CONSTRUCTION OF HIGH EFFICIENCY PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY GENERATION SYSTEM
ABSTRACT
Energy from renewable source such as solar is getting interest as the world’s power demands increases daily. Over time solar energy has emerged as a promising sustainable energy sources but unfortunately for solar panels the sun moves.
Nigeria as a country is suited for harvesting of solar energy, of which if effectively implemented can end energy crisis faced by this Country
Our design includes a construction of solar power system (solar photovoltaic module, rechargeable battery, solar charge controller and load) with an integration of a solar panel tracking device.
The design also incorporates a web based portal for control and monitoring of the system remotely.
The system uses an Arduino Uno as a microcontroller to control power supply to the inverter and for measuring the battery percentage in a real life over a WIFI Network using Arduino Ethernet Shield.

INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of the study
Energy is fundamental to human daily activities. An important form of energy is the Solar energy which source is the Sun, other forms of energy also include Electrical, Chemical and Mechanical energy to mention but a few.
The importance of energy to the Environment, Economy, ICT cannot be overemphasized especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Energy is an important factor for economy competitiveness and employment, it allows us to light our homes and offices in the form of electrical energy, to stay interconnected and knowledgeable about the world.
Steady supply of Electrical Energy in Nigeria will guarantee investments, employments for increasing numbers of unemployed graduates and reduce poverty level among other socio economic development.
Nigeria a nation of 180 million citizen generates only 4000 megawatts of electricity which is below the requirement for her population. This deficiency is one of the major infrastructure problem affecting the business sector. Infrastructure plays a critical and positive role in economic development. Infrastructure interacts with the economy through multiple ad complex processes, it represents an intermediate input to production and thus changes In infrastructure quality ad quality affects the profitability of production and invariably the level of outcome, output and employment Moreover infrastructure services raise the productivity of other factors of production (Kessides, 1993). The abundant sunshine the enormous wind resources and the seemingly inexhaustible hills of biomass resources all contribute a hug energy base which could run Nigeria economy. This sources of energy are the form of energy known as renewable energy.

Some places and at least two countries Iceland and Norway generates all their electricity using renewable energy. Renewable energy is more efficient than the traditional energy sources such as fossil which has losses of 40 to 65%(volkar Quaschning 2013)

In international public survey there is strong support for promoting renewable sources such as solar power. At the national level at least 30 nations around the world already have renewable energy there by Contributing more than 20 percent of energy supply. National renewable energy market are projected to continue to grow strongly in the coming decade and beyond (Chris Greenwood 2007). The constant decrease in power generation from both hydropower plants and fossil fuel plant makes it imperative to search for alternative forms of energy considering the total renewable energy generation of the solar system. Solar power will become a viable alternative to fossil fuel- ahead of coal, hydro and nuclear within a decade (IEA, 2014) and by 2050 solar will be the world’s largest source of electricity. The solar revolution will involve both photovoltaic cells and solar thermal generation, in which sunlight is focused on to receivers where it raises the temperature of fluids to drive conventional turbines.

For a nation to attain the goals of development a strong energy sector is essential, many countries especially developing countries are faced with energy crises of which Nigeria Is not an exception, they are unable to meet the energy requirement of their countries.

1.1 problem Statement
The underperformance of energy supplies in Nigeria and it inability to meet the energy requirement of the nation has necessitated need for research into alternative source of power.
The problem of hydropower and fossil fuel has been attributed to hydrological, financial and political problems. Hydrological issues such as low level of annual rainfall in Nigeria due to effects of global climate change that affects inflow of water to reservoirs at hydro stations, this low level of volume of water affects the inconsistency in the level of volume of water affects the operation of the turbines. Sometimes the volume of water in the reservoir is low while all other times the reservoirs are full without sufficient capacity to receive high in flow during the peak of rainy season in August or September. The latter case results in flooding of downstream section of the respective reservoir (OD Jimoh 2007).
One of the great advantage of fossil fuel power plant is their capacity to generate huge amount of electricity with the increasing prices of oil and natural gas coupled with increasing gas pipeline vandalization and inability of Nigeria government with oil multinational companies to utilize fully the gas has been a major reason for the underutilization of this power stations also current policy discourage carbon emissions in Nigeria and there is a movement towards greener energy (Aliyu, Ramli & Saleh 2013).One of the great advantage of fossil fuel power plant is
1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT

Power failure in Nigeria is a crucial problem that needs to be addressed. The socio development or growth of the economy cannot be achieved without improved electricity supplies.

Sustainable power generation through renewable energy sources such as solar will enable Nigeria to:
• Eradicate the issue of power outage
• Cost of power outage to business sector of the Nigeria Economy in order for communication industries to carry out formal operations without power outage.

1.3 Scopes and Limitations of study
This project has been setup:
• 1.To harness solar energy profile for Nigeria.
• 2.To construct and design a solar powered system.
• 3. To incorporate an energy inverter for storage of energy to facilitate continuous usage at night.
• 4. To incorporate a solar tracking device to increase the efficiency of the PV cells
The following are the limitations of this project:
• Solar energy unlike other renewable energy sources
1.4 Aims of project

This project is aimed at achieving the following:
• To explore solar powered system as the viable alternative for power generation in Nigeria.
1.5 Nigeria’s solar profile

Nigeria is one of the tropical countries of the world which lies within a high sunshine belt of approximately between four and thirteen degrees (4e, 13 with landmass of 9.24105 km2 enjoys an average daily sunshine of 6.25 hours, ranging from 3.5 hours at the coastal areas to 9.0 hours at the far northern boundary
(Bala, EJ. et al., 2000)
The average total radiation received per day at the northern cities of Kano, Zaria, and Kaduna is more than that of the southern cities of Ibadan, Lagos and Nsukka. Furthermore, at each of these cities the total radiation varies significantly with the period of the year. Knowing that Nigeria has an annual average daily solar radiation of about 5.25 kWh/m3/day, varying between 3.5 kWh/m per day at the coastal areas and 9.0 kWh/m /day at the northern boundary, the implementation of solar energy strategies is a wanton quantity of energy for Nigeria to draw renewable energy at
(J.O. Oji et al, 2012). If solar low cost as well as minimized dependence on fossil fuels collectors or modules were used to cover 1% of Nigeria's land area of 9.24 x 105 km2, it is possible to generate 1850x103GWh of solar electricity per year, which is over one hundred times the current grid electricity consumption level in the country (Abubakar S. Sambo, 2000).
1.6 How solar power is converted to Electricity
The sun releases a huge amount of energy due to nuclear fussion taking place around it cores. Sun rays is converted to electricity using photovoltaic cells. The cells does this by exciting electrons in silicon cells using photons of light from Sun rays. The structural (load carrying) member of a module can either be the top layer or the back layer. The majority of modules use wafer-based crystalline silicon cells or thin-film cells based on cadmium telluride or silicon. The conducting wires that take the current off the panels may contain silver, copper or other non-magnetic conductive transition metals.
The cells must be connected electrically to one another and to the rest of the system. Cells must also be protected from mechanical damage and moisture. Most solar panels are rigid, but semi-flexible ones are available, based on thin-film cells.
Electrical connections are made in series to achieve a desired output voltage and/or in parallel to provide a desired current capability.
Separate diodes may be needed to avoid reverse currents, in case of partial or total shading, and at night. The p-n junctions of mono-crystalline silicon cells may have adequate reverse current characteristics that these are not necessary. Reverse currents waste power and can also lead to overheating of shaded cells. Solar cells become less efficient at higher temperatures and installers try to provide good ventilation behind solar panels.