Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?

Quality, reliability, and durability are the key features of photovoltaic (PV) solar system design, production, and operation. They are considered when manufacturing every cell and designing the entire system. Achieving these key features ensures that the PV solar system performs satisfactorily and...

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Main Author: Lina Alhmoud
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/10/4074
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description Quality, reliability, and durability are the key features of photovoltaic (PV) solar system design, production, and operation. They are considered when manufacturing every cell and designing the entire system. Achieving these key features ensures that the PV solar system performs satisfactorily and offers years of trouble-free operation, even in adverse conditions. In each cell, the quality of the raw material should meet the quality standards. The fulfillment of the quality management system requires every part that goes into the PV solar system to undergo extensive testing in laboratories and environments to ensure it meets expectations. Hence, every MWh of electricity generated by the PV solar system is counted, the losses should be examined, and the PV system’s returns should be maximized. There are many types of losses in the PV solar system; these losses are identified and quantified based on knowledge and experience. They can be classified into two major blocks: optical and electrical losses. The optical losses include, but are not limited to, partial shading losses, far shading losses, near shading losses, incident angle modifier (IAM) losses, soiling losses, potential induced degradation (PID) losses, temperature losses, light-induced degradation (LID) losses, PV yearly degradation losses, array mismatch losses, and module quality losses. In addition, there are cable losses inside the PV solar power system, inverter losses, transformer losses, and transmission line losses. Thus, this work reviews the losses in the PV solar system in general and the 103 MWp grid-tied Al Quweira PV power plant/Aqaba, mainly using PVsyst software. The annual performance ratio (PR) is <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>79.5</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, and the efficiency <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>η</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> under standard test conditions (STC) is <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>16.49</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. The normalized production is 4.64 kWh/kWp/day, the array loss is 1.69 kWh/kWp/day, and the system loss is 0.18 kWh/kWp/day. Understanding factors that impact the PV system production losses is the key to obtaining an accurate production estimation. It enhances the annual energy and yield generated from the power plant. This review benefits investors, energy professionals, manufacturers, installers, and project developers by allowing them to maximize energy generation from PV solar systems and increase the number of solar irradiation incidents on PV modules.
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spelling doaj.art-c43d69554ef0406e85f633e4a828f5312023-11-18T01:12:30ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732023-05-011610407410.3390/en16104074Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?Lina Alhmoud0Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, JordanQuality, reliability, and durability are the key features of photovoltaic (PV) solar system design, production, and operation. They are considered when manufacturing every cell and designing the entire system. Achieving these key features ensures that the PV solar system performs satisfactorily and offers years of trouble-free operation, even in adverse conditions. In each cell, the quality of the raw material should meet the quality standards. The fulfillment of the quality management system requires every part that goes into the PV solar system to undergo extensive testing in laboratories and environments to ensure it meets expectations. Hence, every MWh of electricity generated by the PV solar system is counted, the losses should be examined, and the PV system’s returns should be maximized. There are many types of losses in the PV solar system; these losses are identified and quantified based on knowledge and experience. They can be classified into two major blocks: optical and electrical losses. The optical losses include, but are not limited to, partial shading losses, far shading losses, near shading losses, incident angle modifier (IAM) losses, soiling losses, potential induced degradation (PID) losses, temperature losses, light-induced degradation (LID) losses, PV yearly degradation losses, array mismatch losses, and module quality losses. In addition, there are cable losses inside the PV solar power system, inverter losses, transformer losses, and transmission line losses. Thus, this work reviews the losses in the PV solar system in general and the 103 MWp grid-tied Al Quweira PV power plant/Aqaba, mainly using PVsyst software. The annual performance ratio (PR) is <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>79.5</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, and the efficiency <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>η</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> under standard test conditions (STC) is <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>16.49</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. The normalized production is 4.64 kWh/kWp/day, the array loss is 1.69 kWh/kWp/day, and the system loss is 0.18 kWh/kWp/day. Understanding factors that impact the PV system production losses is the key to obtaining an accurate production estimation. It enhances the annual energy and yield generated from the power plant. This review benefits investors, energy professionals, manufacturers, installers, and project developers by allowing them to maximize energy generation from PV solar systems and increase the number of solar irradiation incidents on PV modules.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/10/4074degradationIAMinverterLIDopticalpanel
spellingShingle Lina Alhmoud
Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?
Energies
degradation
IAM
inverter
LID
optical
panel
title Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?
title_full Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?
title_fullStr Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?
title_full_unstemmed Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?
title_short Why Does the PV Solar Power Plant Operate Ineffectively?
title_sort why does the pv solar power plant operate ineffectively
topic degradation
IAM
inverter
LID
optical
panel
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/10/4074
work_keys_str_mv AT linaalhmoud whydoesthepvsolarpowerplantoperateineffectively