Solar Photovoltaic Applications Research Articles

Multi-view deep forecasting for hourly solar irradiance with error correction

Short-term solar irradiance forecasting is crucial in managing power network operations and solar photovoltaic applications. In this paper, a Multi-view Deep Forecasting method with Error Correction (MvDF_EC) for 1-hour ahead solar forecasting is proposed. MvDF_EC comprises of the Multi-view Deep Forecasting method (MvDF) and a robust Radial Basis Function Neural Network trained via minimizing the Localized Generalization Error for compensating the solar forecasting error of MvDF. MvDF consists of three deep neural networks which learn representations of input data from different views. The three views are 1) the hierarchical local temporal information extracted by the Temporal Convolutional Neural Network (TCN), 2) the key context sequential information captured by the Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network with Temporal Attention (BLSTMattn), and 3) long-term temporal dependencies between local temporal patterns filtered by the Convolutional Gated Recurrent Unit Neural Network (C_GRU). The solar forecasting performance of the proposed MvDF_EC is evaluated with the National Solar Radiation Database. Simulation results show that MvDF_EC yields the most accurate solar prediction compared with the benchmarks including the smart persistence and the state-of-the-art models. The lowest relative Root Mean Square Error values for Maraba and Labelle are 22.08% and 27.40%, respectively in 1-hour ahead solar forecasting.

Design of a Partial Resonant Inverter for solar photovoltaic applications

This paper presents a solar-powered Partial Resonant Inverter (PRI) interfaced with an asymmetrical cascaded nine-level inverter. The DC input of the proposed system is obtained using Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) panel. The input DC sources fed to the asymmetrical cascaded nine-level inverter are in the ratio of 1:3. The step modulated nine-level inverter works with a precalculated switching angle for a fixed modulation of 0.7. Compared to the conventional 50 Hz inverter and the multi-output transformer design, the proposed system is more compact because of the high-frequency AC link. The PRI ensures Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) and reduces the switching losses. The proposed scheme has been validated in the MATLAB/ SIMULINK environment and an experimental prototype is built in the laboratory. Based on the investigations the Selective Harmonic Elimination (SHE) method gives superior performance when compared to the Optimal Harmonic Stepped Modulation (OHSM) method. From the results and comparative analysis, the proposed system uses fewer switches to obtain the nine-level output, uses the PRI setup with the multioutput transformer to make the design compact and improves the power quality of the system.

Effect of Adsorption Structure upon Directional Charge Transfer and Electronic Coupling in a Hybrid Dye Sensitizer based on a Cadmium Sulfide Quantum Dot

Dye‐functionalized quantum dots (QDs) show promise for solar photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications. However, the energy conversion efficiencies are very sensitive to the chemical environment at the QD–dye interface, which is dependent upon how the QDs and dye interact. Herein, the effect of different surface orientations for an N749 dye attached to a CdS QD upon QD–dye interactions is investigated. The results reveal that the electronic couplings for binding configurations that involve isothiocyanate anchors are generally larger than those involving carboxylate anchors. Furthermore, for some binding modes, the electronic couplings for hole transfer are comparable to those for electron transfer, implying efficient charge separation at the QD–dye interface and reduced electron–hole recombination within the QD. It is also found that the most stable adsorption geometries for the dye are those with double carboxylate anchors, which exhibit weaker electronic coupling than isothiocyanate anchors and provide favorable energy alignment for hole transfer. Overall, the current computational study reveals some fundamental aspects concerning the relationship between interfacial charge transfer for QD/dye composites and their morphologies, such as the binding geometry of the dye, interfacial energetics and donor–acceptor interactions, which benefits the design of QD‐based nanomaterials for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.

Power quality investigation of CHB nine‐level converter based large‐scale solar PV system with different modulation schemes

Multilevel converters (MLCs) are extensively used in solar photovoltaic (SPV) applications owing to their advantages such as low total harmonic distortion (THD) in the converter voltage, reduction in device stress, and switching losses. A suitable modulation technique is important for the efficient closed-loop control of megawatt (MW)-scale solar photovoltaic plants. This work utilises different modulation techniques, such as phase-shifted (PS) multicarrier pulse width modulation (PWM), selected harmonic elimination (SHE), and nearest level modulation (NLM), for switching of cascaded H-bridge (CHB) converter-based large-scale SPV systems. The investigation on improving power quality is presented with a suitable fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis and comparative graphs. The presented control and modulation enhance the power quality of the output current being fed to the grid in the dynamic solar profile. Moreover, the low switching frequency employed in this photovoltaic converter at a high power rating increases the system efficiency. Graphical illustrations of losses with fundamental and PWM switching were analysed for the MW-rated system. The obtained results show that SHE-PWM provides the best performance for large-scale solar power plants. Furthermore, the IEEE-519 standard was met for both grid voltages and currents. The system was modelled and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink and validated in a real-time environment.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesized Gadolinium Doped Barium Strontium Titanate Nanostructures: Structural and Optical Properties for DSSC Applications

