Weather Data Analysis of Solar Panels and a Wind Turbine From an Exergetic Point of View Based on Experimental Values over One Year

Abstract

In this article the weather data of solar modules and a wind turbine in the Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia were analyzed. In the analysis, experimental values obtained from the system operation over 12 representative days of each month in the period of January to December 2011 were utilized. The wind turbine and the solar panels considered for the assessment are subparts of a hybrid wind–PV system with hydrogen storage, installed at the Sustainable Energy Technology (SET) Center, Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Various parameters, such as global irradiance, exergy of solar radiation, exergy losses and exergy efficiency of solar modules, and velocity of wind were analyzed and compared at the location. Among the selected days, the maximum average value of the solar irradiance was 631.49 Wm–2 on July 7 and the corresponding average exergy rate value of the solar radiation was 583.82 Wm–2 with a conversion efficiency of 4.38%, while the absolute exergy losses was calculated to be 95.61%. The minimum average value of the irradiance and the exergy of solar radiation were measured and calculated to be 350.45 and 326.56 Wm–2, respectively, with an exergy efficiency of 8.42% on a cloudy day in May 2011. It was calculated through the wind data analysis that the maximum average wind power density available on November 1, 2011 was 807.51 Wm–2, while the maximum average energy available to the wind turbine for the conversion into the useful output of the inverter was 53,855.74 Wh. It was also determined that the minimum value of the power density was 22.24 Wm–2 on January 3, 2011 and the corresponding maximum energy available to the turbine for conversion was 1,483.22 Wh. It is expected that the data analysis will be very helpful for the future solar energy utilization and developing exergy wind maps for the region to make an efficient use of these renewable energy sources.