Design of a PV-Battery-Supercapacitor Water Pumping System Based on the Varying Operating Factor of the PV Module

Abstract

AbstractThe design of a PV system is crucial, primarily based on the solar resources available at the site. The operating factor of a PV module is a design factor for the PV system which depends on solar radiation, the temperature of the panel, dust accumulated on the panel, and mismatch factor. Generally, the Opv of the PV module is considered a constant of 0.75. However, this research work aims to model the Opv parameter and design a PV/battery/supercapacitor water pumping system using the varying operating factor of the PV module (Opv) throughout a year. The tilted radiation on the PV module, the module’s temperature, and module efficiency, the operating factor of the module for different months, the PV module size, and the loss of load probability (LLP) are simulated in MATLAB environment presented. A comparison of the system design with constant Opv (0.75) and the yearly average Opv (0.65) is illustrated. A PV size of 40 Wp with LLP of 0 is reported for Opv of 0.65. However, the PV size with Opv 0.75 is undersized. The study recommends that Opv is site-specific, and proper modeling is necessary for a particular site for a PV system installation.KeywordsBatteryPVSupercapacitorLoss of load probabilityRadiationOperating factor