East to west – The optimal tilt angle and orientation of photovoltaic panels from an electricity system perspective

The integration of photovoltaic as a fluctuating renewable energy source has raised concerns about additional costs for the electricity system due to the variable nature of power output leading to more frequent and steeper ramping of conventional power plants and the need for backup capacity. One way to reduce those costs can be the variation of installation angles of PV panels at different locations to smoothen out the total production from PV in the whole system. To a certain extent steeper tilt angles can shift the production from summer months to winter months and the variation of the azimuth from east to west can partly shift production during the day increasing the production in morning or afternoon hours. However, for fixed mounted PV panels, there is one angle combination that maximizes the total output of the PV panel throughout the year and each deviation from this angle combination results in losses of total output. This paper evaluates the trade-off between annual energy losses and possible electricity generation cost reductions through adapting PV installation angles for the current electricity system and for potentially higher PV penetration levels in the future. A theoretical explanation why the annual maximum output of a PV system is not always the optimal solution from a system perspective is presented. To assess the effects of deviations from output maximizing angles at present, the wholesale market value of PV for various tilt angles and orientations in 23 regions of Austria and Germany using historic data on solar radiation and hourly electricity prices is calculated. For the analysis of future system states with potentially high shares of PV in the market, a linear optimization model representing the German and Austrian electricity wholesale market is applied. Furthermore the article provides additional insights on the market value of PV and CO2 emission reduction potential at high PV penetration levels from the model.

[1]  Lion Hirth.  The Market Value of Variable Renewables The Effect of Solar and Wind Power Variability on their Relative Price , 2013 .

[2]  S. Borenstein.  The Market Value and Cost of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity Production , 2008 .

[3]  Mohammad Masud Kamal. Khan,et al.  Techno-economic simulation and optimization of residential grid-connected PV system for the Queensland climate , 2012 .

[4]  Sonja Wogrin,et al.  The Market Value of Variable Renewables The Effect of Solar and Wind Power Variability on their Relative Price , 2013 .

[5]  H. Beyer,et al.  Mapping the performance of PV modules, effects of module type and data averaging , 2010 .

[6]  P. Denholm,et al.  Evaluating the Limits of Solar Photovoltaics (PV) in Traditional Electric Power Systems , 2007 .

[7]  A. Mills,et al.  Implications of Wide-Area Geographic Diversity for Short- Term Variability of Solar Power , 2010 .

[8]  Ian Beausoleil-Morrison,et al.  Optimal solar-PV tilt angle and azimuth: An Ontario (Canada) case-study , 2011 .

[9]  Ryan Wiser,et al.  Customer-economics of residential photovoltaic systems (Part 1): The impact of high renewable energy penetrations on electricity bill savings with net metering , 2014 .

[10]  I. MacGill,et al.  Estimating the net societal value of distributed household PV systems , 2014 .

[11]  F. Kunz,et al.  Current and Prospective Costs of Electricity Generation until 2050 , 2013 .

[12]  Ying-Pin Chang.  Optimal the tilt angles for photovoltaic modules using PSO method with nonlinear time-varying evolution , 2010 .

[13]  M. Benghanem.  Optimization of tilt angle for solar panel: Case study for Madinah, Saudi Arabia , 2011 .

[14]  H.M.S. Hussein,et al.  Performance evaluation of photovoltaic modules at different tilt angles and orientations , 2004 .

[15]  Brian Norton,et al.  Solar radiation modelling for the simulation of photovoltaic systems , 2008 .

[16]  Ursula Eicker.  Solare Technologien für Gebäude , 2001 .

[17]  D. Lew,et al.  The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study Phase 2 , 2013 .

[18]  Alexander Zipp,et al.  Revenue prospects of photovoltaic in Germany—Influence opportunities by variation of the plant orientation , 2015 .

[19]  M. Genoese,et al.  The merit-order effect: A detailed analysis of the price effect of renewable electricity generation on spot market prices in Germany , 2008 .

[20]  Lion Hirth.  The Market Value of Variable Renewables , 2012 .

[21]  P. Pillay,et al.  Study of optimum tilt angles for solar panels in different latitudes for urban applications , 2012 .

[22]  Michael Grubb,et al.  The integration of renewable electricity sources , 1991 .