Optimum autonomous stand-alone photovoltaic system design on the basis of energy pay-back analysis

Stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) systems comprise one of the most promising electrification solutions for covering the demand of remote consumers. However, such systems are strongly questioned due to extreme life-cycle (LC) energy requirements. For similar installations to be considered as environmentally sustainable, their LC energy content must be compensated by the respective useful energy production, i.e. their energy pay-back period (EPBP) should be found less than their service period. In this context, an optimum sizing methodology is currently developed, based on the criterion of minimum embodied energy. Various energy autonomous stand-alone PV-lead-acid battery systems are examined and two different cases are investigated; a high solar potential area and a medium solar potential area. By considering that the PV-battery (PV-Bat) system's useful energy production is equal to the remote consumer's electricity consumption, optimum cadmium telluride (CdTe) based systems yield the minimum EPBP (15 years). If achieving to exploit the net PV energy production however, the EPBP is found less than 20 years for all PV types. Finally, the most interesting finding concerns the fact that in all cases examined the contribution of the battery component exceeds 27% of the system LC energy requirements, reflecting the difference between grid-connected and stand-alone configurations.

[1]  G. Papadakis,et al.  A stand-alone photovoltaic power system for remote villages using pumped water energy storage , 2004 .

[2]  Moncef Jraidi,et al.  A battery ageing model used in stand alone PV systems , 2002 .

[3]  A. Chaurey,et al.  Battery storage for PV power systems: An overview , 1992 .

[4]  Kazuhiko Kato,et al.  A life-cycle analysis on thin-film CdS/CdTe PV modules , 2001 .

[5]  Evert Nieuwlaar,et al.  Energy viability of photovoltaic systems , 2000 .

[6]  John K. Kaldellis,et al.  Techno-economic comparison of energy storage systems for island autonomous electrical networks , 2009 .

[7]  Robert D. Perlack,et al.  A survey of renewable energy technologies for rural applications. , 1990 .

[8]  Bryce S. Richards,et al.  Permanently dispelling a myth of photovoltaics via the adoption of a new net energy indicator , 2007 .

[9]  E. Alsema,et al.  Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status , 2006 .

[10]  John K. Kaldellis,et al.  Comparing wind and photovoltaic stand-alone power systems used for the electrification of remote consumers , 2007 .

[11]  Ewa Rudnik,et al.  Hydrometallurgical recovery of cadmium and nickel from spent Ni-Cd batteries , 2007 .

[12]  Paul D. Maycock,et al.  PV review: World Solar PV market continues explosive growth , 2005 .

[13]  John K. Kaldellis,et al.  Optimum technoeconomic energy autonomous photovoltaic solution for remote consumers throughout Greece , 2004 .

[14]  D. Sauer,et al.  Operation conditions of batteries in PV applications , 2004 .

[15]  Riccardo Battisti,et al.  Evaluation of technical improvements of photovoltaic systems through life cycle assessment methodology , 2005 .

[16]  P. Groumpos,et al.  Techno-economical analysis of different concepts of photovoltaic stand-alone energy systems and applications , 1984 .

[17]  J. K. Kaldellis,et al.  Optimum Stand-Alone PV Solution, Including Financial Aspects , 2000 .

[18]  A. Louche,et al.  Sizing reduction induced by the choice of electrical applicances options in a stand-alone photovolatic production , 1998 .

[19]  K. Q. Nguyen.  Alternatives to grid extension for rural electrification: Decentralized renewable energy technologies in Vietnam , 2007 .

[20]  Tomas Markvart,et al.  Modelling battery charge regulation for a stand-alone photovoltaic system , 2000 .

[21]  W. Durisch,et al.  Comparison of small inverters for grid-independent photovoltaic systems , 1998 .

[22]  E. Kondili,et al.  Energy and clean water coproduction in remote islands to face the intermittent character of wind energy , 2006 .

[23]  Winfried Hoffmann,et al.  PV solar electricity industry: Market growth and perspective , 2006 .

[24]  José L. Bernal-Agustín,et al.  Simulation and optimization of stand-alone hybrid renewable energy systems , 2009 .

[25]  A. D. Papatsoris,et al.  The economics of photovoltaic stand-alone residential households: A case study for various European and Mediterranean locations , 2000 .

[26]  C. Rydh,et al.  Energy analysis of batteries in photovoltaic systems. Part I: Performance and energy requirements , 2005 .

[27]  Silvia Bargigli,et al.  Life cycle assessment and energy pay-back time of advanced photovoltaic modules : CdTe and CIS compared to poly-Si , 2007 .

[28]  Ismat Nawaz,et al.  Embodied energy analysis of photovoltaic (PV) system based on macro- and micro- level , 2006 .

[29]  Anna Stoppato,et al.  Life cycle assessment of photovoltaic electricity generation , 2008 .

[30]  Lawrence L. Kazmerski,et al.  Solar Photovoltaics R&D at the Tipping Point: A 2005 Technology Overview , 2006 .

[31]  A. Louche,et al.  DESIGN OF HYBRID-PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATOR, WITH OPTIMIZATION OF ENERGY MANAGEMENT , 1999 .

[32]  Mariano Sidrach-de-Cardona,et al.  A simple model for sizing stand alone photovoltaic systems , 1998 .

[34]  Johan Albrecht,et al.  The future role of photovoltaics: A learning curve versus portfolio perspective , 2007 .

[35]  John K. Kaldellis,et al.  Optimum autonomous wind–power system sizing for remote consumers, using long-term wind speed data , 2002 .

[36]  John K. Kaldellis,et al.  Energy balance analysis of a stand-alone photovoltaic system, including variable system reliability impact , 2004 .

[37]  Marco Raugei,et al.  Life cycle impacts and costs of photovoltaic systems: Current state of the art and future outlooks , 2009 .

[38]  Angel A. Bayod-Rújula,et al.  Future development of the electricity systems with distributed generation , 2009 .