and coupled with the city's permitting and inspection requirements. The modules will be mounted on the roof and are wired into series strings. Individual strings are grouped into sub-arrays, which supply DC power to one 500 KW inverter. Once in place the application would be tied into a monitoring system that indicates how much energy the system produces and the potential increased savings. Alarms will be triggered when anomalies occur. This data can be compared to the expected output. By monitoring the demand, a profile for the facility's use is generated that makes it easier to ascertain unnecessary energy usage and help with trouble shooting problems.

Some advantages of (PV) systems are:

  1. Conversion from sunlight to electricity is direct, thus eliminating bulky mechanical generator systems.
  2. PV arrays can be installed quickly and in any size required or allowed, the environmental impact is minimal requiring no water for system cooling and generates no by-products.
  3. More importantly, we will see a substantial cost saving to the client.

This new generation of technology called grid-connected PV systems on the homes or buildings of end users of electricity provide an alternative source of vital electricity and a new economic comparison to evaluate their competitiveness. An individual or business that is evaluating whether to switch to a distributed energy technology (such as on-site PV) need only compare the relative costs of two basic options to stay with centrally generated utility power or to adopt a PV alternative.

Additional Files
WinstonDemmin_Systems_Presentation_2009.pdf (14730 kB)
Oral Presentation
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