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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

Components

Certifications and ratings

PV source

Energy storage

Charge controller

Inverter

Power distribution

Mounting system

Conductors

Physical conductor protection

Protection devices and disconnects

Grounding

Loads (lighting and appliances)

System design - simplified

System design

Background

Simplfied design process

test

Detailed design process

test

Site evaluation

Design parameters

Energy storage sizing and selection

PV source and charge controller sizing and selection

Inverter sizing and selection

Wire, overcurrent protection, and disconnect sizing and selection

Grounding system sizing and selection

System installation

Operations and maintenance

Resources

Country pages