Gadolinium (Gd) doped barium strontium titanate (BST) was prepared using the microwave-assisted solid-state reaction method for dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications. The optical properties and the structural analysis of the prepared samples reveal the optical band gap and the morphology. The XRD pattern of the annealed samples confirms the polycrystalline nature with the cubic crystal structure. When the dopant is added, the bandgap increases slightly from 3.11 to 3.27 eV. The J-V characteristics of DSSCs prepared with pure and doped BST were investigated. The efficiency of the DSSCs remained constant and there is a slight increase in the Jsc for highly doped samples under 1-sun illumination. Gadolinium doped barium strontium titanate shows variation in the J-V characteristics and could be a potential candidate for the solar photovoltaic applications.

Ultrahigh Step-Up Coupled-Inductor DC-DC Converter With Soft-Switching for Driving Piezoelectric Actuators

DC-DC Converters for driving microactuators in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) normally demand higher conversion ratios and stricter volume and weight than those in solar photovoltaic (PV) applications. This brief proposes a novel ultrahigh step-up coupled-inductor DC-DC converter with soft-switching cell, which operating in DCM with a minimum number of devices. In the circuit topology, a coupled-inductor is inserted into the conventional boost converter to extend the voltage gain dramatically and decrease the switch voltage stress effectively. In addition, an auxiliary switch, which is connected back to back with the main switch, is used to implement zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-current switching (ZCS) to reduce the switching loss. This brief describes the steady state waveforms in details, and the voltage gain and conduction loss of the converter theoretically. The boost and soft-switching performance are evaluated. An experimental circuit, which is with 3.7V input to 209V output at 200mW, has been built to validate the operations and confirms the theoretical waveforms.

Revisiting Solar Photovoltaic Roadmap of Tropical Malaysia: Past, Present and Future

Environmental issues and economic factors such as emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), fossil fuel depletion and fluctuation of oil prices are also the reason behind the utilization of sunlight as a source of energy. Even though with the spread of unprecedented pandemic of COVID 19, the industry of solar photovoltaic (PV) is surviving at a very promising rate compared to the oil industry. Malaysia has a high potential to be successful at harnessing solar energy as this country is located within the equatorial region. The government of Malaysia (GoM) introduced various policies, acts and incentives programs for the purpose of increasing this country’s potential to harness solar energy. Along with the efforts, goals and aims have also been set as a benchmark to measure Malaysia’s success in utilizing sunlight as an energy source. This study reviews the roadmap programs executed by GoM to elucidate the significant roles played in the development of solar PV starting from a few pilot projects in1980s until present. The roadmap focuses on incentive programs namely Feed-in Tariff (FiT), Net Energy Metering (NEM), Self-Consumption Scheme (SELCO), Large Solar Scale (LSS), Supply Agreement with Renewable Energy (SARE) and ‘Peer-to-Peer’ (P2P), which complement all the projects and solar PV applications in Malaysia. The contributing result of this roadmap is the highlights on the continuous solar PV programs stimulated by GoM, the identification and effort to improve the less performing GoM incentive programs combined with the positive responses from communities and industries, have laid a strong platform to forecast a promising future of solar PV industry in Malaysia.

Design and Experimental Validation of a Compact Low-Cost Weather Station for Solar Photovoltaic Applications

This paper presents a compact low-cost weather station specially dedicated to renewable energy applications based on solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies. The main objective of the weather station is to verify which technology of solar PV modules would be more suitable for the specific location where the weather station is installed. Therefore, the developed weather station includes three technologies of PV modules (polycrystalline, monocrystalline, and amorphous silicon), each one connected to a dedicated DC-DC power converter with a maximum power point control (MPPC) functionality, as well as a set of sensors (solar irradiance, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction) used to measure the local weather. The acquired data is processed and stored locally in the weather station and, when necessary, the user can download the data to an Android mobile device through a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless network connection using the developed mobile app, where the transferred data is stored in a SQLite database and can be visualized in graphs. Throughout the paper, the design of the developed weather station and the associated technologies are described, as well as the details of the mobile app. The developed system comprising the weather station and the mobile app was validated through a set of experimental tests ranging from the data acquisition to its visualization, as well as the achieved wireless data transfer performance.

