The efficiency of the solar battery operations in real exploitation conditions

Abstract

Introduction. Nowadays, there is a constant growth of the demand for the use of solar power plants and obtaining green energy. In the using process of them in real conditions, a decrease in efficiency is observed. Because of the influence of external and internal factors on solar cells, the Coefficient of Efficiency (COE) panels decreases. The study of these influencing factors today is one of the actual problems. In this work is presented a study of the efficiency of a solar battery in real operating conditions.Methods. By using an electronic counter DTS-541U№530230, the output parameters of solar cells were experimentally measured hourly, daily, monthly and yearly. In addition, a Testo-880 thermal imager was used in order to investigate defects caused by high surface temperatures and heating of solar panels. The collected data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and other software packages.Results and Discussions. The annual solar power production over a six-year period shows that solar cell efficiency has decreased by 10% in the first three years; this connects with the deposition of dust on the solar cell’s working surface as a result of dust storms. After cleaning the surface, the efficiency of the solar cell increases by 8%. In general, the exponential trend line shows that the efficiency of the solar power plant has decreased by 5.4% over six years. A solar power plant consumes 5-10% of the total generated energy for its own needs. The average hourly electricity generation of solar panels in real conditions for four companies shows that on a clear sunny day, solar panels work very efficiently and generate more than 100% of electricity, on a cloudy day, generate 20-30%, and on days with partly cloudy and rainy days generate 10% of energy. According to the current changes (I) in real conditions of effective operation of S-ENERGY solar panels, the current is higher than that of solar panels from other companies. The temperature coefficient of solar panels from S-ENERGY and TOPSAN is lower than that of solar panels from other companies; this value shows how solar panels are productive on days with high temperatures.In solar panels of HANWHA (4 panels) was observed air bubbles between the glass layer and the EVA membrane. These air bubbles reduce the intensity of sunlight falling on the solar cells and reduce the efficiency of the solar panels.Conclusion. The efficiency of the solar battery in real operating conditions has decreased by 5.4% due to the influence of internal and external factors. There have been determined that S-ENERGY and TOPSAN solar panels perform better under real-world conditions, and HANWHA solar panels have been found to be defective and degraded.