Average Global Horizontal Irradiation Research Articles

Impact of Climate Change on the Performance of Household-Scale Photovoltaic Systems

The objective of this article was to investigate the impacts of climate change on photovoltaic systems among renewable energies by the end of the 21st century. One hypothesis posited that due to decreased cloud cover as a result of changing climate, the geographical region under examination would receive more solar irradiation—usable by photovoltaic panels—which would in turn increase the annual electrical energy production of these systems. Another hypothesis suggested that the average temperature increase, associated with changing climate conditions, would detrimentally affect the efficiency of electricity production in photovoltaic systems. The study was based on the simulation of a household-scale photovoltaic model. This simulation calculated the system's performance on an hourly basis depending on inputs and summed these to produce an annual value. Input values were derived from climate scenario databases. These variables included global horizontal irradiance, direct horizontal irradiance, temperature, and wind speed. The output was the aforementioned quantity of annual electrical energy production. An analysis occurred between the annual average global horizontal irradiance and the annual average air temperature in relation to the quantities of annual electrical energy production. Pearson and partial correlation examinations among the variables demonstrated that unfavorable scenarios resulted in reduced efficiency of photovoltaic electrical energy production, primarily due to rising temperatures. Among other contributions, this article can support research into the active cooling of photovoltaic systems and the examination of their viability to mitigate efficiency losses caused by current and future temperature increases. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2024-05-01-01 Full Text: PDF

Study of Global Horizontal and Vertical Solar Irradiance Components Under Different Sky Conditions for Sustainable Building Design In Bali Of Indonesia

The study of global and vertical solar irradiance components under different sky conditions is very important for building design applications. This research has been carried out by analyzing the components of solar radiation based on global horizontal irradiance (GHI) data, and global vertical irradiance for east, west, north, and south oriented. Observational data was acquired for one year starting from July 2022 to June 2023 in Jembrana-Bali of Indonesia. The solar radiation component has been analyzed based on sub-diurnal (daytime) and annual patterns. The clearness index (Kt) was calculated based on the ratio of extra-terrestrial solar radiation to global solar radiation measured at the surface. Sun-path analysis was carried out by considering the relationship of the zenith angle, azimuth angle, and the intensity of each solar radiation component to changes in time. The results show that in all-sky conditions, the average monthly maximum global horizontal irradiance occurs in January at 432.4 W/m², while the minimum monthly average global horizontal irradiance occurs in July at 327.9 W/m². The clearness index statistic shows that the hourly average ranges from 0.12 to 0.68 with an average of 0.47. Based on sun-path analysis, east, north, and west orientations receive more solar radiation in the Jembrana-Bali area. The findings from the study provide important information for architects, engineers, and policymakers that can be used for sustainable building design and building energy planning.

Facilitating greenhouse gas emissions reduction via photovoltaic site characterization and deployment in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract The study shows that oil production and consumption in the various sectors accounted for over 80% of the rising GHG emissions, especially CO2. Additionally, the study examines the solar photovoltaic (PV) potential of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, using computational modelling. The results show that the yearly average global horizontal irradiation, direct normal radiation and diffuse horizontal irradiations are 2244, 1967 and 863.3 kWh/m2, respectively. Other results are the yearly sum of monthly global tilted irradiation (GTI) and an average yearly daily sum of GTI are 2348.4 and 6.44 kWh/m2, respectively. These results show that Jeddah has huge solar PV potential.

