The world attention is increasingly directed towards solar energy, particularly in countries of high solar radiation rates such as Iraq, due to the limitation of fossil fuel resources and the high pollution rates associated with using them. Engineers and researchers utilize different techniques in order to design the photovoltaic systems with low cost and high performance. This research aims at designing an optimal on-grid PV system to feed a school, located at Babel, Iraq using PVsyst program. The PVsyst methodology includes defining the geographical location of the project, determining the demand electrical load, selecting the type of the PV system components, and finally running the simulation. Detailed results, including the produced energy, loses diagram, economic and environmental evaluations can be obtained. The results show that a PV system comprising of 90 (450 Wp) panels and 3 (12 kWac) inverters on an area of 198 m2 can produce a net output energy at 70.23 MWh. The economic evaluation show that the project cost can be recovered within less than 10 years, and a net positive gain up to 20,000 USD can be attained during the 25 years project lifetime. A huge carbon emission equal to 1279.6 tCo2 can be saved as a result of this PV system installation. There is an obvious need to invest in solar energy for economic and environmental considerations. The main drawback of PV systems installations is the high capital cost. Using commercial packages, particularly PVsyst program, can significantly contributes toward optimizing the system design and hence reducing the project cost.
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