access icon free Comprehensive performance evaluation of various solar PV system configurations

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Received 15/08/2018, Accepted 13/02/2019, Revised 14/01/2019, Published 19/02/2019

This study presents a year-long comprehensive performance analysis of four distinct solar photovoltaic (SPV) system configurations with central inverter, micro inverter, fixed axis structure and dual axis sun tracker (DAST) structure installed at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. Technical and economic performance indices are used to analyse the impact of inverter technology and DAST structure using field data of one year. Specifically, technical parameters specified by IEC 61724 are used to compare simulated results with field data from June 2017 to May 2018. The difference between the simulated and measured values of all the configurations is mostly attributed to the variation in solar irradiance and module temperature data. For simulation study, daily and monthly average values are considered while daily instantaneous data are used for measured values. Comparison of measured values through energy yield, capacity factor and performance ratio (PR) indices has confirmed the superiority of dual axis micro inverter system configuration. Additionally, the impact of seasonal variation on PR values for all four system configurations is also analysed. Economic performance for 25 years of project life using payback period, net present value and levelised cost of energy indices concludes dual axis central inverter system configuration as the most economical.

Inspec keywords: invertors; photovoltaic power systems

Other keywords: dual axis central inverter system configuration; solar irradiance; fixed axis structure; module temperature data; dual axis microinverter system configuration; net present value; distinct solar photovoltaic system configurations; DAST structure; PR values; SPV system configurations; inverter technology; energy indices

Subjects: Solar power stations and photovoltaic power systems; DC-AC power convertors (invertors); Power electronics, supply and supervisory circuits

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