Design of photovoltaic system for IoT devices

The increasing world population growth and improving standards of living in developing nations have escalated energy demands. Technological advancements have also resulted in increased use of products that require energy, leading to significant efforts made by countries to meet the demand by burning more fossils for energy production. However, fossils are finite and cause more harm to the environment than renewable energy sources. Technological advancements offer capabilities for the generation of renewable energy, storage, and off-grid design for localized usage. This chapter discusses the design and simulation of a standalone photovoltaic system to support the Internet of Things Sensor Devices, following modeling and sizing procedures. The efficiency of solar panels that used for the energy harvesting purpose in the standalone photovoltaic system depends on the sunlight. The amount of harvested energy is influenced by ambient temperature and solar irradiation, and this entire system relies solely on Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) system. Changes in solar irradiance and temperature conditions, in addition to variations in load demands, cause power imbalances. The design and consideration of MPPT help in compensation for the changes. This chapter also discusses the procedures used to determine the number of solar panels required to optimize the available space on the rooftop. In general, the design of our standalone system was informed by the amount of energy, the solar array system can produce under spatial constraints (available roof area), solar panel output, and footprint. As such, a PV standalone system with battery storage is designed and simulated, and the mathematical calculation for the intended 2000 W energy source is done, along with a proper layout of the design configurations. The simulation results also confirmed the mathematical models of the design.