Techno-economic analysis of a 10 kWp utility interactive photovoltaic system at Maungaraki school, Wellington, New Zealand

This paper presents a performance analysis and economic viability of a 10 kWp grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed at Maungaraki school, Wellington, New Zealand under the ”Dynamis Project”. The system consists of 40 panels and two units of 5 kW power converters with a communication capability while the distribution grid serves as a virtual storage. The excess power generated at low load condition during holidays and weekends is exported to the grid. With the system in operation since 2014, performance parameters based on International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power System Programme (IEA PVPS), Clean Energy Council industry guide and IEC 61724 standard are evaluated. The final yield ranged from 1.1 to 4.9 h/d. The performance ratio (PR) varied between 76 and 79%, giving an annual PR of 78%. In addition, from the economic evaluation of this system at 4%, 6% and 8% discount rates, the levelized cost of energy are 12.1, 14.1 and 16.2 c/kWh respectively, with a simple payback period of 6.4 years. Overall, the total amount of power consumed annually from the grid reduced significantly by 32%. In monetary terms, the school's expenditure on power bills reduced effectively by 45% and was able save about NZD $4700 in 2014.

[1]  Papa A. Ndiaye,et al.  Performance analysis of the first large-scale (15 MWp) grid-connected photovoltaic plant in Mauritania , 2016 .

[2]  W. Short,et al.  A manual for the economic evaluation of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies , 1995 .

[3]  Michael Emmanuel,et al.  Evolution of dispatchable photovoltaic system integration with the electric power network for smart grid applications: A review , 2017 .

[4]  Matlhew Buresch.  Photovoltaic energy systems , 2016 .

[5]  B. Marion,et al.  Performance parameters for grid-connected PV systems , 2005, Conference Record of the Thirty-first IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2005..

[6]  Lacour M Ayompe,et al.  Measured performance of a 1.72 kW rooftop grid connected photovoltaic system in Ireland , 2011 .

[7]  S. M. Pietruszko,et al.  Performance of a grid connected small PV system in Poland , 2003 .

[8]  A. Paudel,et al.  Economic analysis of a grid-connected commercial photovoltaic system at Colorado State University-Pueblo , 2013 .

[9]  RayuduRamesh,et al.  Communication technologies for smart grid applications , 2016 .

[10]  Nirmal-Kumar C. Nair,et al.  Development of photovoltaic power plant for remote residential applications: The socio-technical and economic perspectives , 2015 .

[11]  Ramesh Rayudu,et al.  Community-based hybrid electricity supply system: A practical and comparative approach , 2016 .

[12]  E. E. van Dyk,et al.  Analysis of measured and simulated performance data of a 3.2 kWp grid-connected PV system in Port Elizabeth, South Africa , 2015 .

[13]  Mehran Ameri,et al.  Technical and economic assessments of grid-connected photovoltaic power plants: Iran case study , 2016 .

[14]  Michael Emmanuel,et al.  Communication technologies for smart grid applications: A survey , 2016, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[15]  Emmanuel Kymakis,et al.  Performance analysis of a grid connected photovoltaic park on the island of Crete , 2009 .

[16]  Somchai Chokmaviroj,et al.  Performance of a 500kWP grid connected photovoltaic system at Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand , 2006 .

[17]  Muyiwa S. Adaramola,et al.  Techno-economic analysis of a 2.1 kW rooftop photovoltaic-grid-tied system based on actual performance , 2015 .

[18]  S. Arul Daniel,et al.  Performance analysis of a 3 MWp grid connected solar photovoltaic power plant in India , 2013 .

[19]  Nirmal-Kumar C. Nair,et al.  Global progress in photovoltaic technologies and the scenario of development of solar panel plant and module performance estimation − Application in Nigeria , 2015 .

[20]  Richard C. Dorf,et al.  The Technology Management Handbook , 1998 .

[21]  Won-Hwa Hong,et al.  The performance and economical analysis of grid-connected photovoltaic systems in Daegu, Korea , 2009 .

[22]  A. Hadj Arab,et al.  Performance Analysis of the Mini-grid Connected Photovoltaic System at Algiers , 2015 .

[23]  Mehran Ameri,et al.  Comparative performance investigation of mono- and poly-crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules for use in grid-connected photovoltaic systems in dry climates , 2015 .

[24]  Mohan V. Aware,et al.  Analytical assessment of 5.05 kWp grid tied photovoltaic plant performance on the system level in a composite climate of western India , 2016 .

[25]  Nor Asiah Muhamad,et al.  Grid-connected photovoltaic systems for Malaysian residential sector: Effects of component costs, feed-in tariffs, and carbon taxes , 2016 .

[26]  Sivasankari Sundaram,et al.  Performance evaluation and validation of 5 MWp grid connected solar photovoltaic plant in South India , 2015 .

[27]  Brian Norton,et al.  Long term performance analysis of a grid connected photovoltaic system in Northern Ireland , 2006 .

[28]  E. Lorenzo,et al.  The impact of solar radiation variability and data discrepancies on the design of PV systems , 2004 .

[29]  M. EL-Shimy,et al.  Viability analysis of PV power plants in Egypt , 2009 .

[30]  M. Adaramola.  Viability of grid-connected solar PV energy system in Jos, Nigeria , 2014 .

[31]  S. S. Chandel,et al.  Performance analysis of a 190 kWp grid interactive solar photovoltaic power plant in India , 2013 .

[32]  Ramesh Rayudu,et al.  Comparative study of photovoltaic technologies based on performance, cost and space requirement: Strategy for selection and application , 2016 .

[33]  Alan R. Wood,et al.  Economics of photovoltaic solar power and uptake in New Zealand , 2015 .

[34]  A. K. M. Sadrul Islam,et al.  Potential and viability of grid-connected solar PV system in Bangladesh , 2011 .

[35]  Alessandra Di Gangi,et al.  Review of the energy and economic parameters involved in the effectiveness of grid-connected PV systems installed in multi-storey buildings , 2014 .

[36]  L. Clavadetscher,et al.  International energy agency PVPS task 2: Analysis of the operational performance of the IEA database PV systems , 2000 .

[37]  K. Sudhakar,et al.  Performance evaluation of 10 MW grid connected solar photovoltaic power plant in India , 2015 .