Reliability analysis of a small solar system for a home

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to model and to improve the stability and long-lasting operation of the small home solar system configuration regarding the reliability, availability, sensitivity, cost analysis and mean time to failure (MTTF).Design/methodology/approachA model of a small home solar system is designed in this write up. It is designed in a series–parallel configuration, such that four panels are arranged in parallel, working under 1-out-of-4: G; policy and two batteries configured in parallel also, working under 1-out-of-2: G; policy. The panels are connected to a charge controller, then to the batteries and lastly to an inverter, all connected together in series configuration. Different types of system reliability such as reliability, sensitivity, availability, MTTF and cost analysis for particular values of the failure and repair rates have been evaluated by using a supplementary variable and Laplace transforms and demonstrated the computed results on tables and graphs. The main objective here is to improve the stability and long-lasting operation of the small solar system configuration regarding the reliability, availability, sensitivity, cost analysis and MTTF.FindingsThe future behavior of the small solar system and similar systems can be easily predicted at any given time for any parametric values, it is also better to provide repair than replacements in the system for better availability and reliability, it signifies that γp, γb, γc and γi are responsible for the better performance of the system, the variation of sensitivity together with the parametric values variations and lastly deduced that the profit will decrease whenever service cost increase.Originality/valueThis paper provides a model of small home solar system and its reliability analysis.