A Techno-Economic Optimization and Performance Assessment of a 10 kW(P) Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System

Abraham Alem Kebede; Maitane Berecibar; Thierry Coosemans; Maarten Messagie; Towfik Jemal; Henok Ayele Behabtu; Joeri Van Mierlo

doi:10.3390/su12187648

A Techno-Economic Optimization and Performance Assessment of a 10 kW(P) Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System

Abraham Alem Kebede, Maitane Berecibar, Thierry Coosemans, Maarten Messagie, Towfik Jemal, Henok Ayele Behabtu, Joeri Van Mierlo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The system under consideration in this paper consists of a photovoltaic (PV) array, described as having a 10 kWp capacity, battery storage, and connection to the grid via a university grid network. It is stated that the system meets a local load of 4-5 kVA. The system is in Ethiopia, and the authors give details of the location and solar resource to provide information to assess its performance. However, the performance assessment will be specific to the details of the installation and the operational rules, including the variable nature of the load profile, charging and discharging the battery storage, and importing from and exporting to the university grid. The nearby load is mostly supplied from PV and grid sources, and hence the battery installed is found to be idle, showing that the PV together with storage battery system was not utilized in an efficient and optimized way. This in turn resulted in inefficient utilization of sources, increased dependency of the load on the grid, and hence unnecessary operational expenses. Therefore, to alleviate these problems, this paper proposes a means for techno-economic optimization and performance analysis of an existing photovoltaic grid-connected system (PVGCS) by using collected data from a plant data logger for one year (2018) with a model-based Matlab/Simulink simulation and a hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software. According to the simulation result, the PVGCS with 5 kWp PV array optimized system was recommended, which provides a net present cost (NPC) of 5770 (€/kWh), and a cost of energy (COE) of 0.087 (€/kWh) compared to an existing 10 kWp PV system, which results in a NPC value of 6047 (€/kWh) and COE of 0.098 (€/kWh). Therefore, the resulting 5 kWp PV system connected with a storage battery was found to be more efficient and techno-economically viable as compared to the existing 10 kWp PVGCS plant.

Original language	English
Article number	7648
Journal	Sustainability (Switzerland)
Volume	12
Issue number	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187648
Publication status	Published - 16 Sep 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research received no external funding. Acknowledgments: We would like to provide our deepest thanks to Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the ETEC department, and also to Jimma University (JU) for allowing in doing this research under the joint NASCERE Ph.D. study program. Furthermore, the authors wish to acknowledge Tassew Tadiwose for his valuable feedback and support in data provision while doing this research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

optimization
storage battery
photovoltaic
techno-economic
performance analysis
photovoltaic grid-connected system
Matlab

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10.3390/su12187648

Cite this

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title = "A Techno-Economic Optimization and Performance Assessment of a 10 kW(P) Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System",

abstract = "The system under consideration in this paper consists of a photovoltaic (PV) array, described as having a 10 kWp capacity, battery storage, and connection to the grid via a university grid network. It is stated that the system meets a local load of 4-5 kVA. The system is in Ethiopia, and the authors give details of the location and solar resource to provide information to assess its performance. However, the performance assessment will be specific to the details of the installation and the operational rules, including the variable nature of the load profile, charging and discharging the battery storage, and importing from and exporting to the university grid. The nearby load is mostly supplied from PV and grid sources, and hence the battery installed is found to be idle, showing that the PV together with storage battery system was not utilized in an efficient and optimized way. This in turn resulted in inefficient utilization of sources, increased dependency of the load on the grid, and hence unnecessary operational expenses. Therefore, to alleviate these problems, this paper proposes a means for techno-economic optimization and performance analysis of an existing photovoltaic grid-connected system (PVGCS) by using collected data from a plant data logger for one year (2018) with a model-based Matlab/Simulink simulation and a hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software. According to the simulation result, the PVGCS with 5 kWp PV array optimized system was recommended, which provides a net present cost (NPC) of 5770 (€/kWh), and a cost of energy (COE) of 0.087 (€/kWh) compared to an existing 10 kWp PV system, which results in a NPC value of 6047 (€/kWh) and COE of 0.098 (€/kWh). Therefore, the resulting 5 kWp PV system connected with a storage battery was found to be more efficient and techno-economically viable as compared to the existing 10 kWp PVGCS plant.",

keywords = "optimization, storage battery, photovoltaic, techno-economic, performance analysis, photovoltaic grid-connected system, Matlab",

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note = "Funding Information: This research received no external funding. Acknowledgments: We would like to provide our deepest thanks to Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the ETEC department, and also to Jimma University (JU) for allowing in doing this research under the joint NASCERE Ph.D. study program. Furthermore, the authors wish to acknowledge Tassew Tadiwose for his valuable feedback and support in data provision while doing this research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 by the authors. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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A Techno-Economic Optimization and Performance Assessment of a 10 kW(P) Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System. / Kebede, Abraham Alem; Berecibar, Maitane ; Coosemans, Thierry ; Messagie, Maarten; Jemal, Towfik; Behabtu, Henok Ayele ; Van Mierlo, Joeri.

