Optimization study of solar farm layout for concentrator photovoltaic system on azimuth-elevation sun-tracker

Abstract

Inappropriate space allocation for concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems in the solar farm causes optical losses via shadowing between adjacent CPV systems, which leads to the deterioration of the overall electrical generation of solar power plant (SPP). The deterioration of the overall electrical generation can be reduced by increasing the separation distance between adjacent CPV systems. However, it causes an increase in land-related costs due to ineffectiveness in land utilization. Therefore, it is important to focus on the layout design optimization in the SPP to attain the best trade-off between land usage and energy generation. In order to captivate the interest of investors in the future development of solar energy, levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of the SPP needs to be competitive. A newly developed computational algorithm has been introduced to perform the optimization of the CPV field layout system by utilizing the local weather data with the consideration of shadowing effect, edge effect, land aspect ratio (LAR) and land cost. A case study has been conducted in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to evaluate the performance of CPV system in the SPP based on different conditions such as Dew/L ratio, Dns/L ratio, spacing angle, LAR and land cost for both square array and staggered array configuration. From the case study, the results show that the optimized field layout for the CPV systems for LAR of 1 is a staggered array layout configuration with Dew/L ratio of 2.50 at spacing angle of 45°, which accommodates the lowest value of LCOE.