Optimal Solar PV Sizing for Inverters Based on Specific Local Climate

Generally, the output power of the Photovoltaic (PV) panels is less than the nominal rating of the panel. On the other hand, the inverters of the PV systems are normally sized smaller than the nominal rating of the photovoltaic system. A typical PV to inverter power rating ratio is 1.2, which can be influenced by the weather condition. The main drawback is that during peak irradiance and optimal temperature situation, the peak power is generated at the PV, but the inverter is not sized for absorbing the whole power. This article develops a systematic method to calculate the optimal ratio between PV panel and inverter to absorb the maximum possible power with an optimal cost. This method uses the annual irradiance and temperature of the geographical region and extracts the power curves for a photovoltaic system in specific regions. Based on the distribution of the various weather conditions, the total possible power generation of the system is calculated. Then the possible extracted and lost power for different sizes of inverters are calculated to develop an efficiency function for the extracted power of the typical power system. This function is optimized considering the price of inverters and system. Both of conventional 1000 V PV system as well as recently developed 1500 V system for 480 VAC grid connection are studied and the effect of transformer in both case is investigated. The paper shows how 1500 V system is superior to its 1000 V counterpart.

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