Improving the Efficiency of the Power Supply to Agricultural Facilities by Means of Roof-Top Photovoltaic Installations

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to substantiate the parameters and operation mode of the photovoltaic installation as part of the power supply system of real agricultural enterprise in order to reduce the cost of paying for electric energy. The object of research is the system of intra-workshop lighting of two departments of the baking mill in the Rostov oblast. Placing photovoltaic modules on the inclined part of the industrial building’s roof of the mill compartments, having an inclination angle of 10° relative to the horizon measuring 39 × 10 m and oriented by the wide side strictly to the South. Three options for the layout of the solar power installation with photovoltaic panels were considered: option 1– maximum power supply to the consumer from the solar power plant in the summer (30 modules); option 2–generation mode without the use of electric energy storage devices; option 3–14 modules and the presence of an electric energy storage system. Specific capital investments in the third option increased by 40% in comparison with the second option, although the installed capacity of the installation increased only by 27.2%. The increase in the power of solar installation to 5.4 kW requires specific costs 2.5 times greater than for the second option. The calculation results allow us to highlight the lowest value of the prime cost of generated electric energy, obtained for the second option, which is 4.33 rubles/(kW h). Thus, the use of photovoltaic installations on industrial building roofs of agricultural facilities makes it possible to reduce the payment for each kW h of consumed electrical energy almost by 2.5 times.