Cost Of PV Systems Research Articles

Crack Catcher AI – Enabling smart fracture mechanics approaches for damage control of thin silicon cells or wafers

Silicon has been one among a few key technologically important materials especially in our modern world. Silicon, especially in its current most useful forms (thin layers), is a brittle material by nature. Thin silicon cells crack easily during manufacturing assembly. Every crack is a defect in any PV manufacturing lines, and if let to grow/propagate it will lead to reliability and quality issues with time. Nevertheless, the global silicon solar PV industry is aggressively reducing the cost of solar PV systems through cutting down the thickness of silicon solar cells. Cell cracks immediately lower PV module efficiency and can lead to premature aging of the entire module. The “Crack Catcher AI” was our research joint collaboration's entry in the Department of Energy (DOE)'s American-Made Solar Innovation competition in 2022 (Round 6) which later was selected as the national semifinalists and won an award announced by DOE in December 2022. It uses smart stress sensing and smart fracture prediction approaches utilizing fundamental fracture mechanics and big data analytics to reduce crack defects and enhance long-term durability/reliability of PV products/devices. Smart Stress Sensing uses a novel laser-based curvature methodology for fast in-line stress metrology in manufacturing lines. Smart Fracture Prediction uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) for defect control metrology and yield enhancement in PV production lines. It is based on monocrystalline silicon used in solar PV industries, but all scientific principles utilized and technological innovations developed in this article would be applicable as well for single crystal silicon semiconductor wafers.

Design approach for carbon-neutral and resilient residential communities: Case study of Tabuk region

In this paper, a systematic analysis approach is outlined to design carbon neutral and resilient residential communities in Tabuk region, Saudi Arabia. The design used cost optimization approach to determine the required capacities for on-site power generation and energy storage using renewable energy resources to achieve desired carbon neutrality and energy resiliency thresholds. Moreover, different energy efficiency levels for the housing units are considered to design grid-connected residential communities based on prevalent grid electricity prices and carbon emissions. The analysis indicates that combinations of energy efficiency measures, PV systems, and storage batteries can be utilized to achieve both desired carbon neutrality and energy resiliency levels. The implementation of proven energy efficiency measures can reduce by over 45 % both the annual electricity demands, and the on-site PV capacities needed to reach carbon neutral designs for the residential communities. The cost-effectiveness of carbon-neutral and resilient designs depends significantly on installation costs of PV systems and wind turbines as well as electricity prices purchased and sold back to the grid. The levelized cost of energy for net-zero energy communities can be as low as 0.06 USD/kWh to reach carbon neutrality.

Economic feasibility of using agrivoltaics for tomato farming

AbstractAgrivoltaics or agrophotovoltaics (APV), which simply describes farming under a canopy of PV panels, has been recently gaining a wider implementation to improve farming yields as well as generate electricity on the same piece of land. The presented study undertakes an economic analysis to justify the implementation of agrivoltaics in a tomato farm. Three research cases are investigated; Case 1 is the control scenario which is just ordinary tomato farming that is used as a baseline. And then there are Cases 2 and 3, which are low‐density and high‐density agrivoltaics, respectively. The farm is irrigated from a borehole using a diesel generator in Case 1 and solar pumps in the Agrivoltaics Cases 2 and 3. The study found that tomato harvest is reduced by a minimum of 16% in agrivoltaics setup. However, this reduced harvest is compensated by the PV output. The payback period has been calculated considering the capital costs of the PV system and other operational costs within the farm, and it is found that Case 2 and Case 3 have 3 years and 3.6 years payback periods, respectively. While on the other hand, ordinary tomato farming is unattractive with a lengthy payback period of 17.5 years. Net present value analysis is also used to determine the profitability of the three scenarios over a 10‐year period, and the agrivoltaics scenarios are calculated to be profitable while ordinary tomato farming is not profitable. Therefore, this study justifies economic investment in agrivoltaics for tomato farming in Botswana.

