Techno-economic comparison between photovoltaic systems with solar trackers and fixed structure in “El Valle de Sula”, Honduras

Abstract

Solar energy has the greatest energy potential among all types of renewable energies. In 2018, the annual demand for electricity worldwide was 22,964 TWh. Daily, earth receives about 174 PW in the form of solar irradiance. This means that, if all this radiation could be harnessed, in approximately 8 minutes the electricity needed to meet the global annual electricity demand could be generated. Therefore, the need arises to implement photovoltaic systems that take better advantage of the solar resource, but in turn provide greater economic profitability. This article aims to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of photovoltaic systems with solar trackers and compare them with fixed structure systems in “El Valle de Sula”, Honduras, Central America. The research was able to determine the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of each type of photovoltaic system from the generation of electricity in municipalities comprising the study area and the costs associated with initial investment, and operation and maintenance of each photovoltaic system. This research was carried out by implementing a methodology with a quantitative approach, using data collection to test hypotheses, based on numerical measurement and statistical analysis. Considering the value of the land, the photovoltaic system with a horizontal axis tracker has the lowest LCOE in 14 of the 18 municipalities of “El Valle de Sula”. Without taking into account the value of the land, the system with the lowest LCOE in all municipalities of this region is the system with a horizontal axis tracker, then the system with a dual-axis tracker and finally the system with fixed structure.