Optimum Stand-Alone PV Solution, Including Financial Aspects

Publisher Summary Greek islands are located in regions where there is an abundant and reliable supply of solar energy, even during winter. In these islands there are many isolated consumers who can solve electricity demand problem by using a State funded (≥50%) integrated autonomous photovoltaic (PV) system. This chapter discusses the optimum size of a stand-alone photovoltaic station based on experimental measurements. In addition, an initial cost analysis is carried out, in order to select the appropriate combination of PV panels number and battery size that “guarantees” no load rejections all over the year, with a minimum investment cost. The results obtained by the numerical code FOTOV-III are based on detailed experimental measurements for solar radiation and ambient temperature, whereas the components of the PV generator have been selected after an extensive market survey.