Electrical Engineering

Introduction

Most systems which are in existence now are set up with less concern regarding economic issues. Most of the time, system costs are calculated by taking into consideration the disjoint segments of different stages of the life cycle of the system. Industry has been experiencing unexpected fluctuations in the costs of operating and maintaining their systems. This leads to less cost-effective systems being developed as a result of the combination of inflation and cost growth and issues like neglecting support costs, treating fixed costs as variable costs and vice versa, lack of realistic assessment of total cost, etc (Dankbaar, pp. 567-583).

The Project

With small funding, a small residential-size solar energy system would be a viable project. Renewable energy is one the hottest topics under discussion. Today, the whole world is facing a challenge of developing renewable energy sources and most of the developing countries have already made renewable energy part of its policy.

Solar Energy

Solar power converts light of sun into electricity. For this purpose, it uses (PV) photovoltaic directly or CSP (Concentrated solar power) indirectly. CSP works with mirrors or lenses as well as, tracking systems to create a small beam of sunlight from a big spot of sunlight. The concentrated heat is a source of traditional power plant. There are a large number of concentration techniques including parabolic tower, linear Fresnel reflector, the solar power tower and Stirling dish (Cutchergershenfeld, pp. 42-64).

Small Solar Energy System

This small size solar energy system includes small size AC and DC electrical wires. This will reduce the risk any fire break. It will also include a grounding system to prevent any damage due to lightening or shock. In order to avoid any gas explosions, it is important to install the battery properly and solar array. It will be equipped with 12V DC, as it will limit shock hazard and allows usage of other electronic components which are available easily. Other equipments will include kit including solar modules, charge controller, fuses, DC lighting, sealed battery, and prepackaged solar lighting (Cusumano, pp. 27-32).

Site-Specific Issues

Offsite issues- Work areas

Offsite work areas may include a number of sites where various components of the project will be built or partially built and then delivered for assembly or further prefabrication. Large structural features such as miter gates, flow control gates, valves, and other miscellaneous structural fabrications will likely be built at existing fabrication yards and transported to the site. Similarly, large prefabricated subassemblies will be fabricated and transported, but will require a prefabrication site that may need development and/or adaptation to meet the project requirements. There are two basic choices for the selection of the prefabrication site:

Government-furnished prefabrication site

The Government must conduct all necessary planning and engineering to fully evaluate potential sites, whether they already exist or require development, and select a site for the project. Factors such as size of the site, proximity to the project site, subsurface conditions, flooding and land use history, and navigation impacts must be considered (Cooney, pp.1130-1147).

Contractor-furnished prefabrication site

All work that the Government ...