Abstract:
This research developed the design of a hybrid power system for FUTA Central Engineering Workshop (FCEW) in Akure, Nigeria. The Photovoltaic (PV) system was designed by selecting and calculating the ratings of each equipment selected for the study. The power requirement of FCEW was estimated and categorized in into two forms, low and high energy consumptions and their values were obtained to be 100.857 kWh and 1135 kWh respectively. PV system was designed to cater for the low energy/power requirements and the capacity was estimated to be 170 kVA including 35 % of power losses and 20% of maximum load as tolerance. The capacity of the PV solar components were designed with estimated values of 20 kW Solar PV modules, with installation area of 180m2, and roof pitch ratio 7:12; 30Kw, inverter system and 20 deep cycle batteries of 48 V, 150 Ah ratings. The methodology for hybrid PV and Generator systems for electricity supply to FCEW was designed for in this work. The electrical energy supply to FCEW was split into three categories; for office use, when there are no utility supply and the facility is needed to be powered with PV system during the low energy demand; for heavy equipment, when there are no utility and the facility is needed to be powered with generator system during high energy demand; and when there is utility supply to power the facility loads during all energy demands conditions. The wires or cables and ampacities was estimated in order to choose appropriate conductors during physical installation and the average voltage drop in the whole circuit was estimated to be 4.54%. This design methodology allows independent power system to run through FCEW facilities which will improve the power requirements of both workforce and equipment. This hybrid system allows PV, generator and utility powers to run through the FCEW circuit without any interference. A generating set of 400 kVA capacity was recommended for all the workshop machine tools
