Knockdown analysis of the performance of solar photovoltaic plants

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.main##

M. Siddhartha Bhatt

Abstract

This paper presents an efficiency map of a solar photovoltaic (SPV) plant through knock down analysis for the three major cell types monocrystalline silicon (C-Si), multicrystalline (M-Si) and amorphous silicon (A-Si). The highest efficiency achievable by a SPV cell is the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit which is the ultimate efficiency. When it comes to computing the working cell efficiency which can be treated as the SQ nominal conditions (after considering the cell losses) there is a drop. Moving up the organizational level, while at the module level, there is a further drop in the overall efficiency by 2-3 % points between the cell and the module. Further drop is seen when computing under Standard test conditions (STC) conditions and (PTC conditions PV-USA industrial test conditions). The STC module efficiency is taken as the reference or base condition for the SPV plant design. From the module to the array there is yet a drop of 3-4 % points. The performance drop of the plant from the STC conditions to the actually achieved conditions can be represented by the performance ratio (PR) which considers the stochastic efficiency of the plant site. The PR excludes excludes auxiliary power (2-4 % of the generated power), losses in battery (~20 %) due to storage component (if storage is present) and loss of energy generated due to non-availability of the grid (for grid tied systems). The stochastic incident radiation loss (~16-37 %) is already accounted in the PR. Automation helps to a large extent in tracking the component efficiencies and correcting the losses.>p/p

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.details##

How to Cite
Siddhartha Bhatt, M. (2015). Knockdown analysis of the performance of solar photovoltaic plants. Power Research - A Journal of CPRI, 357–374. Retrieved from https://cprijournal.in/index.php/pr/article/view/732