Cost Benefits of Net Zero Energy Homes in Australia

This paper presents a systematic analysis of energy savings and cost benefits associated with several options for integrating energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The primary goal of this study is to assess the cost-effectiveness of achieving optimal net-zero energy (NZE) designs for residential buildings in Australia. Specifically, the analysis combines a series of sensitivity analyses and multi-objective optimizations to account for a wide range of design strategies for detached homes in four cities representing different Australian climates. The results indicate that not only are NZE designs technically feasible for all the considered Australian cities, but they are also highly cost-effective. This cost-effectiveness is attributed to the lower installation costs of rooftop PV systems as well as the beneficial interactive effects of proven energy efficiency strategies. Indeed, it is found that the deployment costs of rooftop PV systems can be recovered in less than 4 years. Moreover, the addition of thermal insulation in walls and ceilings can reduce both HVAC capacities and annual energy end-use by up to 59%. Based on an optimization-based design, NZE homes in Australia can have lower construction costs and, ultimately, lower life cycle costs than dwellings built to meet current energy efficiency standards based primarily on stringent building envelope thermal performance.

Design and Feasibility Study of A Stand-Alone Home Pv Solar System in Baghdad Climate

The question asked by all researchers is when solar panels will replace the national grid, especially in the domestic sector. In this study, a rooftop stand-alone solar electric system is designed to provide all the electrical power to a house in Baghdad-Iraq, using a (How to design PV system) simulation program. The feasibility of this system compared to the performance of the national electric grid and the system of private diesel generators is determined. The proposed solar system capacity is (25 kW), and the space required and the energy payback time are (360 m2 and 7.82 years), respectively. By using the current system, the net CO2 mitigation amount is 499,518.2 tons for 30-year. The kilowatt-hour costs for the subsidized national grid, private diesel generators, and the present solar system is 0.01865$, 0.1509$, and $0.108, respectively. The kilowatt cost can reach 0.25kWh if the battery replacement cost is estimated; so photovoltaic systems are still a good choice to generate electricity instead of using the national grid. If solar PV systems to generate electricity are used instead of the national grid, the financial and environmental profits will be good enough. The reason for the study is because the costs of off-grid solar PV systems are high, no specific studies have emerged on such vital topics. Currently, loans from government banks have reduced the impact of this negative factor

Techno-economic investigation of a hybrid biomass renewable energy system to achieve the goals of SDG-17 in deprived areas of Iran

Improving the quality of life in deprived areas is one of the main programs of the United Nations, highlighting the significance of a clean and reliable power supply for sustainable development. This study focuses on the configuration of hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) in Iran's northern and southern rural areas, utilizing a combination of wind turbines, storage banks, photovoltaic panels, biogas, and diesel generators. These regions possess animal- and agriculture-based biomass resources that can effectively meet their primary residential energy needs. This study highlights the importance of employing multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) for selecting suitable hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) in rural areas. By incorporating a novel objective weighting process based on the SDG-17 framework, the study considers a range of criteria, including economic, environmental, energy security, and technical factors. Furthermore, the validation of HOMER's accuracy in sizing renewable energy systems with particle swarm optimization (PSO) has demonstrated the significant capability of the primary model. The results demonstrate that relying solely on economically optimal scenarios may not align with CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, and reliability goals. Utilizing the HOMER-MCDM method, the study achieves a more optimal combination of energy systems, considering multiple aspects of sustainable development beyond economic efficiency. For the climates of northern and southern rural regions of Iran, the study identifies the PV/WT/Bio/battery system as the best solution, with levelized costs of electricity (COE) of 0.251 and 0.219 $/kWh, respectively. This configuration relies entirely on local resources, emits nearly zero emissions, and provides power to the communities. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis assesses the impact of changes in capital costs of power generation components and the potential of renewable resources. Adjusting the investment costs of PV and WT systems between 0.7 and 1.3 times their original values results in a COE range of 0.198 to 0.233 $/kWh, representing a decrease of 9.2% and an increase of 6.9% compared to the initial operation, respectively.