Techno-economic assessment of residential and farm-based photovoltaic systems

The present study aims to provide a techno-economic analysis of two commonly used photovoltaic (PV) systems, Residential PV (RPV), and Farm-based PV systems (FPV) in Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU), South Sumatra, Indonesia. The study includes calculating the potential power output using simulation by the PVsyst program, the economic calculations, and the sensitivity test. The result showed that the average Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) was 4.8 kWh/m2 and fluctuated depending on the location and seasons. The economic analysis found that both photovoltaic systems were profitable investments and less risky projects. Further economic analysis confirmed that the different size of PV system has no competitiveness in economic profitability, but the Payment Back Period (PBP) depends on the annual profit and investment size. The sensitivity analysis found that the selling depreciation has the greatest impact on the viability of PV investment, while Operation and Maintenance (O&M) fluctuation has no significant effects. These findings provide an overview of how investing in PV technologies in Indonesia could benefit people of all financial backgrounds. The government of Republic of Indonesia could start regulating the PV investment bankable to stimulate more people in Indonesia to participate in green energy investment. This collaboration potentially helps the government of the Republic of Indonesia in meeting its energy transition goal by 2045.

Analysis of Solar Power Plant Development Potential in Adipala - Cilacap

PT Pertamina (Persero) as the vanguard of the archipelago's energy has committed to finding and developing new and renewable energy sources to support national energy independence and sovereignty. One of the concrete steps taken by PT Pertamina through the Cilacap Processing Unit IV is to build a Solar Power Plant. One of the strategic solar power plant construction sites in an empty land area close to the 500 kV Adipala Sutet Power Network is located in Cilacap regency with an average global horizontal irradiation (GHI) value of 1908 kWh/m2. With this value, the installation of solar rooftops is the right solution to support electricity production using renewable energy. The electricity load consumption from the city in one year is 1785.6 KWh and is currently entirely supplied by PLN. In this study, a Solar Power Plant design was carried out on vacant land around housing that can be produced in one year. The design and calculations were carried out using the help of PVSyst and RETScreen software. From the simulation results, the results obtained are a Solar Power Plant that has been designed to produce 463 kWh per year which can meet 25.9% of electricity needs at the design site with a Solar Power Plant performance ratio of 85.74% where Solar Power Plant can produce electrical energy of 1531 KWh per year.

Performance evaluation and comparative study of three 52-kW PV plants in India: a case study

Developing countries like India are rapidly transitioning from traditional energy sources to sustainable energy sources, due to the increase in demand and the depletion of fossil fuels. Grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems attract many investors, organizations, and institutions for deployment. This article studies and compares the performance evaluations of three 52-kW PV plants installed at an educational institution, SRMIST (SRM Institute of Science and Technology), in Tamil Nadu, India. This site receives an annual average temperature of 28.5°C and an average global horizontal irradiation of 160 kWh/m2/m. The prediction model for the 52-kW power plant is obtained using solar radiation, temperature, and wind speed. Linear regression model-based prediction equations are derived using the Minitab 16.2.1 software, and the results are compared with the real-time AC energy yield acquired from the three 52-kW plants for the year 2020. Furthermore, this 52-kW plant is designed using PVsyst V7.1.8 version software. The simulation results are compared with the energy yield from the plants in 2020 to identify the shortfall in the plant performance. The loss analysis for the plant is performed by obtaining the loss diagram from the PVsyst software. This study also proposes a methodology to study the commissioned PV plant's performance and determine the interaction between variables such as direct and diffused solar radiations, air temperature, and wind speed for forecasting hourly produced power. This article will motivate researchers to analyze installed power plants using modern technical tools.

Spatial and Temporal Solar Potential Variation Analysis in Uganda Using Measured Data

The paper presents an analysis of spatial and temporal solar potential variations in Uganda. The solar radiation potential distribution was investigated based on measured data from 56 ground meteorological stations across Uganda from January 2015 to February 2022. The data were recorded after every 5-minute interval. The monthly average daily Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) was analysed using the spatial inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation technique in ArcGIS 10.7.1. The GHI distribution was found to have maxima at equinox and minimum between June and July. The average global horizontal irradiation is found to be 1680 KWh per year, with a daily variability below 10%. This is above the threshold for solar energy applications and with such low variability, large scale solar PV plants can be installed with minimum backup requirements. Northern Uganda receives the highest average daily global horizontal irradiation of 5.38 Whm–2 day–1, while Western Uganda receives 4.16 Whm–2 day–1, the lowest. The average AM/PM ratio depicted a value above 2 for all regions in Uganda and therefore, optimal solar energy exploitation for fixed systems favours eastern orientation. The central, eastern and northern Uganda which is 69.3% of the country has relief favourable for large scale solar PV power plants and CSP facilities.
 Keywords: GHI, IDW, Global solar radiation, Solar insolation, PV power plants, Uganda

