Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates

To limit the adverse impact of fossil fuel-generated power, energy generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) power is gaining importance. A lot of utility-scale PV power plants are being installed in tropical regions owing to the increased sunshine hours especially during the summer season. The influe...

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Main Authors: Gopi, Ajith, Sudhakar, K., Ngui, Wai Keng, Kirpichnikova, I. M., Cuce, Erdem
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/1/Energy%20analysis%20of%20utility-scale%20PV%20plant%20in%20the%20rain.pdf
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author Gopi, Ajith
Sudhakar, K.
Ngui, Wai Keng
Kirpichnikova, I. M.
Cuce, Erdem
author_facet Gopi, Ajith
Sudhakar, K.
Ngui, Wai Keng
Kirpichnikova, I. M.
Cuce, Erdem
author_sort Gopi, Ajith
building UMP Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description To limit the adverse impact of fossil fuel-generated power, energy generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) power is gaining importance. A lot of utility-scale PV power plants are being installed in tropical regions owing to the increased sunshine hours especially during the summer season. The influence of rain on the performance of PV power plants during monsoon seasons in a tropical climate is not studied in detail. This paper analyses the operational performance of a 2 MWp photovoltaic plant commissioned at the Kuzhalmannam site, Palakkad district, Kerala State, South India. The methodology includes the analysis of standard performance metrics of the plant utilizing two-year measured data and comparison with other climates. The PV plant's average performance ratio (PR) is 73.39, with an average of 15.41% capacity utilization factor (CUF) over the study period. The most deficit generation for the PV plant is observed in the months from June to August, which are part of the Southwest monsoon season. It is observed that the monsoon seasons prevailing in the region have a more substantial influence leading to a 35% reduction in energy generation from the annual average generation. Further, a comparison with other climates revealed that the specific yield obtained in rain-dominated monsoon tropical climates is lesser than dry and temperate climates.
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spelling ump-317042021-07-26T14:04:46Z http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/ Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates Gopi, Ajith Sudhakar, K. Ngui, Wai Keng Kirpichnikova, I. M. Cuce, Erdem T Technology (General) TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery To limit the adverse impact of fossil fuel-generated power, energy generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) power is gaining importance. A lot of utility-scale PV power plants are being installed in tropical regions owing to the increased sunshine hours especially during the summer season. The influence of rain on the performance of PV power plants during monsoon seasons in a tropical climate is not studied in detail. This paper analyses the operational performance of a 2 MWp photovoltaic plant commissioned at the Kuzhalmannam site, Palakkad district, Kerala State, South India. The methodology includes the analysis of standard performance metrics of the plant utilizing two-year measured data and comparison with other climates. The PV plant's average performance ratio (PR) is 73.39, with an average of 15.41% capacity utilization factor (CUF) over the study period. The most deficit generation for the PV plant is observed in the months from June to August, which are part of the Southwest monsoon season. It is observed that the monsoon seasons prevailing in the region have a more substantial influence leading to a 35% reduction in energy generation from the annual average generation. Further, a comparison with other climates revealed that the specific yield obtained in rain-dominated monsoon tropical climates is lesser than dry and temperate climates. Elsevier 2021-06-04 Article PeerReviewed pdf en cc_by_nc_nd_4 http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/1/Energy%20analysis%20of%20utility-scale%20PV%20plant%20in%20the%20rain.pdf Gopi, Ajith and Sudhakar, K. and Ngui, Wai Keng and Kirpichnikova, I. M. and Cuce, Erdem (2021) Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 26 (101123). pp. 1-11. ISSN 2214-157X. (Published) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2021.101123 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2021.101123
spellingShingle T Technology (General)
TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Gopi, Ajith
Sudhakar, K.
Ngui, Wai Keng
Kirpichnikova, I. M.
Cuce, Erdem
Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates
title Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates
title_full Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates
title_fullStr Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates
title_full_unstemmed Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates
title_short Energy analysis of utility-scale PV plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates
title_sort energy analysis of utility-scale pv plant in the rain-dominated tropical monsoon climates
topic T Technology (General)
TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
url http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31704/1/Energy%20analysis%20of%20utility-scale%20PV%20plant%20in%20the%20rain.pdf