DESIGNING TECHNO-ECONOMIC OFF-GRID PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM USING AN IMPROVED DIFFERENTIAL EVOLUTION ALGORITHM

Conventional power generation is one of the main contributors to the phenomenon of the greenhouse effect. This has led to a diversification of electricity sources including environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar energy. Off-grid PV systems have gained some traction due to their cost-effectiveness for rural communities. However, the intermittent nature of solar is the main challenge to developing the off-grid PV system. Moreover, the high capital cost of PV systems as well as the storage batteries becomes the main concern for all PV users. Thus, this study aims to optimize the size of the PV system and battery simultaneously and design a cost-effective off-grid photovoltaic system considering various aspects such as battery power, solar irradiance, and PV panel selection while ensuring system reliability. The proposed system was optimized using improved Differential Evolution (DE) and its effectiveness was tested by comparing the results with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The Improved DE algorithm provides the highest average cost savings compared to other algorithms, which is $500 per year. It is recommended that this method is very useful in the optimization of off-grid PV systems, considering other uncertainties that affect PV system performance.

A HOMER-Aided Study for PV System Design and Cost Analysis for a College Campus in Baghdad

Due to the lack of electric power generation in Iraq and as a step forward to adopting a sustainable campus of the Electrical Engineering Technical College (EETC), Middle Technical University, in Baghdad, Iraq, and the critical demand for energy in our institutions, particularly educational institutions, this pilot study was proposed. The study aims to analyze the adoption of PV solar systems on the campus in the presence and absence of grid power and how that affects our design discussion in the matter of Net Present Cost (NPC), Cost of Energy (COE), Operation Cost, initial cost, power production, fuel consumption, and the annual net consumed energy from the grid. Forty-five different scenarios were analyzed for all possible cases. The existence of backup generators on the campus was also taken into consideration; G1-350kVA and G2-500kVA. The study has two stages. In the first stage, they used a walkthrough energy audit in the (EETC) to estimate the load profile of the campus, while in the second stage, they used HOMER Pro to analyze this data. The results show that adding an on-grid PV system to the campus grid can reduce the COE by 58%, and it is the best scenario when the grid is present, with an NPC, operation cost ($/yr), and initial capital ($) equal to $77,680, $1,460, and $59,018 respectively. When the grid was absent, the winning scenario was using a PV solar system with a 100-kWh lithium battery storage and a converter. Despite that scenario being the best solution, the produced energy cost is 372% higher than the grid energy cost (0.1 $/kWh) in Iraq, with an NPC, operation cost ($/yr.), and initial capital ($) equal to $337,291, $7,855, and 236878 respectively. Finally, both winning scenarios have no generator, and this will have a high impact on the campus environment.

Modeling and analysis of thermal photovoltaic energy generator using COMSOL multiphysics

Because of to their versatile energy choice alternatives, immovable elements, and opportunity for effective energy generation, thermophotovoltaic techniques have a vast range of achievable applications. For illustration, these devices could help us to offer convenient energy. Nevertheless, first enhance the performance of thermo-photovoltaic cell unit devices along with decrease system costs and system temperatures. To achieve such objectives, we use simulation to evaluate and improve their thermo-photovoltaic cell unit models. This research regarded as the different alternatives of enhancing system operation via successful deal with the operating circumstances. It examined solutions of the system formation for much better system performance and energy output and at bare minimum quantity working expenses. The number of mirrors and photovoltaic devices for employ in the construction had been set at eight as traditional for the procedure. A novel energy technique was constructed and was used to reproduce the energy effectiveness of the thermal photo voltaic modules. The boundaries situations utilized for the materials involved were defined and the appropriate physics utilized in the analysis of various operating circumstances that affected the system effectiveness. It is possible to reduce the costs of PV systems by using small area PV cells, which require some special mirrors to focus radiation onto photocells. Based on COMSOL Multiphysics (version 5.5) as a commercial FEM package, this paper develops a basic thermo-photovoltaic cell unit model. A variety of options examined for optimizing the operation of the system by controlling operating conditions effectively. For a two-dimensional system, it was demonstrated the correct physics to apply when studying various operating conditions which affected system performance.

