scholarly journals GIS-Based Assessment of the Technical and Economic Feasibility of Utility-Scale Solar PV Plants: Case Study in West Kalimantan Province

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6283
Author(s):  
Alfeus Sunarso ◽  
Kunhali Ibrahim-Bathis ◽  
Sakti A. Murti ◽  
Irwan Budiarto ◽  
Harold S. Ruiz

This paper presents a technical and economic feasibility assessment of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in the West Kalimantan Province of Borneo, which is essential for boosting the development of solar PV plants in Indonesia. The assessment was performed based on a previously developed geographical information systems (GIS) package that integrates satellite-derived data of solar irradiation with locally obtained data such as land usage, topography, road lines, and an electrical network. For the evaluation of the technical and economic feasibility, annual energy production and electrical cost were calculated using an analysis tool that was integrated into a GIS package. The results show that more than 93% of the exploitable land that covers the area of 49,859 km2 is available for the development of solar PV plants, with an annual energy production higher than 180 GWh/km2 and an electricity cost lower than 0.05 USD/kWh, indicating the attractiveness of utility-scale solar PV plant development in West Kalimantan Province. A further detailed assessment of optimal sites shows that the selected sites are technically and economically feasible for the development of utility-scale solar PV plants. The approaches and results of this research should be valuable for energy planners, developers, and policy makers to set the strategies for promoting the development of utility-scale solar PV plants in pro of the sustainable development of Indonesia.

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 02004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Menéndez ◽  
Jorge Loredo

In 2017, electricity generation from renewable sources contributed more than one quarter (30.7%) to total EU-28 gross electricity consumption. Wind power is for the first time the most important source, followed closely by hydro power. The growth in electricity from photovoltaic energy has been dramatic, rising from just 3.8 TWh in 2007, reaching a level of 119.5 TWh in 2017. Over this period, the contribution of photovoltaic energy to all electricity generated in the EU-28 from renewable energy sources increased from 0.7% to 12.3%. During this period the investment cost of a photovoltaic power plant has decreased considerably. Fundamentally, the cost of solar panels and inverters has decreased by more than 50%. The solar photovoltaic energy potential depends on two parameters: global solar irradiation and photovoltaic panel efficiency. The average solar irradiation in Spain is 1,600 kWh m-2. This paper analyzes the economic feasibility of developing large scale solar photovoltaic power plants in Spain. Equivalent hours between 800-1,800 h year-1 and output power between 100-400 MW have been considered. The profitability analysis has been carried out considering different prices of the electricity produced in the daily market (50-60 € MWh-1). Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) were estimated for all scenarios analyzed. A solar PV power plant with 400 MW of power and 1,800 h year-1, reaches a NPV of 196 M€ and the IRR is 11.01%.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irfan Jamil ◽  
Jinquan Zhao ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Rehan Jamil ◽  
Syed Furqan Rafique

The installation of 3 × 50 MW (150 MW DC) large utility scale solar power plant is ground based using ventilated polycrystalline module technology with fixed tilt angle of 28° in a 750-acre land, and the site is located about 115 km northeast of Karachi, Pakistan, near the town of ThanoBula Khan, Nooriabad, Sindh. This plant will be connected to the utility distribution system through a national grid of 220 kV outgoing double-loop transmission line. The 3 × 50 MW solar PV will be one of the largest tied grid-connected power projects as the site is receiving a rich average solar radiation of 158.7 kW/h/m2/month and an annual average temperature of about of 27°C. The analysis highlights the preliminary design of the case project such as feasibility study and PV solar design aspects and is based on a simulation study of energy yield assessment which has all been illustrated. The annual energy production and energy yield assessment values of the plant are computed using the PVSYST software. The assumptions and results of energy losses, annual performance ratio (PR) 74.73%, annual capacity factor 17.7%, and annual energy production of the plant at 232,518 MWh/year are recorded accordingly. Bear in mind that reference recorded data indicates a good agreement over the performance of the proposed PV power plant.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1703-1714 ◽  

