Technical, Economic and Environmental Comparison of Three Different Grid-Connected PV Tracking Systems Power Plant Under Kurdistan Region/Iraq Climate Condition

Abstract

In this paper, a 1 MW grid-connected PV system was performed and simulated numerically in Zakho city, using hourly meteorological data for three systems; fixed, single-axis, and dual-axis tracking systems for solar module. The analysis of this study is based on technical, economic, and environmental feasibility. The analysis based on the actual 3 PV solar panels using different tracking systems which installed on the roof of the Engineering college of Zakho University. The evaluation findings suggest that PV technology is quite promising in this location, with annual yield factors of (1416 kWh/kW), (1694 kWh/kW), and (1902 kWh/kW) for the three systems, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed system's capacity factors are 16.2 percent, 19.3 percent, and 21.70 percent. The economic growth of a 1MW grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system adjusted for meeting the daily peak load in Zakho is analyzed and compared based on the cost of electricity (COE), net present value (NPV), payback period (PBP), and the energy payback time (EPBT) for three systems in the present work. The COE for the three proposed systems, fixed, 1st axis, and dual axes solar tracking systems, was 0.0826 USD/kWh, 0.0489 USD/kWh, and 0.0441 USD/kWh, respectively, which indicated the tracking system is economically feasible. The findings indicate a favorable trend, implying that large-scale photovoltaics of dual-axis systems might be a feasible option for addressing future power needs.