TY - GEN
T1 - Prediction of the Maximum Energy Harvest Considering Year-Around Sky Coverage Conditions and Optimized Setup Angles of Fixed PV Panels
AU - Gwesha, Ammar Omar
AU - Li, Peiwen
AU - Alfulayyih, Yasir Mohammed
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 by ASME.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels is growing globally as the international community is on track to transition from fossil fuel energy to clean and sustainable resources of energy such as solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, and bioenergy. Among various renewable energy technologies, the capacity of power generation using solar PV has grown dramatically in recent years around the world. With more and more fields and building roofs covered with PV panels, setting up solar panels with flexibility at various idle surfaces becomes important for cost reduction. Regarding making use of idled areas and surfaces for solar panels, it is also important to have a tool to predict the energy harvest and the cost in order to attract more and more customers. In an attempt to maximize the irradiance fallen on a PV panel of various orientations, the present study provides a general model to predict the energy harvest and also the optimal tilt angles and orientation of the panels when needed. The analysis can accurately calculate the instantaneous sunray vector and solar panel normal vector using Solar Position Algorithm to account for the “cosine” effect of the angle of incidence. And more importantly, weather conditions or clouds coverage conditions are also combined in the calculation for precise energy prediction. The solar energy received per unit area of a PV panel in every 5 minutes is summated or integrated for daylong period from sunrise to sunset considering 21 years of averaged cloud-cover meteorological data. The model presented here is employed to two examples of geographical sites at north and south hemispheres and can be applied to any location around the world. The results for the City of Tucson Arizona USA show that the amount of yearly solar energy captured by a solar tracking panel is 3619.32 kWh/m2, whereas the annual solar energy received by an optimally tilted solar panel of a slop same as the local latitude could reach to 2206 kWh/m2 (60.9% of that from a fully tracking system). The findings also indicate that by optimally adjusting the tilt angle two times a year, four times, and monthly, the yearly solar energy accumulation can be 65.534%, 65.525%, and 66.515% of that of a system with tracking, respectively. In the absence of rooftop or ground installation options, the study reveals that vertically installing PV solar panels on walls due south would attain about 32% of the annual solar collection compared to a fully tracked system.
AB - The installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels is growing globally as the international community is on track to transition from fossil fuel energy to clean and sustainable resources of energy such as solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, and bioenergy. Among various renewable energy technologies, the capacity of power generation using solar PV has grown dramatically in recent years around the world. With more and more fields and building roofs covered with PV panels, setting up solar panels with flexibility at various idle surfaces becomes important for cost reduction. Regarding making use of idled areas and surfaces for solar panels, it is also important to have a tool to predict the energy harvest and the cost in order to attract more and more customers. In an attempt to maximize the irradiance fallen on a PV panel of various orientations, the present study provides a general model to predict the energy harvest and also the optimal tilt angles and orientation of the panels when needed. The analysis can accurately calculate the instantaneous sunray vector and solar panel normal vector using Solar Position Algorithm to account for the “cosine” effect of the angle of incidence. And more importantly, weather conditions or clouds coverage conditions are also combined in the calculation for precise energy prediction. The solar energy received per unit area of a PV panel in every 5 minutes is summated or integrated for daylong period from sunrise to sunset considering 21 years of averaged cloud-cover meteorological data. The model presented here is employed to two examples of geographical sites at north and south hemispheres and can be applied to any location around the world. The results for the City of Tucson Arizona USA show that the amount of yearly solar energy captured by a solar tracking panel is 3619.32 kWh/m2, whereas the annual solar energy received by an optimally tilted solar panel of a slop same as the local latitude could reach to 2206 kWh/m2 (60.9% of that from a fully tracking system). The findings also indicate that by optimally adjusting the tilt angle two times a year, four times, and monthly, the yearly solar energy accumulation can be 65.534%, 65.525%, and 66.515% of that of a system with tracking, respectively. In the absence of rooftop or ground installation options, the study reveals that vertically installing PV solar panels on walls due south would attain about 32% of the annual solar collection compared to a fully tracked system.
KW - Local weather statistics
KW - Optimization
KW - PV panel tilt angles
KW - Sky cover
KW - Solar energy
KW - Solar position algorithm
KW - Yearly available maximum energy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185540503&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85185540503&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/IMECE2023-112167
DO - 10.1115/IMECE2023-112167
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85185540503
T3 - ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE)
BT - Energy
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
T2 - ASME 2023 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2023
Y2 - 29 October 2023 through 2 November 2023
ER -