The constant scheduled load shedding in South Africa has commonly been executed in an attempt to maintain the long aging coal power plants in the country. With the rise in the reduction of fossil fuels, efforts to eradicate environmental hazards of carbon through solar photovoltaic (PV) resources to their complete prospect are in progress. South Africa, and in particular the town Alice, acquires sunshine annually, making it appropriate to harvest solar energy. This work aims to characterize solar radiation, clearness index (Kt), and diffuse fraction (Kd) in Alice, South Africa. Hourly global and diffuse solar irradiance were estimated into monthly, seasonal, and yearly variations of Kt and Kd for the years 2017–2020. The range of values for describing the daily classification of sky condition was centered on earlier studies. The cumulative frequency and frequency distribution of daily Kt was analyzed statistically in an individual month. The analyses show that the average percentage frequency of Kt within the period is 11.72% of the cloudy days, 57% of partially cloudy days, and 31.28% of clear sky days. The findings of this research show that Alice remains a key contender for solar energy conversion location, owing to its reasonably high frequency (Kt > 0.40) of clear and partially cloudy skies. Hence, it is essential to establish energy-efficiency for energy consumption and also for daily performances.

Research and development of nano-sized Zinc Oxide (ZnO) has recently received great attention due to its remarkable properties such as large exciton binding energy of 60 meV, extraordinary photosensitivity, nontoxic nature, wide bandgap and the fact that it is a low cost material with many technological applications. The inherent necessity for stoichiometric ZnO nanostructures suggest that a deposition method where the film stoichiometry is controlled by a chemical reaction is unavoidable. Moreover, it is extremely important, when developing new methods for deposition of ZnO nanostructures to keep the deposition system as simple as possible, maximize throughput, and keep costs at a minimum. Modified aqueous chemical growth method offer such an opportunity. In this work, ZnO nano-petals on microscope glass substrates have been prepared by using a modified aqueous chemical growth method. On the other hand, before utilization of the fabricated ZnO nanostructures by any technique for any technological applications, it is essential to investigate morphological, optical, electrical and structural properties. In this work morphological, optical, electrical and structural properties with respect to change in deposition time have been cross examined using FESEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, I-V properties by Keithley system and XRD respectively. SEM micrographs have revealed very little changes in the shape, orientations and distribution of ZnO nanopetals formed with change in deposition times. SEM micrographs have also revealed the growth pattern for the prepared ZnO nano-petals which proceeds via a nucleation, and coalescence of ZnO nuclei. XRD analysis have revealed that the synthesized ZnO nano-petals have a hexagonal Wurtzite ZnO structure with peaks at 2θ positions 31.7°, 34.4°, 36.2°, 47.4°, 56.5°and 62.7° belonging to the (100), (002), (101), (102), (110) and (103) planes respectively. UV-Vis spectroscopy has in the same way shown that the synthesized ZnO nano-petals have energy band gaps ranging from 3.46 eV to 3.65 eV. I-V measurements have disclosed that the ZnO nano-petals are conductive. Film resistivity values obtained from the I-V curves showed an exponential increase in resistivity with increased film thickness. Our method of preparation of ZnO nano-petals via a chemical assisted route can serve as benchmark for controlled synthesis of ZnO nanostructures for various technological applications.

This paper centers on the design and installation of a robust photovoltaic (PV)-based microgrid data acquisition system (DAS) that can monitor different PV systems simultaneously. The PV-based microgrid consists of three solar systems: off-grid, hybrid and grid-assisted systems, each with 3.8 kWp located at SolarWatt park, Fort Hare Institute of Technology (FHIT), South Africa. The designed DAS is achieved by assembling and connecting a set of sensors to measure and log electrical and meteorological parameters from each of the three power plants. Meteorological parameters use a CR1000 datalogger while the electrical output parameters use a DT80 data logger. Calibration was done by voltage signal conditioning which helps to reduce errors initiated by analogue signals. The designed DAS mainly assist in assessing the potential of solar energy of the microgrid power plant considering the energy needed in the remote community. Besides, the simultaneous monitoring of the three systems ensures that the outdoor operating conditions are the same while comparing the logged data. A variable day and a week, data were used to verify the reliability of the system. The back of the array temperature was observed to be 42.7 °C when solar irradiance was 1246 W/m2. The ambient temperature and relative humidity were obtained at 21.3 °C and 63.3%, respectively. The PV current in all three systems increases with the solar irradiance and is highest around midday. The results obtained show that the designed DAS is of great interest in PV system developments.

Presently, the world is undergoing exciting haste to install photovoltaic (PV) systems in industry, residential/commercial buildings, transportation, deserts, street lights, and many other applications. Solar photovoltaic energy systems are clean and reliable energy sources that are unlimited, unlike their fossil fuel counterparts. The energy market is rapidly growing globally with newly and cumulative installed capacities of about 37.6 GW and 139.6 GW, accounting for 53% and 55%, respectively, in 2017, making it one of the fastest-growing industries. The cumulative photovoltaic installations are projected to have reached 600 GW worldwide and are projected to reach 4500 GW by 2050 because of the strategies and policies of many countries. In 2021, more than three-quarters of the developed countries are now home to one solar installation. This article evaluates a critical and extensive review of the contributions of solar photovoltaic systems to national development. The approach follows all steps, starting with capturing photovoltaics on the Earth’s surface, then price reduction, load management, and socioeconomic impact of solar photovoltaic systems. From the study, it is found that the policies and strategies adopted by the leading countries, such as tax credits, capital subsidies, net-metering, VAT reduction, feed-in tariffs (FiTs), and renewable portfolio standards (RPS), have significantly helped in more installations. Additionally, the significant drop in photovoltaic module prices from 4731 $/W in 2010 to 883 $/W in 2020 has boosted the move for more installations. Based on the findings, approximately 10 million permanent employments would be put in place by advancing solar power across the globe annually.