In: Sustainability (Switzerland), Vol. 12, No. 18, 7648, 16.09.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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T1 - A Techno-Economic Optimization and Performance Assessment of a 10 kW(P) Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System

AU - Kebede, Abraham Alem

AU - Berecibar, Maitane

AU - Coosemans, Thierry

AU - Messagie, Maarten

AU - Jemal, Towfik

AU - Behabtu, Henok Ayele

AU - Van Mierlo, Joeri

N1 - Funding Information: This research received no external funding. Acknowledgments: We would like to provide our deepest thanks to Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the ETEC department, and also to Jimma University (JU) for allowing in doing this research under the joint NASCERE Ph.D. study program. Furthermore, the authors wish to acknowledge Tassew Tadiwose for his valuable feedback and support in data provision while doing this research. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 by the authors. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/9/16

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N2 - The system under consideration in this paper consists of a photovoltaic (PV) array, described as having a 10 kWp capacity, battery storage, and connection to the grid via a university grid network. It is stated that the system meets a local load of 4-5 kVA. The system is in Ethiopia, and the authors give details of the location and solar resource to provide information to assess its performance. However, the performance assessment will be specific to the details of the installation and the operational rules, including the variable nature of the load profile, charging and discharging the battery storage, and importing from and exporting to the university grid. The nearby load is mostly supplied from PV and grid sources, and hence the battery installed is found to be idle, showing that the PV together with storage battery system was not utilized in an efficient and optimized way. This in turn resulted in inefficient utilization of sources, increased dependency of the load on the grid, and hence unnecessary operational expenses. Therefore, to alleviate these problems, this paper proposes a means for techno-economic optimization and performance analysis of an existing photovoltaic grid-connected system (PVGCS) by using collected data from a plant data logger for one year (2018) with a model-based Matlab/Simulink simulation and a hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software. According to the simulation result, the PVGCS with 5 kWp PV array optimized system was recommended, which provides a net present cost (NPC) of 5770 (€/kWh), and a cost of energy (COE) of 0.087 (€/kWh) compared to an existing 10 kWp PV system, which results in a NPC value of 6047 (€/kWh) and COE of 0.098 (€/kWh). Therefore, the resulting 5 kWp PV system connected with a storage battery was found to be more efficient and techno-economically viable as compared to the existing 10 kWp PVGCS plant.

AB - The system under consideration in this paper consists of a photovoltaic (PV) array, described as having a 10 kWp capacity, battery storage, and connection to the grid via a university grid network. It is stated that the system meets a local load of 4-5 kVA. The system is in Ethiopia, and the authors give details of the location and solar resource to provide information to assess its performance. However, the performance assessment will be specific to the details of the installation and the operational rules, including the variable nature of the load profile, charging and discharging the battery storage, and importing from and exporting to the university grid. The nearby load is mostly supplied from PV and grid sources, and hence the battery installed is found to be idle, showing that the PV together with storage battery system was not utilized in an efficient and optimized way. This in turn resulted in inefficient utilization of sources, increased dependency of the load on the grid, and hence unnecessary operational expenses. Therefore, to alleviate these problems, this paper proposes a means for techno-economic optimization and performance analysis of an existing photovoltaic grid-connected system (PVGCS) by using collected data from a plant data logger for one year (2018) with a model-based Matlab/Simulink simulation and a hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software. According to the simulation result, the PVGCS with 5 kWp PV array optimized system was recommended, which provides a net present cost (NPC) of 5770 (€/kWh), and a cost of energy (COE) of 0.087 (€/kWh) compared to an existing 10 kWp PV system, which results in a NPC value of 6047 (€/kWh) and COE of 0.098 (€/kWh). Therefore, the resulting 5 kWp PV system connected with a storage battery was found to be more efficient and techno-economically viable as compared to the existing 10 kWp PVGCS plant.

KW - optimization

KW - storage battery

KW - photovoltaic

KW - techno-economic

KW - performance analysis

KW - photovoltaic grid-connected system

KW - Matlab

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DO - 10.3390/su12187648

M3 - Article

VL - 12

JO - Sustainability

JF - Sustainability

SN - 2071-1050

IS - 18

M1 - 7648

ER -

A Techno-Economic Optimization and Performance Assessment of a 10 kW(P) Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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