Inverter Efficiency Analysis Model Based on Solar Power Estimation Using Solar Radiation

Assessing PV inverter efficiency degradation under semi-arid conditions: A case study in Morocco

The worldwide shift towards renewable energy sources, including solar and wind, is progressing rapidly. This change is driven by decreasing prices and technical advancements that are becoming more centralized. The objective is to develop a cutting-edge approach and technology that seamlessly incorporates photovoltaic (PV) energy sources into a power network while ensuring grid stability. This research evaluates the lifetime and degradation of PV inverters under real operating conditions, focusing on semi-arid climate scenarios. Current papers demonstrate a yearly failure rate of 1-15% for PV inverters, highlighting the need for a thorough reliability evaluation. This investigation research applied a unique technique that included continuous monitoring of PV inverter performance parameters by comparing the measured with the predicted normal operating output. The results show that Sandia's inverter performance model is highly suitable for accurately modeling normal PV inverter behavior. Furthermore, weighted efficiency dropped by 3.96%, 0.63% and 1.29% respectively for 7 kW , 15 kW and 20 kW photovoltaic systems over the five years. These findings have implications for comprehensive maintenance strategies, including regular inspections, safety protocols, and remote monitoring solutions. Ultimately, this research paper sheds light on the causes of declining solar inverter performance and provides suggestions for enhancing PV plant maintenance and reliability. It also represents an outstanding reference given the literature shortage.

Reliability and performance evaluation of a solar PV-powered underground water pumping system

The operation and effectiveness of a solar-powered underground water pumping system are affected by many environmental and technical factors. The impact of these factors must be investigated to be considered when developing these systems and to ensure their dependability. This study evaluated the dependability and performance of photovoltaic water pumping system (PVWPS) under real operating conditions by examining the effects of solar irradiance, panels' temperature, and components' efficiency. From December 2020 to June 2021, experiments were conducted on a 10 hp PVWPS located in Bani Salamah, Al-Qanater-Giza Governorate, Egypt, at latitude 30.3° N, longitude 30.8° E, and 19 m above sea level. The irradiance values reached 755.7, 792.7, and 805.7 W/m2 at 12:00 p.m. in December, March, and June, respectively. Furthermore, the irradiance has a significant impact on the pump flow rate, as the amount of pumped water during the day reached 129, 164.1, and 181.8 m3/day, respectively. The panels' temperatures rose to 35.7 °C, 39.9 °C, and 44 °C, respectively. It was observed that when the temperature rises by 1 degree Celsius, efficiency falls by 0.48%. The average efficiency of photovoltaic solar panels reached its highest value in March (13.8%) and its lowest value in December (13%).

Advances in Fault Condition Monitoring for Solar Photovoltaic and Wind Turbine Energy Generation: A Review

Renewable energy-based power generation technologies are becoming more and more popular since they represent alternative solutions to the recent economic and environmental problems that modern society is facing. In this sense, the most widely spread applications for renewable energy generation are the solar photovoltaic and wind generation. Once installed, typically outside, the wind generators and photovoltaic panels suffer the environmental effects due to the weather conditions in the geographical location where they are placed. This situation, along with the normal operation of the systems, cause failures in their components, and on some occasions such problems could be difficult to identify and hence to fix. Thus, there are generated energy production stops bringing as consequence economical losses for investors. Therefore, it is important to develop strategies, schemes, and techniques that allow to perform a proper identification of faults in systems that introduce renewable generation, keeping energy production. In this work, an analysis of the most common faults that appear in wind and photovoltaic generation systems is presented. Moreover, the main techniques and strategies developed for the identification of such faults are discussed in order to address the advantages, drawbacks, and trends in the field of detection and classification of specific and combined faults. Due to the role played by wind and photovoltaic generation, this work aims to serve as a guide to properly select a monitoring strategy for a more reliable and efficient power grid. Additionally, this work will propose some prospective with views toward the existing areas of opportunity, e.g., system improvements, lacks in the fault detection, and tendency techniques that could be useful in solving them.

