Software for predicting energy output in photovoltaic plants

Abstract

Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (7981)

[EN] In this thesis a new software for the design and the economic analysis of photovoltaic systems has been presented. The main characteristics of the software are the following: - The program is based on the italian standard UNI 8477. - It allows the comparison of the yearly solar energy resource provided by four databases. These databases are: NASA, ENEA, UNI 10349 and a database for Spain. - The software performs a detailed energy study, considering the standard efficiency of the modules and the BOS efficiency. The obsolescence of the plant can be also introduced. - A detailed economic study can be performed introducing some parameters as the economic incentive, the general inflation rate and the discount rate. Some simulations have been performed to test the software (Appendix). In the chapter 6 the software has been used to perform an energy and economic study of some typical installations and a comparison between different solutions. The influence of the azimuth and the tilt angle of the photovoltaic modules on the yearly energy production and on the finance payback has been analyzed. The italian economic incentive has been considered in the economic study. Regarding to the yearly energy production, for a South oriented surface the optimum tilt angle is resulted equal to 35º for the North of Italy and about 30º for the South of Italy. In the case of Padova (North Italy), if the modules are South oriented and tilted of 35º, the finance payback time results 15 years. The average life of these installations is estimated in 25 years.