A Review on Performance of Grid Connected Photovoltaic System

Ankit Kumar Sarraf1, Dr. Nagendra Kumar Swarnkar2

1
M.Tech Scholar, Apex Institute of Engineering & Technology, Jaipur
2
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Apex Institute of Engineering & Technology, Jaipur
1 2
ankit.sarraf07@gmail.com swarnkar.n123@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: - India is located on the equatorial belt (Plant Load factor) and PR (Performance Ratio).
of the globe, thus receiving almost radiation from Variety of solar service providers provides
the Sun that from 5.8- 6.8 kwh/m 2/day. The total generation guarantee taking base of performance
equivalent energy potential is about 6,000 million calculations as base. In solar photovoltaic industry
GWh of energy per year. The maximum annual plant load factor (people also terms it as CUF,
radiation is received in Rajasthan and Northern Capacity Utilization Factor) is not a parameter to be
Gujarat. In this area, a big part of land is desert much taken into consideration.The simple logic
and very less populated, making them most behind it, is time factor, professionals find it better
suitable for solar power generation by to consider performance ratio to analyse the
constructing solar photovoltaic plants. Data for performance of a solar PV plant.
this study paper are received from one of the SPV India rapidly increasing its solar power generation,
plant situated in Rajasthan. All the insolation number of organization groups are investing to
received cannot be converted to electricity as the harness sun power, but the vital and important
performance of such solar photovoltaic system qualities of solar plant performance monitoring is
depends of variety of influencing factors including still feel lacked. Apart from money making from
losses in design system and other environmental solar power generation, it is always recommended to
factors. ensure the availability of well-trained experts to
Keywords: Losses, Photovoltaic system, record, maintain and frame such data for future
Performance ratio and Simulation references. As we know Mega Watt scale solar
Abbreviations: power industry is its initial stage in India and there
GHI Global Horizontal Irradiance is a huge scope to develop innovative methods to
measure and monitor performance. Analyse of a
POA Plane of Array
photovoltaic system needs accurate weather data.
PLF Plant Load Factor
The most important parameters to be recorded are:
PR Performance Ratio
1. Irradiance (GHI, POA & diffused when
SPV Solar Photovoltaic required)
MWDC Megawatt DC 2. Insolation/Intensity
IEC International Electrotechnical 3. Ambient temperature (Average calculation
Commission techniques to be used)
4. Module surface temperature (Average
CUF Capacity Utilization Factor
calculation techniques to be used described later
MWh Megawatt hours 5. Wind Velocity
STC Standard temperature condition Generally this data is ignored to measure
NREL National Renewable Energy performance of photovoltaic plant but as the
Laboratory industry matures we can believe the use of this data
will gain importance and significance. Another
I. INTRODUCTION important point to be noted is that one needs to put
temperature sensor on loaded module only. Further
it is also recommended to install met Station nearby
Performance of solar photovoltaic plant is evaluated
DC field only. It is essentially recommended to take
all over the world on two parameters namely PLF
intensecare while calculating the average of data
like intensity, plant availability and radiation
calculation. The basic Parameter to be calculated to
analyse the performance of a SPV plantas
mentioned in IEC 61724 is PR (PerformanceRatio).
II. STUDY BASE
The data collected for this analysis this from a 1
MW grid connectedsolar photovoltaic plant situated
in Baap (Rajasthan). It has 4968 polycrystalline
modules each 240Wp. The data has been recorded
by SCADA system through the Metrological station
installed in the plant. As per the of study conducted
by MNRE and report, the average DNI in Baap area
available between 6.5-6.8 kwh/m2/day and average
temperature in the region between30C-40C with
more than 300 sunny days.
III. SPECIFIC PRODUCTION
Specific production also referred as yield of asystem
is actually modules-to-meteringend performance
measurement. It is the ratio ofenergy produced by
the system in (MWh AC) to the energy claimed by
module manufacturer mentioned on specification
sheet of the modules (MWDC-STC), which is
usually expressed as MWh/MW.
IV. CAPACITY UTILIZATION FACTOR
This parameter often referred as plant load factor
does not consider any environmental effects like
irradiance, temperature or photovoltaic modules
degradation. It also does not account the grid
availability. Therefore it is not convincing that the
capacity utilization is a perfect parameter to be
considered while claiming performance of a solar
photovoltaic plant. Moreover it also takes accountof
24 Hours while it is a fact that solar power plant
does not produce powerfor 24 Hours a day. To
compare any solar photovoltaic system performance
indexes with other source of power generating
plants like thermal, nuclear and wind. Plant load
factor of solar photovoltaic becomes irrelevant
because solar plant is not working for 24 hours. One
can calculate it for 12 hours taking it as a standard
or to calculate the same with actual generating
hours, but it is not yet adopted by globally.