Computational tool for technical-economic analysis of photovoltaic microgeneration in Brazil

This paper proposes a new computational tool, called SolarEnergy, which was implemented through an innovative methodology to perform technical-economic analysis of photovoltaic (PV) microgeneration in Brazil. SolarEnergy calculates energy flow and energy bill savings based on the rules of the Brazilian NEM scheme. From the maximization of the net present value, SolarEnergy provides the optimal nominal power according to the orientation and slope of PV panels and the electricity consumption profile. This functionality is crucial to avoid undersizing or oversizing, which commonly occurs in practice. In addition, the tool provides the following information: (i) electricity generation, (ii) net present value, (iii) modified internal rate of return, (iv) discounted payback time, and (v) sensitivity analysis of key parameters (e.g., nominal power, pv system cost, electricity tariff, and minimum attractive rate of return). Currently, such particularities are characterized as relevant differences in relation to other computational tools. The validation and applicability of SolarEnergy are demonstrated from case studies of PV systems installed in the state of Goiás, Brazil.

Optimising generation and energy storage in the transition to net zero power networks

As electricity networks plan to achieve net-zero emissions, the role of private behind-the-meter (BTM) generation and storage becomes increasingly important. Two key questions arise for planners: how much BTM will there likely be in the longer term; and what impact will this have on network generation and storage? The combination of high insolation and reducing cost of small-scale solar PV systems in Western Australia has led to a rapid and ongoing take-up of private generation which already supplies around 20% of demand (around one third of houses have rooftop solar), and declining midday network loads, which will likely become negative before 2030 at some times of day and year. However, the market operator has consistently underestimated the rate of private penetration, leading to inadequate planning for the future network. Most published research focusses on network scale renewable generation but neglects the impact of private generation and storage. In contrast, this article presents a model of the integrated system to 2050, projecting the likely scale of BTM generation and identifying the optimal form of network renewable energy and storage to achieve net zero emissions. By 2050 BTM generation will likely supply around 50% of the total annual demand of 54,000 GWh pa. Given the diurnal and seasonal shape of the resulting network load and projected renewable generation costs, onshore wind energy will be the most cost optimal generation source, supplemented by smaller capacity offshore wind, wave and solar PV facilities. Network storage in the form of batteries and pumped hydro will be required, but significant curtailment will still be necessary to optimally match supply with demand. Network generation and storage costs per MWh of network load into the future are likely to be similar to, or lower than existing costs (∼$85/MWh) with the range of technologies considered in this study.

Towards market commercialization: Lifecycle economic and environmental evaluation of scalable perovskite solar cells

AbstractMany economic and environmental studies on novel perovskite solar cells (PSCs), published ex post the development stage to investigate the market competitiveness, have focused on laboratory‐scale PSC architectures that are not amenable for upscaling. In this paper, we evaluate the market potential and environmental sustainability of a scalable carbon‐electrode‐based PSC by benchmarking it to the market dominating c‐Si photovoltaics and CIGS thin film photovoltaics. The analysis covers the PSCs full lifecycle, at the module and system levels (residential and utility scale), and is based on realistic annual energy output data derived from energy yield calculations. We find that this PSC can produce electricity at low cost (3–6 €cents/kWh), with lowest energy payback (0.6–0.8 years) and greenhouse gas emissions (15–25g CO2 eq./kWh) compared with grid‐connected PV market alternatives, assuming 25years of lifetime, expected PV system cost reductions, and PSC module recycling and refurbishment.