References

  1. E Rephaeli and S Fan, Absorber and emitter for solar thermo-photovoltaic systems to achieve efficiency exceeding the ShockleyQueisser limit, Optics Express, Vol. 17, pp. 15145-15159, 2009.
  2. M A Green, K Emery, Y Hishikawa and W Warta, Solar cell efficiency tables, progress in photovoltaics: research and applications, Vol. 37, pp. 84-92, 2010.
  3. N Aste, C D Pero, F Leonforte, PV technologies performance comparison in temperate climates, Solar Energy, Vol. 109, pp. 1–10, 2014.
  4. J Nelson and J Kirkpatrick, Analysis of the photovoltaic efficiency of a molecular solar cell based on a two-level system. Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing, Vol. 79, No. 1, pp. 15-20, 2004.
  5. D P Soldan, A Lee, S M Thon, M M Adachi, H Dong, P Maraghechi, M Yuan, A J Labelle, S Hoogland, K Liu, E Kumacheva and E H Sargent, Jointly tuned plasmonic–excitonic photovoltaics using nanoshells, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 1502-1508, 2013.
  6. K Nishioka, T Takamoto, T Agui, M Kaneiwa, Y Uraoka and T Fuyuki, Evaluation of InGaP/InGaAs/Ge triplejunction solar cell and optimization of solar cell's structure focusing on series resistance for high-efficiency concentrator photovoltaic systems, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 90, No. 9, pp. 1308-1321, 2006.
  7. Y Zhao, M Y Sheng, W X Zhou, Y Shen, E T Hu, J B Chen, M Xu, Y X Zheng, Y P Lee, D W Lynch and L Y Chen, A solar photovoltaic system with ideal efficiency close to the theoretical limit, Optics Express, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 28-38, 2012.
  8. E Rephaeli and S Fan, Absorber and emitter for solar thermo-photovoltaic systems to achieve efficiency exceeding the ShockleyQueisser limit, Optics Express, Vol. 17, pp. 15145-15159, 2009.
  9. D Yang and H Yin, Energy conversion efficiency of a novel hybrid solar system for photovoltaic, thermoelectric, and heat utilization, Art. no. 5738324, Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 662-670, 2011.
  10. A H Nosrat, L G Swan and J M Pearce, Improved performance of hybrid photovoltaic-trigeneration systems over photovoltaic-cogen systems including effects of battery storage, Energy, Vol. 49, pp. 366-374, 2013.
  11. A Buonomano, F Calise, M D d'Accadia and L A Vanoli, A Novel solar trigeneration system based on concentrating photovoltaic/ thermal collectors. Part 1: Design and simulation model, Energy, Vol. 61, pp. 59–71, 2013.
  12. A Joyce, L Coelho, J Martins, N Tavares, R Pereira and P Magalhaes, A PV/t and heat pump based trigeneration system model for residential applications, Kassel Conference: ISES - Solar World Congress at Kassel, 2011.
  13. J N Munday, The effect of photonic bandgap materials on the Shockley-Queisser limit, Journal of applied physics, Vol. 112, pp. 1-6, 2012.
  14. B Liao and W C Hsu, An investigation of Shockley-Queisser limit of single p-n junction solar cells, Rep 2.997, MIT, Cambridge, MA 2011, pp. 1-11.
  15. Miro Zemon, in Handbook of Solar Cells, pp. 5.11-5.12
  16. C J Chen, Physics of solar energy, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics Columbia University, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, pp. 1-373, 2011.
  17. A R Jha, Solar cell technology and applications, CRC Press, Auerbach Publications, Taylor & Francis Group, 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, pp. 1-280, 2010.
  18. ASTM standard G 197-08, Standard table for reference solar spectral distributions: direct and diffuse on 20° tilted and vertical surfaces, ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, United States, pp. 1-21, 2008.
  19. K Agroui, A H Arab, M Pellegrino, F Giovanni and I H Mahammad, Indoor and outdoor photovoltaic modules performances based on thin films solar cells, Revue des Energies Renouvelables, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 469-480, 2011.
  20. A H Fanney, M W Davis, B P Dougherty, D L King, W E Boyson, J A Kratochvil, Comparison of photovoltaic module performance measurements, Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 128, pp. 152-159, May 2006.
  21. A Virtuani, D Pavanello and G Friesen, Overview Of temperature coefficients of different thin film photovoltaic technologies, Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana (SUPSI) Istituto per la Sostenibilità Applicata all’Ambiente Costruito (ISAAC), Canobbio CH-6952, Switzerland, pp. 01-05.
  22. D L King, Photovoltaic module and array performance characterization methods for all system operating conditions, Proceeding of NREL/SNL Photovoltaics Program Review Meeting, New York, pp. 01-22, Nov.1996.
  23. I B Karki and D Faiman, Solar spectral influence on the performance of crystalline based photovoltaic modules under hot weather, Scientific World, Vol. 11, No. 11, pp. 48-51, July 2013.
  24. E Skoplaki and J A Palyvos, On the temperature dependence of photovoltaic module electrical performance: A review of efficiency/power correlations, Solar Energy, Vol. 83, pp. 614–624, 2009.