Study on Energy Efficiency and Harmonic Emission of Photovoltaic Inverters

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of 26 brand new photovoltaic (PV) inverters widely available for sale on the EU market; the study was conducted in 2021 by researchers at the AGH University of Science and Technology and Tauron Dystrybucja (Polish DSO). The purpose of the study was to compare and assess PV inverter performances in terms of their DC/AC conversion efficiencies, MPPT efficiencies, and harmonic current emissions. To examine the PV inverters, a laboratory test stand was prepared according to the standard EN 50530 and the technical report IEC/TR 61000-3-15. It was composed of a photovoltaic array simulator, a programmable regenerative AC voltage source, and a power analyzer. Each PV inverter was tested in various operating states determined by the DC voltage levels and the volume of active power generation. The results allowed for a benchmark assessment of PV inverters available on the market. The results showed how various energy efficiency indicators of individual PV inverters changed depending on their operating points. The results also revealed that, based on the performed harmonic emission tests, individual harmonics were within the normative requirements; however, in the case of several PV inverters, attention was drawn to the presence of relatively high switching frequency-related components exceeding permissible levels.

Efficiency Evaluation of the Dual System Power Inverter for On-Grid Photovoltaic System

The implementation of a dual electric system that is capable of operating with either constant current and variable voltage, or constant voltage and variable current appliances, is one of the possible options to solve low-intensity stochastic energy utilization problems from renewable energy sources. This research paper analyzes the potential benefit of a novel three-phase dual system power inverter over the conventional inverter used in a solar power plant. The concept of such a power inverter is explained, and the digital twin model is created in a MATLAB Simulink environment. The efficiency characteristic of the simulated inverter is compared to the efficiency characteristic of a real conventional inverter. A standalone data logging system and an additional data acquisition system were used to collect and process data from the real inverter. Comparison of the digital twin inverter and the real conventional inverter shows the potential benefit of this novel inverter technology. It is shown that the novel inverter can operate in a wider range of DC input power. The potential economic benefit is also presented and discussed in the paper.

The “My Electricity” Program as One of the Ways to Reduce CO2 Emissions in Poland

One way to reduce CO2 emissions is to replace conventional energy sources with renewable ones. In order to encourage prosumers to invest in renewable energy, EU Member States are developing renewable energy subsidy programs. In Poland, in the years 2019–2020, the “My Electricity” program was implemented, co-financing was up to 50% of eligible costs (max PLN 5000, i.e., EUR 1111), and the total cost of the program was 251 million euro. During this period, around 400,000 prosumer installations were created in Poland, including over 220,000 prosumer PV Installations under the My Electricity program. The total power of the installation under the “My Electricity” program was 1.295 GWp with an average installation power of 5.72 kWp. It is estimated that the micro-installations will produce approx. 1.4 TWh of electricity annually. Depending on the replaced source of electricity (coal, gas, mix), in the next 30 years, it will help to avoid 26.2–42.7 million Mg of greenhouse gases calculated as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq). The coefficient of subsidy expenditure from the “My Electricity” program was 194 EUR/kWp, and in the next 30 years, it will be 6.52 EUR/MWh. The investment in PV will save EUR 1550 million, which would have to be incurred for the purchase of CO2 emission permits.

Parameter Extraction of Photovoltaic Module Using Tunicate Swarm Algorithm

In the renewable energy sector, the extraction of parameters for solar photovoltaic (PV) cells is a widely studied area of research. Parameter extraction is a non-linear complex optimization problem for solar PV cells. In this research work, the authors have implemented the Tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA) to estimate the optimized value of the unknown parameters of a PV cell/module under standard temperature conditions. The simulation results have been compared with four different, pre-existing optimization algorithms: gravitational search algorithm (GSA), a hybrid of particle swarm optimization and gravitational search algorithm (PSOGSA), sine cosine (SCA), and whale optimization (WOA). The comparison of results broadly demonstrates that the TSA algorithm outperforms the existing optimization algorithms in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) and convergence rate. Furthermore, the statistical results confirm that the TSA algorithm is a better algorithm in terms of average robustness and precision. The Friedman ranking test is also carried out to demonstrate the competency and reliability of the implemented approach.