Solar Photovoltaic System Design and Cost Estimations for Electrification of selected Primary Health Centres in Maiyama Local Government, Kebbi State

The populace continues to turn to primary healthcare centers as their first port of call for medical attention. The majority of people who visit primary healthcare facilities (PHCs) are women and children, whose health has a direct impact on the future of the nation. As a result, PHCs are under pressure to deliver high-quality treatment. One of the healthcare institutions in Maiyama Local Government that needs dependable energy is the Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) that has been chosen. They use a diesel-powered system as their main source of power supply because the electricity supply is unstable. This puts a strain on their operations resources and has a severe impact on people and the environment. The answer to Maiyama's inconsistent, expensive, and unsafe power source is a change in the energy system. LG, and its goal is to raise the standard of healthcare delivery services. It is assumed that greater healthcare services would be available once improved energy sources are in place. The solution was suggested to be a solar-powered system with battery storage, a charge controller, and an inverter. Electricity for the vaccine refrigerator, ceiling fans, light bulbs, and mobile charge station will be provided by the proposed powered system. For each primary health center, the cost of the solar PV system's components [such as PV panels, inverters, batteries, and charge controllers] was calculated. Electrical appliances were projected to use 29,129.41 watt hours per day, 13647.05 watt hours per day, 54174.118 watt hours per day, and 14738.82 watt hours per day for Kawara, Maiyama, Andarai, and Mayalo, respectively. Based on the foregoing Observed outcomes each health center under study's needs was taken into account while designing the solar PV system. According to estimates, PV panels will cost correspondingly ₦1,264,000, ₦632,000, ₦2,370,000, and ₦395,000 for Kawara, Maiyama, Andarai, and Mayalo. The total amount all centers had to pay on PV panels was ₦4,661,000. Similar to this, it was determined that the cost of the inverter utilized in the design was ₦280,000 for the four PHCs, while the cost of the battery was projected to be ₦646,800, ₦1,176,000, ₦4,555,726, and ₦953,442 for Kawara, Maiyama, and Andarai, respectively. For this project, the cost of the inverter and charge controller needed to create the PV system was estimated for each primary health center that was chosen. 4 inverters' combined costs were calculated and determined to be. Each charge controller is expected to cost ₦30,000 and cost ₦210,000. For Kawara, Maiyama, Andarai, and Mayalo Primary Health Center, respectively, the cross-sectional area of each cable needed for the connection between PV& battery, Battery & Inverter, and Inverter & Load was projected to be 3.569 10-6 m2, 2.436 10-6m2, and 2.727 10-6m2. This study's findings support the usage of solar PV systems in primary health centers since they are less expensive to operate, extremely dependable, and have a life expectancy of 20 to 30 years.

Techno‐economic feasibility of hydrogen based electric vehicle charging station: A case study

Delhi has been experiencing a dramatic surge in pollution levels, especially in the past decade. Renewable energy sources emit negligible carbon pollutants compared to conventional energy sources. However, they are fundamentally intermittent, necessitating a robust storage system. In recent times, hybrid systems have proven to be breakthrough solutions for mitigating electrical energy shortages while also enhancing overall system dependability. This study focuses on hydrogen energy storage which can help overcome variable output power issues for an electric vehicle charging station in Karampura, Delhi. The framework is proposed for three vehicles charging simultaneously, all the while at the charging station, with normal energy utilization of 2100 kWh/day. The most optimum system is found by simulating results from three different combinations (namely photovoltaic [PV]-Hydrogen, Wind-Hydrogen, and PV-Wind-Hydrogen) using HOMER software. The Levelized cost for the Hybrid combination is most viable, whereas the Wind system costs 7.19% more and the PV combination costs 12.12% higher. In a similar manner, the net present cost (NPC) of a solar PV system and a wind turbine system is $1.80 million and $1.63 million, respectively, whereas the NPC of a hybrid system is $1.52 million. The cost of operating a PV solar system is $79 767, a wind turbine system is $46 078, and a hybrid system is $35 926. These findings suggest that a hydrogen-based hybrid renewable energy system is an economically feasible combination.

