Master Class

on

PVsyst

Solar Project Designing Tool

7th

June 2013

10-06-2013

• Fundamental aspects of PV system design

• Performance assessment of PV systems

• PVSyst simulation process

• PV array shading analysis

• Custom engineering

• Simulating loss factors

• Assessment of hourly generation

• System design for fixed v/s tracking system

• PR calculations

• Hands-on PVSyst case studies for grid connected and rooftop systems

Objectives

Understanding Solar PV Technologies

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Solar PV technologies

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Solar PV Price Trends

-

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

May

-09

Jul-

09

Sep

-09

No

v-0

9

Jan

-10

Mar

-10

May

-10

Jul-

10

Sep

-10

No

v-1

0

Jan

-11

Mar

-11

May

-11

Jul-

11

Sep

-11

No

v-1

1

Jan

-12

Mar

-12

Crystalline($ / Wp) Thin film CdS/CdTe($ / Wp) Thin film a-Si/µ-Si($ / Wp)

Months & Year

pri

ce

in

us d

olla

r $

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PV Prices have been free fall over past couple of years

Efficiency Increases

Economy of scale

Increased competition

Innovative technologies

Source: ITRPV, SEMI

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PV Material Trends-Silicon wafer price

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2010 2011 2012

Silicon price $/kg

Silicon price $/kg •The PV module cost is function of material price and the efficiency of conversion •The silicon price trends will lead to the module price in the range of $ 0.5/Wp by 2017 •Reduction in wafer thickness has also led to reduced module price. •Further there is a trend in glass thickness reduction, larger ingot size, and back contact options. Source: ITRPV, SEMI, PG Group

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•25 year life and <1% degradation/year is the industry standard. •PV modules installed after 2000 have been much more reliable in case of thin film.

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Annual Cell production by Country

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Solar Resource Assessment

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Average GHI and DNI In India

Source :NREL 10-06-2013

Solar radiation data

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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

G

H

I

(

k

W

h

/

s

q

.

m

/

d

a

y)

MNRE-NREL Meteonorm

NASA Solar GIS (for last 1 year)

• The GHI for the region is ranging from 4

kWh/sq.m./day from 3.26 to 7.42 kWh/sq.m./day.

As per Meteonorm database, the annual GHI of

the site is 2021 kWh/sq.m

• Four types of data sources are compared for the

site (GHI (kwh/sq.m./day). These include MNRE-

NREL, NASA-SSE and Meteonorm and Solar GIS

(1 May’12-30 Apr’13)

• MNRE-NREL model estimates annual average

GHI at 10 km resolution based on hourly estimates

of radiation over 7 years (2002-2008)

• NASA-SSE is satellite monthly data for a grid of

1°x1° (111 km) covering the whole world, for a 10

years period (1983-1993).

• Solar GIS values represent an area of 250 m x

250 m

Data Uncertainty

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Insolation

• Insolation-Incident Solar Radiation, kWh/m2.

• Approximately 1 kW/m2 at the earth’s surface.

1 kW/m2 of irradiance for 5 hours

= 1 kW/m2 x 5 hr = 5 kWh/m2 of insolation

5 kWh/m2 of insolation on a 2 sq-m surface

= 5kWh/m2 * 2 m2 = 10 kWh of energy received byt he surface.

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Uncertainty in Energy Yield Prediction

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System sizing

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PV string

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Module specifications

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Module Characteristics

I-V Characteristics with respective Irradiance

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Module Characteristics

Efficiency vs Irradiance at different temperatures

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Module Characteristics

I-V Characteristics with respective Temperature

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Fixed and Tracking Structures

Single axis tracking

Dual axis tracking

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Radiation Gain record of a typical tracker system

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Inverter selection

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Effect of Temperature on Inverter

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PVsyst

Effect of Temperature on Inverter

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Effect of shading on PV cell

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Shading Analysis

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Shading Analysis – Lateral shading

34 First Green Consulting Pvt Ltd,U 28A/3 FF, White Town House DLF Ph III Gurgaon, Haryana – 122002, India

• As the plant has a slope towards west, the adjoining array has level difference of about 6 inches which is causing lateral

shading on the adjoining panels. A shading analysis for typical 2 arrays was conducted and observed that about 0.136% of

energy is lost due to lateral shading. This accounts for a loss of 12.7 MWh of energy on annual basis and leads to a revenue

loss of approx. INR 148,000

CABLE SIZING

ACSR cable Copper cable

-1 % saving in the conductor losses can save about 20 Lakh rupees in case of a typical 5MW plant. -The Ampacity of DC Cable is function of temperature. - Aluminium conductors have higher resistance and low ductile strength. -Low voltage drop in Copper cables , generally used at DC side of the plant. -Bunching of cables reduces Ampacity .

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Correction factor for cables at different temperatures

• As temperature increases ,the Ampacity of the conductor reduces .So correction factors are to be considered before sizing of a cable .

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0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80

Vo

ltag

e in

V

Temperature in Deg C

Voltage drop in string cable with temperature

Layout of a PV plant-DC side

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Layout of a PV plant-AC side

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Module cell operating temperature (Thermography test)

• Tests were conducted on about 20 individual

panels/tables to detect hot spots

• The highest at the module surface during the

thermography was observed 62.5 deg C

• While the average surface temp of cell was ranging 40-

50 deg C, the hot spot temperatures were observed in

the range of 45- 60 deg C

40 First Green Consulting Pvt Ltd,U 28A/3 FF, White Town House DLF Ph III Gurgaon, Haryana – 122002, India

Source: Photovoltaik Institute, Berlin

41

Review of Plant Performance

First Green Consulting Pvt Ltd,U 28A/3 FF, White Town House DLF Ph III Gurgaon, Haryana – 122002, India

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Actual PR Vs Calculated PR

Actual PR Calculated PR

Shading Analysis

42 First Green Consulting Pvt Ltd,U 28A/3 FF, White Town House DLF Ph III Gurgaon, Haryana – 122002, India

•There is a loss of 163.3 MWh of energy due to effect of shading on the plant during morning and evening hours resulting in

a revenue loss of INR 19 lacs

• The shading losses are of the order of 1.73%. These losses are expected to be further higher as the array face the shading

during the morning hours due to differential leveling of array structures

9150

9200

9250

9300

9350

9400

9450

9500

Generation without shading Generation with shading

G

e

n

e

r

a

t

i

o

n

(

M

W

h)

Loss in Energy due to shading

Loss diagram for 1MW plant

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Thank You

First Green Consulting Private Limited

U-28A/3 FF, White Town House

DLF Ph III Gurgaon,

Haryana – 122002, India

Tel.: (+91) 124 424 1750 , 9899295854

Fax: (+91) 124 424 1751

Web: www.firstgreenconsulting.in

Email: sanjayvashishtha@gmail.com

Blog: firstgreenconsulting.wordpress.com

09-06-2013