Performance Evaluation of Solar Photovoltaic Power Plants of Semi-Arid Region and Suggestions for Efficiency Improvement

Abstract

This paper presents the performance evaluation of grid-connected solar PV power plants of 100kWp, 300kWp, and 2MW capacity in a semi-arid region with a hot-dry climate. The present study discusses on the energy generation and performance ratio (PR) of the solar power plants and identifies the reasons for the lower performance than expected. Their actual measured performance data is compared with the simulation results, and the gap in their performances are analyzed. Simulation has been performed using PVSYST software. A comparative study of three power plants presented in this paper show that amongst the three power plants of 100kW, 300kW, and 2MW SPV plants, the 100-kW plant has the highest actual performance ratio, 79.34%, than the other two plants. The actual performance ratio of the 300kW plant is 72.64%, and the 2MW SPV plant was 74.3%. The simulated performance ratios for 100kW p , 300kW p , and 2MW p plant are 83.72 %, 76.85%, and 80.9%, respectively. The analysis of the performance indicates that solar PV plants perform well in semi-arid regions, and the best performance is observed in the months of March, April and May. The performance can be further improved if, during designing and installation, care is taken about component efficiency, proper tilt angle and choice of site. While operating, frequent dust cleaning is required.