An optimal grid-connected strategy for improving the DC voltage utilization rate by increasing the number of PV modules connected in series in the string

The further reduction of the cost can improve the competitiveness of PV power generation in practice. This work proposes a low-cost hardware circuit integrated in the PV module junction box, which can increase the DC voltage utilization rate and capacity ratio of the system by limiting the voltage of the PV modules to increase the number of modules in series. According to the I-V characteristics, the theoretical optimal proportion of short-circuited cells in the PV module is analyzed. Based on the structure of the actual PV modules, a strategy of limiting the voltage of a single PV substring in the module is implemented. In order to avoid the power loss caused by the voltage-limited substrings that may not be released by mismatch, a control strategy combining the inverter MPPT to lower the voltage of the PV string is proposed for ensuring that all the modules in the string are released. The results of actual test verifications show that the proposed strategy can effectively reduce the voltage of PV modules and strings. The number of PV modules in each string of 1000 V and 1500 V systems can be increased by 5 and 8, respectively, and the capacity of each string can be increased by more than 20%, such that great practical application and potential for reducing the cost of PV system can be achieved.

Assessment of Waterfront Office Redevelopment Plan on Optimal Building Arrangements with Rooftop Photovoltaics: A Case Study for Shinagawa, Tokyo

Designing waterfront redevelopment generally focuses on attractiveness, leisure, and beauty, resulting in various types of building and block shapes with limited considerations on environmental aspects. However, increasing climate change impacts necessitate these buildings to be sustainable, resilient, and zero CO2 emissions. By producing five scenarios (plus existing buildings) with constant floor areas, we investigated how buildings and district forms with building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) affect energy consumption and production, self-sufficiency, CO2 emission, and energy costs in the context of waterfront redevelopment in Tokyo. From estimated hourly electricity demands of the buildings, techno-economic analyses were conducted for rooftop PV systems for 2018 and 2030 with declining costs of rooftop PV systems. We found that environmental building designs with rooftop PV system are increasingly economical in Tokyo with CO2 emission reduction of 2–9% that depends on rooftop sizes. Payback periods drop from 14 years in 2018 to 6 years in 2030. Toward net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, immediate actions are necessary to install rooftop PVs on existing and new buildings with energy efficiency improvements by construction industry and building owners. To facilitate such actions, national and local governments need to adopt appropriate policies.

The Effects of Module Temperature on the Energy Yield of Bifacial Photovoltaics: Data and Model

Bifacial photovoltaics (BPVs) are emerging with large momentum as promising solutions to improve energy yield and cost of PV systems. To reach its full potential, an accurate understanding of the physical characteristics of BPV technology is required. For this reason, we collected experimental data to refine a physical model of BPV. In particular, we simultaneously measured the module temperature, short circuit current (Isc), open-circuit voltage (Voc), power at the maximum power point (Pmpp), and the energy yield of a bifacial and a monofacial minimodule. Such minimodules, realised with the same geometry, cell technology, and module lamination, were tested under the same clear sky outdoor conditions, from morning to afternoon, for three days. The bifacial system experimentally shows higher module temperatures under operation, about 10 °C on a daily average of about 40 °C. Nevertheless, its energy yield is about 15% larger than the monofacial one. We propose a physical quantitative model that fits the experimental data of module temperature, Isc, Voc, Pmpp, and energy yield. The model was then applied to predict the annual energy yield of PV module strings. The effect of different PV module temperature coefficients on the energy yield is also discussed.