A Review of Monitoring Technologies for Solar PV Systems Using Data Processing Modules and Transmission Protocols: Progress, Challenges and Prospects

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is one of the prominent sustainable energy sources which shares a greater percentage of the energy generated from renewable resources. As the need for solar energy has risen tremendously in the last few decades, monitoring technologies have received considerable attention in relation to performance enhancement. Recently, the solar PV monitoring system has been integrated with a wireless platform that comprises data acquisition from various sensors and nodes through wireless data transmission. However, several issues could affect the performance of solar PV monitoring, such as large data management, signal interference, long-range data transmission, and security. Therefore, this paper comprehensively reviews the progress of several solar PV-based monitoring technologies focusing on various data processing modules and data transmission protocols. Each module and transmission protocol-based monitoring technology is investigated with regard to type, design, implementations, specifications, and limitations. The critical discussion and analysis are carried out with respect to configurations, parameters monitored, software, platform, achievements, and suggestions. Moreover, various key issues and challenges are explored to identify the existing research gaps. Finally, this review delivers selective proposals for future research works. All the highlighted insights of this review will hopefully lead to increased efforts toward the enhancement of the monitoring technologies in future sustainable solar PV applications.

Narrow-Bandgap Semiconductors of Perovskite Rare-Earth Orthoferrites (REFeO3)

Background: Great achievements have been made in improving the power conversion efficiencies of solar cells. However, the price of photovoltaic (PV)-generated electricity still cannot compete with that of conventionally generated power. Thus, novel solar cells made from non-toxic, earth-abundant, and chemically stable materials are desirable to decrease the costs of PV electricity generation. Objective: All-oxide solar cells are a promising next-generation PV technology, fulfilling the requirement of low-cost manufacturing under ambient conditions. This work aims to search for nontoxic, earth-abundant, and chemically stable narrow-bandgap semiconductors for energy applications like all-oxide solar cells. Methods: This work examines a family of perovskite rare-earth (i.e., Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb) orthoferrites with XRD analysis, SEM, photoresponse, absorption spectra, Xray photoelectron spectroscopy, fluorescence spectra measured with the laser Raman spectrometer, valence band spectra, the Kelvin probe, the Hall Effect experiment, and theoretical calculation on band structure and the density of states, to screen for the narrow-bandgap semiconductors. Results: The novel Pb-free perovskite narrow-bandgap absorbers, CeFeO3, PrFeO3, TbFeO3, DyFeO3, HoFeO3, and YbFeO3, which are earth-abundant and non-toxic, were screened out potentially for use in all-oxide solar cells or other photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. Among them, YbFeO3 is approved, having an indirect bandgap of approximately 1.0 eV with a maximum Shockley-Queisser efficiency of 31% for single p-n junction solar cells. Conclusion: The chemically stable, non-toxic, earth-abundant, and narrow-bandgap semiconductors of rare-earth orthoferrites promisingly serve as absorbers, photocatalysts, photoelectrodes, photodetectors, and photoelectronic materials. This work breaks new ground in the search for narrow bandgap all-oxide semiconductors potential for energy applications.

Surface functionalization of core-shell QDs for solar photovoltaic and anti-cancer applications

We undertook this present study; a simple and straight forward approach is developed to achieve CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots by hydrothermal method and change the different hydrazine hydrate concentrations. As prepared QDs were characterized by high-throughput techniques and are tested for cytotoxicity activity against breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) and testing in to sensitized solar cells (QDSSC) respectively. Further, the results study also revealed that, CdSe/ZnS QDs display unique tunable size, which is evidenced by transmission electron microscopic studies and optical properties (UV-Visible) studies. Moreover, FT-IR spectral investigations provide information about the interaction of trisodium citrate and hydrazine hydrate role in the surface functionalization and found plausible reason. The hydrazine hydrate modified CdSe/ZnS QDs (CZT-10) show an impressive anticancer activity in breast cancer cells and photovoltaic efficiency. This study open new avenues to find vital play on development of nanomaterial in the field of energy and environment application.