PLF ( CUF ) =X 100
(1)
V. PERFORMANCE RATIO
This is the most important and most trusted
parameter to analyse the performance of a solar
photovoltaic plant. It is defined in IEC 61724 and is
a metric to measure how effectively the plant
converts sunlight collected by the PV modules into
AC energy despite of many de-rating factors viz.
inverter inefficiency, cable losses, cell mismatch,
module temperature, reflection from module glass
surface, soiling losses, grid failure, shading losses
and any other component failures. Conventionally
PR iscalculated as equation (2) discussed ahead by
the industry however this equation does not
incorporate any aforesaid factors except irradiance.
Yet it is very importantto consider the effect of
temperature and module efficiency along with PV
area to calculate the corrected PR.
In a business model, nowadays contractual
acceptance of guaranteed PR needsto be calculated
and analysed thoroughly before framing a
conclusion. When we initiate a project the
contractor specifies a performance ratio that is
representation of the annual performance at the site,
but the calculation of the measurement is never
defined, leading to unnecessary risk for both parties
in future.
Energy AC KWh
PR =( )
(Energy DC STCX Irr kwh/ m 2/ day )
(2)
Most notably, weather affects the PR by affecting
the module temperature depending upon the location
on globe. As per NREL report, The PV system
electrical output changes as weather varies; for
example, system output changes with temperature
(typically ~ 0.5%/C) referred as temperature
coefficient, irradiance in this case it may vary from
5% to 10%, and spectrum (typically varies by up to
~3%, depending on the difference in responses of
the irradiance sensor and the PV module) depending
upon the type of PV module technology. Along with
solar insolation, temperature also plays a vital role
in affecting the efficiencyof a PV plant. Weather
corrected report of NREL suggests that strong
dependence of PR on temperature results in a large
seasonal variation in PR, which canrange from 2%
to 10%.PR is often corrected to a common
temperature of 25C (standard test conditions) as
mentioned in equation (3).
But Correction to a photovoltaic cell temperature at
25C usually results in a higher performance ratio
because modules frequently operate at 25C. Thus,
while correction to 25C essentially solves the
problem of seasonal variations, it may claim
increment in the actual performance but the value
cannot be considerably justified as temperature
varies constantly and on practical grounds modules
does not produce power at 25C the whole year.
Normal PR
PR =
( 1+ (T cell25 C))
(3)
= Temperature coefficient provided by module
manufacturer (negative sign % / C).
But since one cannot judge the accuracy of PR value
while considering the 25C i.e. STC; NREL has
suggested more reliable equation that includes the
average cell temperatureof one complete year. To
calculate with thismethod our plant needs to be
equippedwith an initial project file depicting range
ofmodule temperature for one complete year.
Normal PR
PR=
(1 (T cell AvgT cell ))
(4)
Where = Temperature coefficient provided by
module manufacturer
Yet it will definitely be a highest level of accuracy if
one can correct the PR for every aspect of the
weather, but here we have attempted to correct PR
only for environmental variations that indeed affect
the temperature of module and so its efficiency.
Plant Performance Degradation generally it is
assumed that only the PV modules are accountable
for the performance degradation of the SPV plants;
however while evaluating the performance it is
recommended to look at the weather data and the
BOS (Balance of System).
As per a study published by Fraunhofer Institute
performed on thin film modules that were delivered
in 1984 and tested in 2009 it was found that, 18 out
of the 20 modules tested, showed an average power
output of 7% below the nominal output listed by the
manufacturer on delivery, even after 25 years of use.
As per a study conducted by NREL to figureout
degradation on 2 different mono-crystalline and 2
different polycrystalline modules, the average
degradation rate for the all 4 of modules was 0.71%
per year. Study also concluded that for crystalline
silicon modules, it will be more reasonable to
assume a figure of less than 0.5% for degradation
per year.
VI. REVIEWS
1. The maximum monthly energy output out of
seven months is obtained during May month.
Solar photovoltaic generation potential during
November 2013 to May 2014 is assessed for
Mandya district of Karnataka. It is found that
the month of December produced the lowest
solar radiation. Monthly and yearly outputs
were calculated on the basis of 100 m area.
Considering the monthly peaks and the average
peak output is calculated from where an
estimate of the possible plant rating is made.
The methodology adopted seems satisfactory for
determining the possible plant capacity for an
arbitrarily chosen area. As a conclusion the
comparison between the analytical method of
manually extracted data and results obtained
from the PVsyst software package are feasible.
