When you are installing a solar energy system, do you still only know about solar panels, inverters, and solar cells? There are actually much more components in a solar system than just these. Before you install a solar system, it is best to understand the other components of the solar system, which is very important for you to install the right solar system for you, in this article, we will provide you with a detailed introduction to all the components of the solar system, and hope to help you install the most suitable solar system for you.
1. Solar power system components
Solar panels:
There are three main types of solar panels on the market today, monocrystalline silicon solar panels, polycrystalline silicon solar panels, amorphous silicon solar panels. Monocrystalline silicon solar panels have the highest photoelectric conversion rate, polycrystalline silicon solar panels have the lowest photoelectric conversion rate, but most of the solar panels we use are still polycrystalline silicon solar panels, although polycrystalline silicon solar panels have the lowest photoelectric conversion rate, but there are 15% to 18%, and compared with the other two types of solar panels, polycrystalline silicon solar panels are relatively inexpensive, if the low light, polycrystalline silicon solar panels will generate more electricity than monocrystalline silicon solar panels. power generation will generate more power than monocrystalline solar panels.
Solar Racking:
PV panel mounting brackets can be designed for horizontal roofs, pitched roofs, and can also be mounted on the ground, water surface, building surfaces, and other places. They are mainly made of galvanized steel or aluminum alloy. They are designed to have a service life of 20 years or more, and can hold the panels well in the face of high winds and heavy rains, so that they are not damaged.
Photovoltaic Inverter:
The inverter is composed of inverter bridge, control logic, and filter circuit. Its main function is to convert DC to AC, but nowadays inverters usually have a charge controller module inside, so the inverter may also have the function of controlling the charging voltage and charging current. From different uses inverters can be divided into micro inverters, string inverters, centralized inverters, and distributed inverters. They are used in different solar systems.
Solar Charge Controller:
Charge controllers are devices that are designed to ensure that solar cells are overcharged. When the solar cell is full, the charge controller acts to cut off the circuit. The types of roles it plays are PWM charge controller, MPPT charge controller. When it comes to charging control nowadays, you mainly need to choose the type of charge controller according to your battery type.
Solar Battery:
For off-grid and mixed-grid solar system, solar battery is indispensable in order to store energy. Generally, the batteries we install in the solar system are lithium iron phosphate batteries, lead-acid batteries, ternary lithium batteries and so on. Among them, lithium iron phosphate batteries are the most used in solar energy systems, mainly because lithium iron phosphate batteries have a high service life and energy density.
Photovoltaic converter box:
converter box types are mainly intelligent photovoltaic converter box and ordinary multi-way converter box. There are many specifications of the converter box, including 4-way, 8-way, 12-way, 16-way, they can access different numbers of solar panels in the string. They can be connected to different numbers of solar panel strings and are generally composed of electrical boxes, cables, fuses and other components. The convergence box ensures the orderly connection and convergence function of the solar modules in the solar system. When the solar system is in maintenance or inspection, the convergence box can quickly disconnect the circuit.
AC Distribution Cabinet:
AC Distribution Cabinet can be used for receiving, distributing, controlling, and protecting. It is mainly used in AC systems. By controlling and regulating the electric energy, AC power distribution cabinet can manage the electric equipment accurately, improve the efficiency of electricity consumption and reduce the power consumption of solar system, so it is an indispensable part of solar system.
DC Distribution Cabinet:
It is a kind of equipment to connect multiple DC power in parallel, in the solar energy system, DC distribution cabinet can control the function of DC circuit and disconnect the DC circuit to ensure the safe operation of DC power. By supplying power to the load through the DC distribution cabinet, it can ensure the stability of the input current of the load. In addition, DC distribution cabinet also has the function of lightning protection to prevent lightning damage to the whole system. However, it is less used in practice, mainly because most of the electrical appliances so the DC power.
Energy management system:
The energy management system can monitor the operation data of the solar system in real time, such as current, voltage, power, etc., and will automatically alarm once abnormal data appear. Through big data analysis and intelligent algorithms, the data is analysed in order to identify abnormalities in the equipment, at which time it can generate optimization advice to reduce losses.
