Abstract
With recent steep decrement of Photovoltaic (PV) module prices, many utilities around the world are investing in large scale solar PV power plants to meet their energy needs. Countries with an ample amount of deserted areas tend to utilize it for the purpose of energy generation. This article reviews two equal power rated solar PV power plants with similar environmental conditions located next to each other with similar installed equipment but different output energy generation. Various factors affecting the generation of these technically similar power plants such as PV module tilt angle, inter row spacing, annual degradation effect, the negative temperature coefficient of power and other causes are explored evaluate the performance along with the assessment of reasons for deviation in the performance. The energy output trend and the percentage difference for each month for a complete year are graphed for analysis with and without considering the degradation effect to give a level playing field for both the PV plants under review. The efficient design of tilt angle, inter row spacing for the area of installation with the help of sun charts and shading occurrence diagram, is of utmost importance to maximize the energy yield. Any laxity in designing these parameters result in heavy financial losses to the investor which multiply over the life cycle of the project. Similarly, an improved and proper design can increase the energy output and have a positive impact on the financial savings of the investor which in this case is USD 0.85 million per annum.
Highlights
Many countries like China, USA, India and others in the Middle East region are heavily investing in solar energy to reduce the basket electricity prices and promote environmentally friendly technologies
Such a comparison is essential in figuring out the shortcomings in design and penning down recommendations for designers and developers to avoid in the future development of VLS-PV systems in similar conditions, This paper compares the varying output from two solar PV power plants located in close vicinity of each other in Bahawalpur desert region of Pakistan and evaluates the reasons for mismatch
Difference in ground cover ratio (GCR) shows that Appolo Solar Power Plant (ASPP) consumes 26% more land than Quaid e Azam Solar Power Plant (QASPP)
Summary
Many countries like China, USA, India and others in the Middle East region are heavily investing in solar energy to reduce the basket electricity prices and promote environmentally friendly technologies. It is worth highlighting that to the best of authors’ knowledge, till date, there never has been a comparison of two VLS-PV Power systems installed in the same desert with the same environmental conditions Such a comparison is essential in figuring out the shortcomings in design and penning down recommendations for designers and developers to avoid in the future development of VLS-PV systems in similar conditions, This paper compares the varying output from two solar PV power plants located in close vicinity of each other in Bahawalpur desert region of Pakistan and evaluates the reasons for mismatch. This paper contributes to the field of VLS-PV systems by presenting a detailed comparison of two similar PV Power Plants located in same area for exploring the reason of difference in energy yield by nullifying the environmental factors. This energy is claimed through energy invoices assuring the availability of all the PV arrays and the utility operator confirming the non- availability of its network due to any reason, i.e. fault, maintenance or scheduled outage
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