A comprehensive study on modeling of photovoltaic arrays and calculation of photovoltaic potential using digital elevation model

Abstract

In solar energy applications, a complete knowledge and detailed analysis of the solar radiation potential is a prerequisite. In this paper, two different photovoltaic (PV) potential analysis approaches are compared. The first approach is based on a simulation of PV array and six different solar radiation estimation models. The outputs of these models are compared with hourly ground measured data by using statistical error methods. The most suitable solar radiation model which gives more accurate results is used to calculate the PV potential of Engineering Faculty of Eskisehir Technical University. The PV panel simulation is implemented in Matlab/Simulink besides that a suitable algorithm is selected to calculate the possible amount of PV panel energy generation based on the hourly measured wind speed (WS), air pressure, global solar radiation (GSR), and temperature values. In the second approach, building roof surface PV potential of the selected area is calculated and the available roof area for PV installation is determined by using Aeronautical Geographical Information System (ArcGIS) software. When the performances of the methods are compared, these methods obtained satisfactory results. Furthermore, it is clear that the algorithms and effective factors of the two methods are different. The results of ArcGIS outperform the PV array simulation based on Badescu model by the reason of its suitability of selecting optimal site for PV installation.