Development of a solar nano-grid for meeting the electricity supply shortage in developing countries (Nigeria as a case study)

The urban demographic in most developing countries often depend on fossilized fuel generators to meet the electricity supply gap from the national grid. Due to health and environmental concerns with fossilized fuel, local renewable energy resources offer a tentative replacement but often involve high initial upfront costs for their deployment. This work addresses the initial cost barrier issue with renewable energy deployment by focusing on Nigeria as a case study. More specifically, this work proposes a Solar Nano grid concept as an alternative to fossilized generators. The proposed Solar Nano grid concept presents the flexibility to deploy PV systems based on budgetary constraints and the option of upgrading the system (adding newer units to existing ones) in the future. While adding new units to old ones gives rise to compatibility and aging issues in the PV systems, simulation studies show that it is possible to eliminate such concerns by applying a set of design protocols and principles in the proposed Solar Nano grid. An assembled lab-scale Solar Nano grid system validated the simulation findings. With the validated model, this work puts forth possible strategy for reducing the upfront cost of PV system deployment to about 10% of the initial value.

Technical and financial analysis of large-scale solar-PV in eThekwini Municipality: Residential, business and bulk customers

Regulatory changes, economic challenges, environmental concerns, and changing public perception have contributed to the profound changes observed globally in the electricity industry. Since 2008, South Africa has been experiencing electric power deficits and outages. This has been due in part to generation capacity constraints, belated investment in new electricity infrastructure, deferred maintenance of existing power assets, load growth in areas which were not adequately planned for, high population and economic growth over the last two decades. This has resulted in peak electricity demand outstripping available power generation capacity, leading to electricity shortages and load shedding, which is now impeding economic growth. In South Africa, forced under frequency load shedding, rising electricity tariffs, energy efficiency, declining cost of solar PV systems, the introduction of Carbon taxes, high cost of unserved energy has led consumers to explore embedded generation options to assist with reducing their energy bills, hence investments in solar PV has become an option to municipal customers. The simple payback period of solar PV systems is an important indicator for customers to ascertain whether to invest in these systems or not. Revenue loss remains a significant concern for municipalities who have historically designed single and two-rate bundled tariffs, which rely on municipalities selling electricity to ensure its business’s sustainability. Municipalities have now proposed new tariff structures designed to minimize the adverse impact of reducing electricity sales from solar PV by creating net billing tariffs with a built in network access charge component based on the customer’s inverter size. Case studies were carried out to better understand the impact on the feasibility of solar PV systems with and without the implementation of these new tariffs and its impact on the customer’s payback periods. A calculation of the levelised cost of electricity and customers rate of return for the different customer classes were also calculated to provide a better picture on the financial feasibility of rooftop solar PV. Results obtained from these case studies indicate lucrative payback periods for customers installing solar PV systems with improved revenue recovery for the municipality.

Assessment and multi-objective optimization of an off-grid solar based energy system for a Conex

In this study, an off-grid PV system is optimized to supply a Conex electricity demand in the top ten earthquake-prone cities using mixed-integer linear programming techniques. The stand-alone photovoltaic system is designed by a photovoltaic array, a cooling/heating system, battery banks, an inverter, and a charge controller. For determining the optimum size and specifications of the system components such as PV panel, HVAC coefficient of performance, by considering two objectives of the study, a mixed-integer linear programming method is used. These conflicting objectives are the probability of lack of power and total cost of the system. The weighted factor method is utilized, and final optimized systems are achieved using MATLAB 2019b. Using the weighted factor method, several optimum solutions, in which the importance of objectives are different from each other, are obtained for each case concerning objectives. The suggested model is optimized for ten earthquake-prone cities globally, while it can be utilized for any location. The Pareto frontiers are presented to show the trade-offs between two objective functions. The average cost of off-grid PV system supplied electrical power is from about 1000$ for lima (subtropical desert climate) to 4000$ for Tokyo and Osaka (humid subtropical). Analysis of obtained results demonstrates that the system is suitable for all of the considered cities. It can supply the load demand of an off-grid Conex with a loss of power supply probability as low as 1%.