2. In this paper review the analysis of the work
performed related with the photovoltaic module.
The factors discussed in this paper are very
important that affect the performance of the
 solar module. If these factor are not considered Module tilt angle 1-5%
in installation and working of panel it may spectral distribution 0-3%
drastically reduce the electrical output power Uncertainity 0-5%
which result in the loss of capital invested in the inmanufacturer rating
project. If these factors are taken care the output Ageing 5% over lifetime
and capacity of the solar power sector can be Mismatch 2%
improved in our country. It is seen that
Soiling 0-15%
irradiance, temperature, orientation, tilt angle,
Snow & Shadding depends on location
shading, dusts are some major factor affecting
diodes & cabling 3%
panel performance. So adequate technique
should be developed to mitigate these problems.
Approximately 1% to 10% of variation into
3. The performance of plant can be analysed by PR value can be seen with respect to
considering the monocrystalline and temperature corrective method on different
polycrystalline panels, performance ratio and geographies.
other condition such as solar irradiance, wind, Weather parameters and solar power
speed, module temperature of the plant. It can production are very uncertain. This makes it
verify the overall system performance by necessary to preserve historical data which
considering array conversion efficiency, cable can be analysed to improvise he system
loss, transmission losses using the simulation efficiency.
software PVSYST. Temperature correction in PR taking
account of STC i.e. 25c is not feasible
4. In this review, author presented a brief selection round the globe; hence it should be done
of data illustrating performance ratio with calculating Tell Value. Try to maintain
development over the past three decades. highest accuracy levels while calculating
Performance ratio values have evolved from this value.
50% to 75% in the late 1980s, via 7080% in It is quite evident that the performance of
the 1990s, to >80% nowadays, with some SPV plant not only depends on irradiance
systems reaching 90%. From the detailed but also on other factorslike temperature
analysis of losses present in today's systems, (Ambient and Cell) winds velocity, soiling,
one can infer that a modest increase of the dusting, snow, element failure, grid
performance ratio to perhaps 92% may be unavailability, design flaws.
possible, based on estimated improvements in
various components, and minimizing shading. VIII. REFERENCES

VII. CONCLUSIONS [1] IEC 61724. Photovoltaic system

performance monitoring Guidelines for
o PRTemp Corrected value on average last year
measurement, data exchange and analysis.
comes around 3% more than normal PR (yet it
1998.
depends on various geographies)
o The normal methods of performance parameter [2] NREL Report weather corrected
calculation specifically Performance Ratio as Performance Ratio, By Timothy Dierauf
mentioned in IEC 61724 can also be amended and Aaron Growitz Sun Power Corporation
and the values can be corrected by methods as Sarah Kurtz NREL, Jose Luis Becerra Cruz
derived in equation no. 3&4. Fichtner, Evan Riley Black & Veatch,
Clifford Hansen Sandia National
Laboratories
Factor Range of effect
Temperature 1-10% [3] Solar PV System Performance Assessment
Guideline for Solartech ; By J. S. Mokri
 Shelton Honda, AlexLechner, Sharath Raju,
Ivica Tolich; San Jose State University ;
Jan-2012
[4] Ishii, K. Otani, and T. Takashima, Effects
of solar spectrum and module temperature
on outdoor performance of photovoltaic
modules in round-robin measurements in
Japan. Progress in Photovoltaic: Research
and Applications, 2011
[5] R. Osterwald, A. Anderberg, S. Rummel,
and L. Ottoson, Degradation Analysis of
Weathered Crystalline-Silicon PV
Modules, 29th IE PV Specialists
Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, May
20-24, 2002
[6] Fraunhofer Institute: Module Power
Evaluation Report, commissioned by Schott
Solar AG.
[7] Bharathkumar M, Dr. H V Byregowda
Performance Evaluation of 5 MW Grid
Connected Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant
Established in Karnataka, International
Journal of Innovative Research in Science,
Engineering and Technology, Vol. 3, Issue
6, June 2014
[8] Subhash Kumar, Dr. Tarlochan Kaur Solar
PV Performance-Issues and Challenges
International Journal of Innovative Research
in Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation
and Control Engineering Vol. 2, Issue 11,
November 2014
[9] Manukumar D.M.1, Ganesha T.2,
Mallikarjunayya C. Math Performance and
Evolution of Grid Connected To 5MW Solar
Photovoltaic Plant in Shivanasamudra
International Journal of Research in Advent
Technology, Vol.3, No.1, January 2015 E-
ISSN: 2321-9637
[10]W.G.J.H.M. van Sark, N.H. Reich, B.
Mller, Reviewof PV Performance Ratio
Development.