Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Design of a photovoltaic system for a temperate climate all-electric residence

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5286692

A photovoltaic system has been developed and integrated into a single-story residence having low space conditioning loads typical of a temperate climate similar to Santa Maria, CA. The design addresses the residential market segment of low energy consuming houses with limited roof area availability; in fact the garage roof is used for the array. The array size to meet the requirements of this type of house covers 40 m/sup 2/ with a rated power output of 4.3 kW at NOCT conditions. A flexible array installation is presented which can be implemented as an integral mount or a stand-off mount depending on the homeowner preference. A 4 kW utility-tied inverter is used in the power conversion sybsystem, representative of currently available hardware. The system provides feedback of excess energy to the utility which is the most promising approach for grid-connected residential systems in the mid 1980's. The complete system and house design are described, including all the pertinent installation and construction drawings. Specific performance results are presented for the Santa Maria area. The system, coupled with previously completed designs, provide a set of design options expected to be available to residential home owners in the mid 1980's.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA); General Electric Co., Philadelphia, PA (USA). Energy Systems and Technology Div.
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP00789
OSTI ID:
5286692
Report Number(s):
SAND-80-7173; ON: DE82008207
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English