Installation of solar PV arrays at utility scale is gaining popularity nowadays because of the significant reduction in the cost of components as well as the global push towards clean energy. Solar PV plants along with Parabolic Trough Collector Solar thermal plants has the highest potential among the available Renewable Energy (RE) technologies existing in the world. The objective of this paper is to optimize the performance of commercial Solar PV and PTC power plant for a potential location and hence to arrive on a most feasible configuration for the site. A representative site located in the Abudhabi region of UAE considered for the study. This paper also details on the annual performance of the proposed plant along with its technical aspects. PVSYST 6.7.7 and SAM software is used to design the optimal size and its specifications of a 100MW PV grid connected system at Abu Dhabi (UAE) region. The design and arrangements of the system verified using simulation results. The annual energy generated from the designed utility-scale solar PV plant from PVSYST 6.7.7 calculated as 161198MWh/year with a performance ratio (PR) of 74.8% per year where as for PTC it has calculated as 157152MWh/year by using SAM. The STC (Standard Testing Condition) for the specification of PV modules are normalized operating conditions when testing the module. Design parameters such as module orientation, array yield, reference yield, final yield, global horizontal irradiation (GHI), and ambient temperature and loss factors evaluated. To evaluate the economic feasibility of proposed plant, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is determined as $0.04404/kwh for Solar PV and as $0.01533/kwh for PTC, which is used to calculate lifecycle cost and energy production


2018 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 01024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riadhi Fairuz ◽  
Eko Adhi Setiawan ◽  
Ikhsan Hernanda

Future electricity tariffs are expected to increase. To overcome this condition, arise the idea how the residential can generate its own electricity by exploiting the potential of solar energy. However, there are some constraints in its implementation due to the difference of the initial cost and sales from solar PV systems in various region of Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of initial cost on the levelized cost of energy from the system. This study uses the calculation of Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) and economic feasibility analysis through the calculation of net present value with net metering scheme. Manado is the most optimal city to implement this system. The initial cost will affect to the LCoE, the high initial cost can be covered by the amount of cash flow generated by the system which has huge solar irradiation potentials.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7627
Author(s):  
Youssef Kassem ◽  
Hüseyin Gökçekuş ◽  
Ali Güvensoy

The growth of populations and economy in Northern Cyprus has led to continuing utilization of fossil fuels as the primary source of electricity, which will raise environmental pollution. Thus, utilizing renewable energy, particularly solar energy, might be a solution to minimize this issue. This paper presents the potential of grid-connected solar PV power generation at Near East University Hospital (NEU Hospital), one of the largest and leading medical facilities in Northern Cyprus, to meet the energy demand during the daytime to reduce energy bills. For this purpose, the first objective of the study is to evaluate the solar energy potential as a power source for the NEU Hospital based on four datasets (actual measurement, Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CMSAF), Surface Radiation Data Set-Heliosat (SARAH), and ERA-5, produced by the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast). The results showed that the solar resource of the selected location is categorized as excellent (class 5), that is, the global solar radiation is within the range of 1843.8–2035.9 kWH/m2. The second objective is to investigate the impact of orientation angles on PV output, capacity factor, economic feasibility indicators, and CO2 emissions by using different PV modules. The results are compared with optimum orientation angles found by Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) simulation software. This objective was achieved by using RETScreen Expert software. The results demonstrated that the highest performance of the proposed system was achieved for orientation angles of 180° (azimuth angle) and −35° (tilt angle). Consequently, it is recommended that orientation angles, PV modules, and market prices are considered to maximize energy production and reduce electricity production costs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Sindri Þrastarson ◽  
Björn Marteinsson ◽  
Hrund Ólöf Andradóttir

The efficiency and production costs of solar panels have improved dramatically in the past decades. The Nordic countries have taken steps in instigating photovoltaic (PV) systems into energy production despite limited incoming solar radiation in winter. IKEA installed the first major PV system in Iceland with 65 solar panels with 17.55 kW of production capacity in the summer of 2018. The purpose of this research was to assess the feasibility of PV systems in Reykjavík based on solar irradiation measurements, energy production of a PV array located at IKEA and theory. Results suggests that net irradiation in Reykjavík (64°N, 21° V) was on average about 780 kWh/m2 per year (based on years 2008-2018), highest 140 kWh/m2 in July and lowest 1,8 kWh/m2 in December. Maximum annual solar power is generated by solar panels installed at a 40° fixed angle. PV panels at a lower angle produce more energy during summer. Conversely, higher angles maximize production in the winter. The PV system produced over 12 MWh over a one-year period and annual specific yield was 712 kWh/kW and performance ratio 69% which is about 10% lower than in similar studies in cold climates. That difference can be explained by snow cover, shadow falling on the panels and panels not being fixed at optimal slope. Payback time for the IKEA PV system was calculated 24 years which considers low electricity prices in Reykjavik and unforeseen high installation costs. Solar energy could be a feasible option in the future if production- and installation costs were to decrease and if the solar PV output could be sold to the electric grid in Iceland.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-54
Author(s):  
Abdul Hafiz Razali ◽  
Md Pauzi Abdullah ◽  
Dalila Mat Said ◽  
Mohamad Yusri Hassan

