Providing electricity supply to houses in rural areas (Project D)

Abstract

Undeveloped countries like Afghanistan do not have access to modern forms of energy, such as electricity, gas and liquid fuels. They rely upon traditional fuels to meet their daily needs but it results in adverse impact on the environment. Indoor air pollution increased when these traditional fuels were burned and this impacted on the well-being of the citizens.

Therefore, alternative ways of harnessing energy have to be explored in Afghanistan. Renewable and sustainable energy such as solar energy can be taken into account in Afghanistan. Solar energy is the most abundant renewable source of energy, given that around 300 days in a year were sunny in the country.

A photovoltaic power system has to be designed and built for the country. This power system uses solar panels that will collect solar energy and convert them into electricity to replace the traditional way which impacted the health of the citizens and the environment. The system has to be smart so that the life spans of the equipments can prolong and the production cost has to be cheap so that the citizens living in the rural areas would be able to afford.

The system will consist of a charge controller, inverter, solar tracker and a graphical user interface. The charge controller and GUI will be used to monitor the status of the battery to prevent it from overcharged and damaged. An inverter will be built to convert the DC into AC power for the citizens to power up lightings and non-power hungry appliances. Solar tracker will be implemented to track and collect the maximum solar energy and harness into solar power.

The circuit designs used for the hardware portion are crucial for the operations of the charge controller, inverter and solar tracker. The software portion of the GUI will be done using Labview. Everything will be built from scratch instead of purchasing commercially to keep the system at the lowest for the citizens.