Monitoring system:
The monitoring system can monitor and control solar panels, inverters, convergence boxes and other equipment in real time, quickly grasp the operation of the solar energy system through a variety of operating charts, and can record the time sequence, query parameters, and give commands, etc., and the operators can carry out maintenance, modification, diagnostics and other tasks for the solar energy equipment at the same time according to the monitoring system.
Smart Meters:
Smart meters which are mainly single smart meters, three-phase four-wire smart meters, multifunctional smart meters, smart meters can accurately bill, help users effectively manage and optimize energy use, and use the collected data to analyze the trend of electricity consumption. For with solar energy systems, smart meters are indispensable presence.
Battery Management System:
It is also known as the battery’s housekeeper, which mainly manages and maintains all the battery units intelligently, monitors the working status of the battery, and prevents overcharging and over-discharging of the battery. The battery management system is connected to the radio communication module and the display module through the communication interface to realize the real-time monitoring of the solar battery in order to extend the service life of the solar battery.
PV station automatic fire suppression system:
The PV station automatic fire suppression system uses real-time temperature detection and fire suppression technology, Internet of Things (IoT) technology and fire early warning technology to realize real-time monitoring of fire in the solar system, which can provide early warning in the early stage of fire, and at the same time activate the fire-fighting equipment to carry out the rapid spraying of perfluorohexanone fire-fighting agent, so as to minimize the loss of the solar system.
Circuit breaker:
In solar energy system, in order to maintain the solar energy components damaged by abnormal conditions, the circuit breaker must be installed. The main types of circuit breakers are air circuit breakers, micro break circuit breakers, disconnect switches, DC circuit breakers, different circuit breakers will be applied in different solar systems with different protection needs and functions in order to ensure the safe working of the solar system.
Transformer:
The main types of transformers are manual transformers and auto transformers, which have different ranges of input and output voltages and are suitable for different scenarios. For some special appliances, their operating voltage may be higher than the output voltage of the grid or the solar system, and transformers are needed to meet the power needs of different devices.
Cables:
The main cables used in solar systems are DC cables and AC cables. DC cables are mainly used to connect the solar panels to the inverters, inverters to the DC distribution cabinets and other places where DC power is passed. AC cables are mainly used to connect the inverter to the transformer, the transformer to the load or the grid to the consumer’s meter. In addition, the main cable sizes used are 4mm² and 6mm². Generally, 4mm² cables are used for household connections and 6mm² cables are used for large solar power plants.
Photovoltaic connector:
Photovoltaic connector is a key part of the solar energy system to connect between the components, with the role of connecting, transferring electricity, photovoltaic connectors are mainly MC4, MC3 and other models, according to the different ways of connecting the connection, connecting the components and other factors to choose the right photovoltaic connector.
Data collector:
For some large-scale solar power generation system, data collector is essential, mainly for the solar energy system data collection and transmission in real time. Including solar output current, inverter output current and other data. When part of the solar energy system components failures, managers can quickly determine the selection of faulty components, in order to repair the solar system in a timely manner, to ensure that the entire solar power generation system is safe, efficient operation and reduce economic losses.
Voltage stabilizer:
In some areas, the voltage input to the appliance may fluctuate greatly due to environmental factors, and once the input voltage exceeds the tolerable range of the appliance, the appliance will be directly damaged. But the voltage regulator can stabilize the voltage, prevent voltage fluctuations on the appliances caused by damage, but also through the high performance of electronic equipment. In the solar energy system, there are mainly linear regulators, switching regulators, loop feedback regulators, these regulators have their own characteristics to meet the different needs of the solar energy system. But voltage regulators are only used in few areas.
Conclusion:
Installation of solar energy system is a complex process, involving the selection of various components in the solar energy system, they have an important impact on the entire solar energy system, understanding each component in the solar energy system helps to make a more accurate choice in the solar energy system installation process.
