A study of the solar energy systems and storage devices

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dc.contributor.advisorFolly, Komla Aen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorChukwuka, Chukwubuikem Oluchukwuen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-31T11:00:36Z
dc.date.available2014-07-31T11:00:36Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes abstract.
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.
dc.description.abstractFollowing the 2008 severe electricity shortage in South Africa, domestic and industrial users faced incessant periods of blackouts. It is generally believed to be associated with lack of generation capacity. Since then research efforts have been directed towards boosting the generation capacity of the South African network by investing in a mix of power generation projects which include coal, nuclear and renewable energy schemes such as solar and wind. The renewable energy resources are considered a more viable option because of their many advantages such as lower greenhouse gas emissions, inexhaustible, reliable and even cheaper energy cost on the long term. Africa has huge potentials of solar power because of the abundance of direct sunshine in most days of the year. The rising cost of the fossil electricity has made the solar power an attractive option bearing in mind that the cost of the solar power has plummeted steadily in the past few years. Two main technologies are prevalent in the solar power research. These are photovoltaic (PV) systems and the concentrated solar power (CSP). The PV systems are made of solar panels and power electronic circuits. They are mostly economical in small residential units. The CSPs on the other hand which are made of solar field, thermal storage and steam turbine/generator units are economical only in large scale. In this thesis, a 2.5 kW Residential PV system and a 100 MW Molten Salt Power Tower Concentrated Solar Power were developed. The technical model of the photovoltaic panel and the power electronic circuits that connect it to the grid were also developed with Matlab/Simulink while the economic simulation of the PV, as well as the Concentrated Solar Power were carried out with Systems Advisor Model (SAM) using the climate data of Cape Town. The simulation results of this work compared the cost of PV electricity first with Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFIT) of National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), and then with the residential tariff charged by the City of Cape Town. Also the cost of electricity using CSP is compared NERSA`s REFIT. Finally the cost of PV electricity is compared with that of CSP. We therefore conclude that, with government incentives, CSP and PV are viable technologies however electricity produced by CSP is cheaper than that of the PV.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationChukwuka, C. O. (2013). <i>A study of the solar energy systems and storage devices</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Electrical Engineering. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5263en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationChukwuka, Chukwubuikem Oluchukwu. <i>"A study of the solar energy systems and storage devices."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Electrical Engineering, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5263en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationChukwuka, C. 2013. A study of the solar energy systems and storage devices. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Chukwuka, Chukwubuikem Oluchukwu AB - Following the 2008 severe electricity shortage in South Africa, domestic and industrial users faced incessant periods of blackouts. It is generally believed to be associated with lack of generation capacity. Since then research efforts have been directed towards boosting the generation capacity of the South African network by investing in a mix of power generation projects which include coal, nuclear and renewable energy schemes such as solar and wind. The renewable energy resources are considered a more viable option because of their many advantages such as lower greenhouse gas emissions, inexhaustible, reliable and even cheaper energy cost on the long term. Africa has huge potentials of solar power because of the abundance of direct sunshine in most days of the year. The rising cost of the fossil electricity has made the solar power an attractive option bearing in mind that the cost of the solar power has plummeted steadily in the past few years. Two main technologies are prevalent in the solar power research. These are photovoltaic (PV) systems and the concentrated solar power (CSP). The PV systems are made of solar panels and power electronic circuits. They are mostly economical in small residential units. The CSPs on the other hand which are made of solar field, thermal storage and steam turbine/generator units are economical only in large scale. In this thesis, a 2.5 kW Residential PV system and a 100 MW Molten Salt Power Tower Concentrated Solar Power were developed. The technical model of the photovoltaic panel and the power electronic circuits that connect it to the grid were also developed with Matlab/Simulink while the economic simulation of the PV, as well as the Concentrated Solar Power were carried out with Systems Advisor Model (SAM) using the climate data of Cape Town. The simulation results of this work compared the cost of PV electricity first with Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFIT) of National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), and then with the residential tariff charged by the City of Cape Town. Also the cost of electricity using CSP is compared NERSA`s REFIT. Finally the cost of PV electricity is compared with that of CSP. We therefore conclude that, with government incentives, CSP and PV are viable technologies however electricity produced by CSP is cheaper than that of the PV. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - A study of the solar energy systems and storage devices TI - A study of the solar energy systems and storage devices UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5263 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/5263
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationChukwuka CO. A study of the solar energy systems and storage devices. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Electrical Engineering, 2013 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5263en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Electrical Engineeringen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherElectrical Engineeringen_ZA
dc.titleA study of the solar energy systems and storage devicesen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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