Air pollution and soiling implications for solar photovoltaic power generation: A comprehensive review

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is a promising and highly cost-competitive technology for sustainable power supply, enjoying a continuous global installation growth supported by the encouraging policies and commercial markets. However, air pollution and soiling of PV modules prevail worldwide, potentially casting a shadow on solar PV power generation. This study presents a comprehensive review of the documented impact of air pollution and PV soiling on solar resources and techno-economic performances of PV systems. Both air pollution attenuation and soiling could significantly reduce the solar PV power generation globally, and soiling losses contribute to most of the total power reduction in most regions except in high-polluted areas. In addition, considering the natural soiling processes, the influencing parameters of soiling such as environmental and configurational factors and their correlation to dust deposition on PV surface are discussed. Furthermore, this study introduces the impact of air pollution elimination on surface solar radiation and solar PV power generation. Given the current novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, studies related to its effects on the solar PV sector are discussed in the present review. The reported soiling mitigation approaches and technologies are systematically compared. Finally, the current research challenges are stated, and suggestions for future works in improving the penetration of solar PV applications are provided to help promote solar power generation towards carbon neutrality all over the world.

Performance modelling of photovoltaic modules under actual operating conditions considering loss mechanism and energy distribution

Performance prediction and efficiency improvement are two major focuses in the research area of solar photovoltaic (PV) applications. However, the uncertainty of environmental factors and the complexity of the photoelectric conversion mechanism pose a grand challenge to accurately predict the dynamic performance of PV modules under actual operating conditions. Besides, without a clear understanding of the relationship between energy loss processes and operation conditions, it is hard to suggest specific measures for efficiency improvement. In this paper, a coupled model, which consists of an electrical model, a thermal model and an energy loss model, is developed to predict the electrical-thermal performance and quantify the power loss of crystalline silicon PV modules under actual operating conditions. To validate the coupled model, a series of experiments were implemented, demonstrating that the calculated results agree very well with the simulated ones despite sunny or cloudy days. The study demonstrates that, on a typical sunny day, the energy loss occurring in the solar cell and from cell to module accounts for 71.1% and 14.6% respectively, and more than 60%of those losses will be dissipated as heat, which has a negative impact on solar PV performance. Finally, on account of various loss mechanisms, different mitigation measures, such as how to reduce thermalization loss, are suggested for PV temperature control and efficiency enhancement.

Development of ripple reduced solar photovoltaic regulators using boomerang sliding mode control strategy

SummaryDC–DC boost converters are extensively used in wide range of solar photovoltaic (PV) applications. A common problem in PV regulator is the presence of ripples in output voltage and output current, due to the oscillations in PV power, inaccurate switching, and inadmissible inductor peak currents. In general, conventional boost converters are widely used in PV regulator; however, conventional PWM‐controlled boost converters are upgraded to sliding mode controller (SMC)‐based PWM controllers, which has been elaborated in the literature. However, SMC‐based boost converter experiences the following problems: (i) presence of ripples in the output current and (ii) dynamic instability during sudden change in load current. This paper addresses the aforementioned problems and proposes a boomerang trajectory‐based SMC (BT‐SMC) control strategy for ripple mitigation in conventional DC–DC boost converters specifically used in PV regulator. BT‐SMC tracker tracks the reference wave shape and controls the duty cycle, with respect to the switching frequency to have a ripple mitigated output. This self‐adapting system provides an adequate reduction in ripples and rapid convergence of error nearest to zero. A detailed analysis on switching frequency transition, load variation, trajectory control, and its stability existence is conducted, and the proposed system is implemented using dSPACE‐MicroLabBox‐DS1202.

Comparison study of lead-acid and lithium-ıon batteries for solar photovoltaic applications

The battery energy storage systems are very essential for maintaining constant power supply when using solar photovoltaic systems for power generation. The viability and ability of battery energy storage systems are assessed based on battery usage in Solar Photovoltaic utility grid-connected systems. The power supply quality and reliability are improved by utilizing battery energy storage technologies in conjunction with solar photovoltaic systems. This paper presents a comparative analysis of Lead-Acid Storage battery and Lithium-ion battery banks connected to a utility grid. The battery mathematical model simulation study gives their performance characteristics of these batteries under grid-connected loads. Cost-benefit analysis of battery usage for determining the best battery suitable for solar photovoltaic system applications is also presented in this paper.

Multi-input and multi-output bi-directional power converter for solar photovoltaic system

This paper presents the development of a multi-input multi-output bi-directional power converter (MIMO-BDPC) with a digital pulse-width modulation (DPWM) controller for solar photovoltaic (SVP) application. The converter is operated in three modes such as buck, boost, and inverter. The converter uses a minimum number of active components and the DPWM controller controls the switching frequency or pulse period which are reconfigurable for effective synchronous and autonomous operation. The autonomous mode is selected by the controller based on the availability of the power source. The combination of high performance, low cost, and high reliability in a single controller is achieved via this intelligent digital approach. The controller is based on the power and load changes in multiple PWM modes. The Intel Altera Cyclone IV FPGA control will be used for digital PWM. The FPGA is scheduled for parallel data processing with multiple resource blocks. During control, this controller can be reprogrammed dynamically again. This makes the system extremely efficient in the check aspect, reducing time and cost. The proposed MIMO-BDPC is tested with the above-mentioned modes of operation using MATLAB software and also through hardware results.

