System Design of a Customized Solar Photovoltaic Power System for a Microcontroller-based Weather Station in Minna, Nigeria
Ibrahim, A. G. *
Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria.
Eiche, J. E.
Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria.
Ughanze, I. J.
Science Equipment Development Institute, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
Usman M. N.
Department of Physics, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In atmospheric and meteorological studies, missing values in acquired research data possess serious challenge on the integrity of research output emanating from their use. Missing values or readings may arise due to temporal or permanent failure in power supply to the measuring weather station. In this work, effort was made to address the fundamental issue of remote power at a standalone solar powered weather stations by professionally applying solar photovoltaic power system installation technique and the requisite knowledge of local parameters of the installed location to design a customize power supply pack for the weather station. The protocol involves an elaborate electrical load assessment and analysis of the weather station, followed by an independent component wise design formulation leading to selection of suitable solar module, battery, charge controller and voltage regulator along with their outdoor installation design. It was recommended that the design be validated using solar photovoltaic software followed by physical implementation which should be done in line with the system and installation design.
Keywords: Solar Photovoltaic (PV), system design, weather station, power supply, missing data/values