Net energy metering (NEM) is a financial scheme that allows a consumer to generate, use and sell their excess energy to the grid. The main purpose of NEM is for self-consumption to reduce demand from the grid. It will allow customer to avoid being charged with expensive electricity tariff and hence reducing their monthly electricity bill. In other words, the annualized electricity cost could be reduced. NEM is commonly offered to residential solar photovoltaic (PV) system. Different PV size will determine the amount of energy that can be generated. This paper compares the annualized electricity cost of different residential customer types (large, medium and small) for different PV size under Malaysia’s net energy metering (NEM) scheme. This paper utilizes the load profile and solar irradiation data for Malaysia. The results show that high PV size does not guarantee reduction in annualized electricity cost especially for medium customers as the excess PV generation can only be accumulated for 24 months. Large customers may have benefited the most with lower annualized cost with larger PV system, while small customers may not have benefited at all.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13209
Author(s):  
Osama A. Marzouk

An energy modeler for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems may be limited to climatic data of certain major cities, not covering the one for which the PV system is intended. Additionally, a person not skilled in solar PV modeling may still desire a quick estimate of PV system electricity generation to help decide the level of investment in PV systems. This work addresses these points by establishing lookup tables to summarize predicted electricity generation, solar irradiation, and optimum orientation at various locations in the Sultanate of Oman. The results are produced by processing simulation data using the online open-access tool PVGIS (Photovoltaic Geographical Information System) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC). The tables cover 40 out of the country’s 61 s-level administrative divisions (wilayats) and cover fixed and movable PV panels. The results show that the yearly electricity generation can change up to 11.86% due to the change of location. Two-axis PV tracking offers a small improvement (about 4% on average) over single-vertical-axis tracking but offers noticeable improvement (about 34% on average) over optimally oriented fixed PV panels. Monthly profiles of expected PV electricity generation, as well as the generation drop due to changing the PV mounting from free standing to building integrated, were examined for three locations. As general perspectives that may be of interest to global readers, this work provides quantitative evidence of the overall accuracy of the PVGIS-SARAH database through comparison with ground-measured global horizontal irradiation (GHI). In addition, a full example is presented considering 12 different countries in the northern and southern hemispheres that brings the attention of solar energy modelers to the level of errors they may encounter when the impact of longitude (thus, the exact location) is ignored for simplicity, while focus is given to the latitude.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4675
Author(s):  
Ayat-allah Bouramdane ◽  
Alexis Tantet ◽  
Philippe Drobinski

In this study, we examine how Battery Storage (BES) and Thermal Storage (TES) combined with solar Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technologies with an increased storage duration and rental cost together with diversification would influence the Moroccan mix and to what extent the variability (i.e., adequacy risk) can be reduced; this is done using recent (2013) cost data and under various penetration scenarios. To do this, we use MERRA-2 climate reanalysis to simulate hourly demand and capacity factors (CFs) of wind, solar PV and CSP without and with increasing storage capabilities—as defined by the CSP Solar Multiple (SM) and PV Inverter Loading Ratio (ILR). We adjust these time series to observations for the four Moroccan electrical zones over the year 2018. Our objective is to maximize the renewable (RE) penetration and minimize the imbalances between RE production and consumption considering three optimization strategies. We analyze mixes along Pareto fronts using the Mean-Variance Portfolio approach—implemented in the E4CLIM model—in which we add a maximum-cost constraint to take into account the different rental costs of wind, PV and CSP. We propose a method to calculate the rental cost of storage and production technologies taking into account the constraints on storage associated with the increase of SM and ILR in the added PV-BES and CSP-TES modules, keeping the mean solar CFs fixed. We perform some load bands-reduction diagnostics to assess the reliability benefits provided by each RE technology. We find that, at low penetrations, the maximum-cost budget is not reached because a small capacity is needed. The higher the ILR for PV, the larger the share of PV in the mix compared to wind and CSP without storage is removed completely. Between PV-BES and CSP-TES, the latter is preferred as it has larger storage capacity and thus stronger impact in reducing the adequacy risk. As additional BES are installed, more than TES, PV-BES is favored. At high penetrations, optimal mixes are impacted by cost, the more so as CSP (resp., PV) with high SM (resp., ILR) are installed. Wind is preferably installed due to its high mean CF compared to cost, followed by either PV-BES or CSP/CSP-TES. Scenarios without or with medium storage capacity favor CSP/CSP-TES, while high storage duration scenarios are dominated by low-cost PV-BES. However, scenarios ignoring the storage cost and constraints provide more weight to PV-BES whatever the penetration level. We also show that significant reduction of RE variability can only be achieved through geographical diversification. Technological complementarity may only help to reduce the variance when PV and CSP are both installed without or with a small amount of storage. However, the diversification effect is slightly smaller when the SM and ILR are increased and the covariances are reduced as well since mixes become less diversified.


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