The Effect of Statistical Fluctuations of Solar Radiation on PV-System Sizing

S. Kaplanis and E. Kaplani (Greece)

Keywords

Solar radiation, PV-systems, PV-sizing, energy fluctuations

Abstract

To cope with the uncertainty in weather conditions, especially in solar radiation, the PV sizing methodology has adopted the determination of the energy independence period of d days in PV stand-alone systems. d depends on the minimum value of the Peak Solar Hour (PSH) at a place and for the month which is used as a reference for the sizing process. This research study uses recorded data to investigate the statistical fluctuations of solar radiation for a day nj, as well as for a period of nj ± 2 days, with nj being the day whose solar radiation records are used for the sizing process. The current study gives a new approach to the PV sizing issue, leading to a considerable reduction in the estimated PV Peak Power, compared to results obtained by previous methodologies encountered in the literature. A similar reduction is achieved in the battery storage system capacity, for a stand-alone PV system, required to meet the loads for a number of d days.

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