  25. J Z Casanova, M Piliougine, J Carretero, P Bernaola, P Carpena, L M Lopez, and M S Cardona, Analysis of dust losses in photovoltaic modules, World renewable energy congress, Sweden, pp. 2985-2992, 2011.
  26. M Chegaar, P Mialhe, Effect of atmospheric parameters on the silicon solar cells performance, Journal of Electron Devices, Vol. 6, pp. 173-176, 2008.
  27. T Sarver, A A Qaraghuli, L L Kazmerski,A comprehensive review of the impact of dust on the use of solar energy: History, investigations, results, literature, and mitigation approaches, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 22, pp. 698–33, 2013.
  28. L Boyle, H Flinchpaugh, M P Hannigan, Natural soiling of photo voltaic cover plates and the impact on transmission,Renewable Energy, Vol. 77, pp. 166–173, 2015.
  29. W Durisch, B Bitnar, J C Mayor, H Kiess, K H Lam and J Close, Efficiency model for photovoltaic modules and demonstration of its application to energy yield estimation, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, Vol. 91, pp. 79–84, 2007.
  30. P Grunow, S Lust, D Sauter, V Hoffmann, C Beneking, B Litzenburger and L Podlowski, Weak light performance and annual yields of PV modules and systems as a result of the basic parameter set of industrial solar cells, 19th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, pp. 2190-2193, 7-11 June 2004.
  31. A Colli, J Vasquez, W J Zaaiman, Initial stabilization of a statistical sample of forty-four mono crystalline photo voltaic modules, Renewable Energy, Vol. 75, pp. 326 – 334, 2015.
  32. M A Munoz, F Chenlo and M C AlonsoGarcía, Influence of initial power stabilization over crystalline-Si photovoltaic modules maximum power, Progress in photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 19, pp. 417-422, 2011.
  33. C P Lund, K Luczak, T Pryor, J C L Cornish, P J Jennings, P Knipe and F Ahjum, Field and laboratory studies of the stability of amorphous silicon solar cells and modules, Renewable Energy , Vol. 22, pp. 287 – 294, 2001.
  34. M S Bhatt, and R Sudhir Kumar, Performance analysis of solar photovoltaic plants-experimental results, International Journal of Renewable Energy Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 184-192, 2000.
  35. M S Bhatt, Performance evaluation of solar photovoltaic arrays after 18 years of field operation, international journal of Green Energy, Taylor & Francis, DOI: 10.1080/15435075. 2011.647169 Online: 30 Apr 2012.
  36. H Doeleman, Limiting and realistic efficiencies of multi-junction solar cells, Photonic Materials Group, FOM institute AMOLF, Amsterdam, pp. 1-33, 2012.
  37. C W A Baltus, J A Eikelboom, and R J C Zolingen, Analytical monitoring of losses in pv systems, Paper presented at the 14th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference Barcelona [ftp://ftp.ecn.nl/pub/ www/library/report/1997/rx97043.pdf], pp. 1-5, June 1997.
  38. Y Su, L C Chan, L Shu and K Tsui, Realtime prediction models for output power and efficiency of grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems. Applied Energy, Vol. 93, pp. 319-326, 2012.
  39. A Mermoud, Modeling systems losses in PV syst, Institute of the Environmental Sciences/Group of Energy/PV syst. University of Geneva [http://www.docseek.net/mmrtyv/mermoud-pvsyst-thu-840-am.html], pp. 1-15, 2012.
  40. D Doble, Approaches to energy yield improvement in PV Modules, Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Presented at Intersolar North America [http://cse.fraunhofer.org/Portals/55819/docs/energy-yield-improvementintersolar-2010.pdf], pp. 1-19, July 2010.
  41. S K Firth, K J Lomas and S J Rees, A simple model of PV system performance and its use in fault detection, Solar Energy, Vol.84, pp. 624–635, 2010.
  42. Anon, Grid-tied photovoltaic system sizing, harmony farm solar [http://www.harmonyfarmsupply.com/wp-content/ uploads/2010/12/Photovoltaic-SolarSystem-Sizing.pdf], pp. 1-2, 2012.
  43. T Oozeki, T Izawa, K Otani, and K Kurokawa, An evaluation method of PV systems, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, Vol.75, pp. 687–695, 2003.
  44. B P Koirala, B Sahan, and N Henze, Study on MPP mismatch losses in photovoltaic applications, Department of Electrical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur [http://www.docstoc.com/docs/135619823/study-on-mppmismatchlosses-in-photovoltaic], pp. 1-7, 2012.
  45. H Robertson, Optimizing photovoltaic systems: recent developments in system components make a significant impact on solar efficiency, Electronic Products (Garden City, New York), Vol. 52, No. 4, 2010.
  46. M S Bhatt, System Efficiency (nonmodule) considerations in the sizing solar photovoltaic plants” Journal of CPRI, Vol. 10, No. 02, pp. 345-354, June 2014.
  47. E R Messmer, Solar cell efficiency vs module, power output: simulation of a solar cell in a CPV module, solar cells - research and application perspectives, pp. 307-326, March 2013.

Most read articles by the same author(s)