Application of 30 MWp grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plant for Djibouti Vision 2035

Nowadays, like most of African countries, Djibouti is facing challenging energy access. The country was suffering a shortage of electricity for a long period until the government of Djibouti signed an agreement with the Ethiopia electric power cooperation (EEPCO) company in 2011. Thereby, the electricity consumption of the country is mainly from imported fossil fuels and the interconnection project. In order to realize Djibouti Vision 2035, the Republic of Djibouti signed an agreement with an Emirati company (AMEA) to build the first solar photovoltaic power plant in Grand Bara. In this paper, sizing, and simulation of the 30 MWp grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plant will be done using PVsyst 7.2 software. A 400 W bifacial monocrystalline panel and 160 kW string inverters are used in this study. The simulation results from PVsyst software are to acquire the system production, the performance ratio, and the various power losses such as losses due to irradiance level. The average global horizontal irradiance of the site is 2317.2 kWh/m 2 while the average ambient temperature is 25.75° C. About 59.6 GWh of electricity power is injected into the grid with an average performance ratio of 83.21% in the year. This study is an example in terms of solar energy application in Africa and also its contributions to the socio-economic development of African countries will be observed in the near future.

Techno-Economic Assessment of a 100 kWp Solar Rooftop PV System for Five Hospitals in Central Southern Thailand

This paper presents a techno-economic assessment of a 100 kWp solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system at five hospitals in central southern Thailand. The system encompasses 100 kWp PV panels, 100 kW grid-tied inverters and balance of system (BOS) under the grid code of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA). The latest PV technology of bifacial mono-crystalline solar panels, inverters and BOS were simulated along with the Meteonorm 7.3 database using the PVsyst simulation toolkit with different tilt angles, orientations, solar radiations and ambient temperature. The technical aspects of solar rooftop PV power generation systems include the annual energy output and the performance ratio (PR) under IEC standard. Further, an economic analysis of the model was examined using a cost benefit analysis (CBA) and various assumptions. Four main financial criteria, i.e., benefit cost ratio (BCR), net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period (PBP) were evaluated under three different scenarios: (1) self-consumption scheme, (2) feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme, and (3) private power purchase agreement (PPA) scheme. Finally, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) was also calculated. The results reveal that the Takua Thung hospital is characterized by the maximum average global horizontal irradiation (GHI) and the maximum annual produced energy of 199 kWh/m2 and 164.8 MWh/year, respectively. The PR calculated for all hospital sites is above 85%. The outcomes of the financial analysis show that the optimum scenarios are PPA and FiT schemes. The LCOE analysed in this study indicates that the Takua Thung hospital site has the lowest LCOE at 2.47 THB/kWh (0.07 USD/kWh). This research confirms the potential for hospitals and stakeholders in central southern Thailand for investments in solar rooftop PV systems

Consequences of neglecting the interannual variability of the solar resource: A case study of photovoltaic power among the Hawaiian Islands

