Main Page

Welcome to The Open Source Solar Project (OSSP)

The sun is the ultimate open energy source and OSSP aims to help everyone harness it. Solar PV in the developing world has been growing at an exponential rate and has managed to provide energy access to millions of people, unfortunately adequate standards and appropriate training programs have not followed suit. Many equipment vendors and installers have little to no training nor are they subject to any form of regulation and end users often have little understanding of the technology. This has lead to the proliferation of many improperly designed PV systems that not only lead to poor end-user experiences but also represent a safety risk. This website is an effort to improve small-scale battery-based (SSBB) solar PV system design, safety, and user experiences in these areas by providing appropriate information, resources and tools on the universal, basic aspects of off-grid system design and installation in these contexts. OSSP hopes to serve as both a direct resource in these areas and as a readily-adaptable base for the development of low-cost training materials and programs that are tailored to the needs and standards of a particular area. Please reach out to alex@opensourcesolar.org if you are interested in collaborating, contributing or need assistance creating training materials.

Aims of OSSP:

• Provide an appropriate level of detail for each topic in a way that is practical and accessible for an audience with a varying level of technology literacy.
• Present universal concepts in a way that is universal. Information or resources that are location specific should be added to a country page.
• Utilize well-designed graphics that include minimal text to enable easy adapatation and translation using captions.

Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.

Basics

• What is an off-grid (stand-alone) PV system?
• Types of PV systems
• Basic stand-alone PV system components
• Electricity and energy
• Types of electricity
• Voltage and frequency by country
• Power flow between components
• Series and parallel
• Electrical codes
• Electrical safety
• Multimeters

Components

Certifications and ratings

• Equipment certifications
• Weather ratings

PV source

• PV module (PV source, solar panel)
• Insolation (peak sun hours)
• Tilt and orientation
• Shading
• Module connectors
• Combiner box

Energy storage

• Energy storage
• Lead acid batteries
• Shunt

Charge controller

• Charge controller

Inverter

• Inverter

Power distribution

• Distribution panel
• DIN rail
• Busbars
• Terminals

Mounting system

• Mounting system

Wire and cable

• Wire and cable types
• Wire size
• Wire color

Physical wire protection

• Conduit
• Junction box

Overcurrent protection/disconnects

• Overcurrent protection
• Disconnects

Grounding

• Grounding system
• Residual current device (RCD or GFCI)

Loads (lighting and appliances)

• Lighting
• Energy efficient loads
• Low voltage disconnect
• DC-DC converter

System design

Background

• Overview of the design process
  
• Surge loads
  
• Power factor
  
• Duty cycle
  

Site evaluation

• Overview of the site evaluation process
  
• Load evaluation
  
• Physical evaluation
  
• Weather and solar resource evaluation
  
• Load and solar resource comparison
  

Design parameters

• Overview of design parameters
  
• Depth of discharge parameter
  
• Days of autonomy parameter
  
• System voltage parameter
  
• Energy storage efficiency parameter
  
• Charge controller efficiency parameter
  
• PV module degradation parameter
  
• Irradiance safety parameter
  
• Continous duty safety parameter
  
• Low voltage disconnect parameter
  
• Maximum system charging voltage parameter
  

Energy storage sizing and selection

• Overview of energy storage sizing and selection process
  

Design resources

Weather and solar resource data sources

System installation

1. Principles of installation
2. Equipment clearances and safe working space
3. Wiring practices
4. Battery wiring
5. Installing module connectors
6. Charge controller programming
7. Inverter programming
8. Labeling
9. Commissioning

Operations and maintenance

• Troubleshooting

Country pages

• Peru