A chronological review of prospects of solar photovoltaic systems in Bangladesh: Feasibility study analysis, policies, barriers, and recommendations

The main focus of this paper is to present the current prospects, potentials, research activities, future concerns, and applications of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Bangladesh. Despite the existence of several articles in the literature on solar energy prospects in Bangladesh, the diffusion of several solar PV applications throughout the country, their rapid progress analysis, and existing feasibility study outcome analysis are still unrevealed. Therefore, an endeavour has been made for the first time to condense the government and non-government contributions to disseminating solar energy throughout the country. Twenty-one feasibility studies at different locations of Bangladesh are reviewed and analysed, in terms of financial viability, sensitivity analysis, and greenhouse gas emissions, to foresee the prospects of solar energy in Bangladesh. Sensitivity analyses are performed, with six sensitivity variables, which reveal that the total net present cost of the solar project implementation may be increased by 20% (maximum) in the lowest solar potential area than the highest one with an average payback period of 13 years. This paper also identifies the policy gaps, classifies the barriers into eight categories, and discusses the conceivable approaches to defeat those barriers, followed by recommendations in six different aspects.

Modeling and performance analysis of a novel switched capacitor boost derived hybrid converter for solar photovoltaic applications

In this paper a novel switched capacitor boost derived hybrid converter (SCBDHC) topology is proposed to generate hybrid output of AC and DC simultaneously in higher range from a single DC input source for a solar PV AC load and DC load applications. This hybrid topology employs less number of switches for the conversion of DC to DC and DC to AC, compared with the traditional conversion techniques, as seen in the literature, reduction in switches causes reduction in power loss and overall cost of the system and may result in increased reliability and efficiency in the medium and high power applications. State space modeling of the SCBDHC has been developed and the steady-state currents and voltages have been computed and verified with MATLAB/Simulink. A closed loop scheme developed and helped regulation of the source and load fluctuations and its performance was verified with an experimental setup.

Solar Photovoltaic Application for Contributing Power Supply of Community Clean Water Provider

The need of clean water for human daily life is about crucial. Due to the inadequate capability of government water supply company, it is becoming common for a community to establish their own water supply system. This includes a deep well, high water reservoir, and submersible pump. The pump is normally supplied with power from electricity grid. The extensive availability of sunlight may be used to generate electric power using Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels for supplying power for the pump. This paper presents the application of Solar PV panels to generate power that contributes power for the pump at the system of clean water provider. A 1000-WP solar panels system is employed to generate the voltage and a 60-A MPPT is used to regulate the voltage for supplying 2 x 150-Ah Li-ion battery. A 3000-W inverter is used to provide AC power for 3-hp 220-V pump. Considering the capacity of Solar PV panels and the continued availability of sunlight, the hybrid supply for the pump is established. This integrates the supply from solar PV and utility grid controlled with Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS). This determines the power supply for the pump either from Solar PV or electricity grid. This system is implemented in the community water supply at Sidomulyo, Krikilan, Sragen. The hybrid strategy enables solar PV to contribute supplying power for the pump and reduce the need of power from utility.

Analysis of optical band gap and urbach tail of zinc sulphide coated with aqueous and organic dye extracts prepared by chemical bath deposition technique

Detailed analysis of the optical band gap of zinc sulphide (ZnS) film coated with organic dye extract was conducted in this research. The chemical bath deposition technique was used in the deposition of ZnS coated with aqueous and alkanone dye extracts on glass substrate, annealed at different temperatures (100OC, 150OC and 200OC). Transmittance measurements were taken at room temperature in the wavelength range 300–1000 nm. The plots of the square of the product of absorption coefficient and photon energy were used to estimate the optical band gap energy of the film samples. The band gap exhibited red shift for some of the films and blue shift for other samples. Increasing the concentration of the precursor (Zn2+), increased the band gap of some film samples and decreased for others. The Urbach tail estimated from the plot of natural logarithm of the absorption coefficient as a function of photon energy, depicted a linear relationship for some of the film samples with respect to post-deposition temperature. In terms of the effect of concentration, the Urbach rule did not show a trend. The optical band gaps obtained in this study are in the range suitable for use in optoelectronics and solar photovoltaic applications.