The interannual variability of the solar irradiance and meteorological conditions are often ignored in favor of single-year data sets for modeling power generation and evaluating the economic value of photovoltaic (PV) power systems. Yet interannual variability significantly impacts the generation from one year to another of renewable power systems such as wind and PV. Consequently, the interannual variability of power generation corresponds to the interannual variability of capital returns on investment. The penetration of PV systems within the Hawaiian Electric Companies’ portfolio has rapidly accelerated in recent years and is expected to continue to increase given the state’s energy objectives laid out by the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. We use the National Solar Radiation Database (1998–2015) to characterize the interannual variability of the solar irradiance and meteorological conditions across the State of Hawaii. These data sets are passed to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s System Advisory Model (SAM) to calculate an 18-year PV power generation data set to characterize the variability of PV power generation. We calculate the interannual coefficient of variability (COV) for annual average global horizontal irradiance (GHI) on the order of 2% and COV for annual capacity factor on the order of 3% across the Hawaiian archipelago. Regarding the interannual variability of seasonal trends, we calculate the COV for monthly average GHI values on the order of 5% and COV for monthly capacity factor on the order of 10%. We model residential-scale and utility-scale PV systems and calculate the economic returns of each system via the payback period and the net present value. We demonstrate that studies based on single-year data sets for economic evaluations reach conclusions that deviate from the true values realized by accounting for interannual variability.

A methodology for the stochastic generation of hourly synthetic direct normal irradiation time series

Many of the available solar radiation databases only provide global horizontal irradiance (GHI) while there is a growing need of extensive databases of direct normal radiation (DNI) mainly for the development of concentrated solar power and concentrated photovoltaic technologies. In the present work, we propose a methodology for the generation of synthetic DNI hourly data from the hourly average GHI values by dividing the irradiance into a deterministic and stochastic component intending to emulate the dynamics of the solar radiation. The deterministic component is modeled through a simple classical model. The stochastic component is fitted to measured data in order to maintain the consistency of the synthetic data with the state of the sky, generating statistically significant DNI data with a cumulative frequency distribution very similar to the measured data. The adaptation and application of the model to the location of Seville shows significant improvements in terms of frequency distribution over the classical models. The proposed methodology applied to other locations with different climatological characteristics better results than the classical models in terms of frequency distribution reaching a reduction of the 50% in the Finkelstein-Schafer (FS) and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test integral (KSI) statistics.

A Smart Image-Based Cloud Detection System for Intrahour Solar Irradiance Forecasts

Abstract This study proposes an automatic smart adaptive cloud identification (SACI) system for sky imagery and solar irradiance forecast. The system is deployed using off-the-shelf fish-eye cameras that offer substantial advantages in terms of cost when compared to industry-standard sky imagers. SACI uses a smart image categorization (SIC) algorithm that combines the sky images and solar irradiance measurements to classify sky conditions into three categories: clear, overcast, and partly cloudy. A cloud detection scheme, optimized for each image category, is used to quantify cloud cover from the sky images. SACI is optimized and validated against manually annotated images. Results show that SACI achieves overall classification accuracy higher than 90% and outperforms reference cloud detection methods. Cloud cover retrieved by SACI is used as an input for an artificial neural network (ANN) model that predicts 1-min average global horizontal irradiance (GHI), 5-, 10-, and 15-min ahead of time. The performance of the ANN forecasting model is assessed in terms of common error statistics (mean bias and root-mean-square error) and in terms of forecasting skill over persistence. The model proposed in this work achieves forecasting skills above 14%, 18%, and 19% over the persistence forecast for 5-, 10-, and 15-min forecasts, respectively.

Solar power potential mapping in India using remote sensing inputs and environmental parameters

The present paper maps the district-wise potential for concentrating solar power (CSP) and centralized solar photovoltaic (SPV) technology based power plants in India. The evaluation is based on remotely-sensed annual average global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and direct normal irradiance (DNI) provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) surface meteorology and solar energy program. The solar irradiation data (GHI and DNI), land-use data and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) were used in GIS environment while employing land-use criteria and topography to exclude unsuitable sites for harnessing solar energy. Furthermore, land-cover factor, number of sunshine hours and conversion efficiencies were taken into account to calculate technical potential in suitable land areas for solar power development. The result shows potential sites for installation of CSP and centralized large scale SPV plants in India.