Numerical investigation of high concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) plants in MENA region: Techno-Economic assessment, parametric study and sensitivity analysis

Abstract

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, enjoys one of the highest solar irradiations in the world. In this context, the objective of this paper is to carry out a techno-economic assessment of High Concentrated Photovoltaic (HCPV) Power plants with multijunction cells in six locations throughout the MENA region namely: Errachidia (Morocco), Tripoli (Lybia), Aswan (Egypt), Beyrouth (Lebanon), Doha (Qatar), and Tabuk (Saudi Arabia), carrying out parametric analysis of numerous design factors in order to optimize this technology. The System Advisor Model (SAM) tool was used to model a High Concentrated Photovoltaic plant to evaluate its technical and economic performances. The study takes into account, cell temperature, energy generation, capacity factor, and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The findings demonstrated that the highest yearly energy production is attained at the Aswan (Egypt) site, which achieved a value of 41.72 GWh for a total installed capacity of 20 MWdc. The annual capacity factor and Energy yield were estimated to be 23.8 % and 2086.47 kWh/kW, respectively. The economic analysis reveals that the levelized cost of electricity of the investigated system can be around 6.99 ¢/kWh if installed in MENA region. Concerning the parametric and sensitivity analysis, the results demonstrate that the increasing of the surface cell area, a 0.4 %/°C temperature coefficient, and a nearly non-existent temperature differential between the heatsink and the cells (1 °C in our case) can lead to an increase in the energy output and capacity factor. Based on the sensitivity analysis, an optimization of the inflation, discount rates, and internal rate of return can lead to a better bankability of the project.