Residential solar energy system made easy
A solar energy system mainly includes Solar Panels (Solar Array), Inverter, Distribution panel (Already installed on every house or business), a bi-directional meter (installed by PEA/MEA) and Grid:
- Solar Array: Set of solar panels (also known as PV panels) connected together in order to generate DC current to feed the Inverter
- Inverter: This device will transform the energy from the Solar Array (DC current) to the one needed by the house or business (AC current)
- Distribution Panel: Electrical connection box, already installed at home or business, which includes circuit breakers for the different circuits of the house/business (lights, outlets, Air Conditioning, etc.)
- MEA/PEA Meter: This meter is installed by PEA/MEA to facilitate the counting of excess energy going to the public grid
- Public Energy Grid: (also known as public energy) The energy coming from the local energy provider PEA/MEA
- Rapid Shut Down: An additional safety system included on the Gold and Platinum packages
Commercial solar energy system made easy
A solar energy system mainly includes Solar Panels (Solar Array), Inverter, Distribution panel (Already installed on every house or business), a bi-directional meter (installed by PEA/MEA) and Grid:
- Solar Array: Set of solar panels (also known as PV panels) connected together in order to generate DC current to feed the Inverter
- Monitoring system: Free real-time consumption monitoring equipment.
- Distribution Panel: Electrical connection box, already installed at home or business, which includes circuit breakers for the different circuits of the house/business (lights, outlets, Air Conditioning, etc.)
- Meter and Grid protection: A protection relay must be included on the system, following Thailand energy standards for commercial solar energy system
- Inverter: Can be one of many, depending on the size of your system. This device will transform the energy from the Solar Array (DC current) to the one needed by the house or business (AC current)
- Public Energy Grid: (also known as public energy) The energy coming from the local energy provider PEA/MEA
- Rapid Shut Down: An additional safety system included on the Gold and Premium commercial packages
What are the options of solar energy systems?
Refer to diagram above. The energy generated by the solar PV panels (Solar array) is fed directly to the Inverter (Hybrid in case of using batteries, explained in Hybrid solar energy system). The on-grid Inverter gets this energy in form of DC current and transforms it to AC current (usually AC power 220Volts), this panel is connected to the Distribution panel (AC Loads in the figure) and to the PEA/MEA Energy Meter . After authorization from Energy Commission and PEA/MEA, the energy company would connect another meter to count the energy sent to the grid, on Jan 2021 Thai government authorized the new buying of THB 2.2 per Kwh, increasing in this way the incentive of installing solar energy. Please call us for more in depth explanation about how you get benefit of it.
Refer to the diagram above. The energy generated by the solar PV panels (Solar array), is stored in batteries, controlled by the Charge controller, at the same time, the off-grid Inverter gets the energy from the batteries (DC power) to transform to AC power (usually in Thailand AC power 220 Volts), this panel is connected to the Distribution panel (AC Loads in the figure)
Refer to diagram above. It is exactly the same as the on-grid solar energy system, with an additional feature, when there is no energy coming out of the solar array (No sunlight) and there is an absence of the public grid PEA/MEA, some selected circuits at your home or business can use energy previously stored in batteries (When there was sunlight). These circuits are known as emergency circuits, for example lights at home, safety alarms and lights at the business, refrigerators in case of frozen food, or surgical areas in a hospital, where the energy can not be interrupted. The size of the battery bank will depend on the emergency loads and the timing required to operate in an emergency situation, for example 12 hrs, 1 day, 2 days, etc
Advantages & Disadvantages of a Solar energy system:
Advantages
- Renewable Energy: We cannot run out of solar energy in the planet, maybe some rainy days but the Sun will always be there
- Reduce the energy bill (THB): During day time all your energy requirement will be provided by the solar energy system
- Help the planet by reducing your carbon foot-print, and reducing your fossil fuel consumption
- Very low maintenance costs: Once installed, solar energy systems only needs a visual inspection and surface clean, once every 6 months, and is going to be there for more than 25 years
Disadvantages
- Cost: The Initial cost of purchasing a solar energy system is fairly high, but your energy savings will return the cost in around 6 to 7 years, after that, all energy is going to be free. You can also access a credit line from our financing section (we will help you with the paperwork)
- Weather dependent: On cloudy or rainy day, energy colection would not be the same. When calculating your required energy capacity, ask for this consideration, usually it is already included in the general calculations
- If energy is required to store in batteries, they come in many choices and can be expensive, depending on the chosen option
- Panels use a lot of space, usually they are installed in places where they can take some advantage of this space, like roofs, or parking covers.
What size of solar energy system do you need?
Although the sun shines in the Thai sky for nearly 12 hours, it is not with the same intensity, so we need to calculate according the world irradiation map. Most of Thailand receives the equivalent of 4 full irradiation hours per day (ideal conditions). As MEA and PEA have on-peak and off-peak tariffs, the THB numbers below are based on 70% consumption on-peak and 30% consumption off-peak:
– 3 Kilowatts system gives 360 Energy units/month, approximately equivalent to THB 1,746/month.
– 5 Kilowatts system gives 600 Energy units/month, approximately equivalent to THB 2,910/month.
– 10 Kilowatts peak system gives 1,200 Energy unit/month, approximately equivalent to THB 5,820/month.
Although the sun shines in Thai sky for nearly 12 hours every day, it is not with the same intensity, so we need to calculate according the world irradiation map. Most of Thailand receives the equivalent of 4 full irradiation hours per day (ideal conditions). As MEA and PEA have on-peak and off-peak tariffs, the THB numbers shown below in the cost calculation are based on 100% on-peak consumption for the business:
– 5 Kilowatts system gives 600 Energy units/month, approximately equivalent to THB 3,479/month
– 10 Kilowatts system gives 1,200 Energy unit/month, approximately equivalent to THB 6,958/month
– 20 Kilowatts system gives 2,400 Energy units/month, approximately equivalent to THB 13,915 / month
– 50 Kilowatts system gives 6,000 Energy units/month, approximately equivalent to THB 34,788 / month
The very first step is to make a list of the most important energy consumers in your house or business
Appliance | Watts |
Water Heater (shower) | 4,000 |
Refrigerator 10 CF | 75 |
Air conditioner 12,000 btu | 1,200 |
Air conditioner 8,000 btu | 800 |
Washing Machine | 550 |
Fan (ceiling/stand) | 60 |
Water pump | 750 |
Vacuum cleaner | 700 |
TV | 150 |
Mobile charger | 5 |
Computer/laptop | 85 |
Hair Dryer | 1,200 |
Microwave | 1,500 |
Iron | 1,000 |
Music system | 30 |
Laser Printer | 1,250 |
Jet printer | 50 |
As these devices are not working all day, we need to identify the peak energy hour. For this purpose, we need to list the devices and the time of the day that they will be used.
After that, have to decide if you want some part of your system working even during a blackout or absence of Grid (these are called emergency circuits). If you choose this option, the enext step is to determine how many hours you need them to be on for: 1 hrs, 6 hrs, 1 day, 1 week, etc., keeping in mind that the blackout can last for longer periods of time
Our energy advisors in M2(Thailand), will be very happy to assist you on this calculation, without charging you any cost. Please give us a call.