IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v106y2016icp790-801.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating the impact of weather variables on the energy yield and cost of energy of grid-connected solar concentrator systems

Author

Listed:
  • Fernández, Eduardo F.
  • Talavera, D.L.
  • Almonacid, Florencia M.
  • Smestad, Greg P.

Abstract

This work connects the electrical performance and economics of High Concentrator Photovoltaic technology beyond the cell and module levels. It analyses the impact of fundamental variables on the calculated energy output and economics of a typical system for real-world solar power plants in five locations with diverse climatic conditions. It was found that there exists a nearly linear relationship between the Final Energy Yield and the average direct normal irradiance, while the cell temperature and spectral AC energy losses ranged from 4.6% to 1.8% and 5.0%–2.4%. The LCOE (Levelised Cost of Electricity) calculations used these insights, together with the specific economic values for each location. The results show that the locations with the higher annual energy yield tend to have the lower LCOE values. In particular, the LCOE ranged from 5.5 c€/kWh to 22.2 c€/kWh for a conservative scenario. However, the sites with the highest final yield do not necessarily present the lowest values of LCOE. The results emphasize the interrelationship between the instantaneous effects of cell temperature and spectrum on the performance of the system, as well as the importance of considering the specific economic parameters to estimate the LCOE at each location.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernández, Eduardo F. & Talavera, D.L. & Almonacid, Florencia M. & Smestad, Greg P., 2016. "Investigating the impact of weather variables on the energy yield and cost of energy of grid-connected solar concentrator systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 790-801.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:106:y:2016:i:c:p:790-801
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.03.060
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544216303048
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2016.03.060?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leloux, Jonathan & Lorenzo, Eduardo & García-Domingo, Beatriz & Aguilera, Jorge & Gueymard, Christian A., 2014. "A bankable method of assessing the performance of a CPV plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-11.
    2. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, Florencia, 2014. "Spectrally corrected direct normal irradiance based on artificial neural networks for high concentrator photovoltaic applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 941-949.
    3. Rodrigo, P. & Fernández, E.F. & Almonacid, F. & Pérez-Higueras, P.J., 2014. "Review of methods for the calculation of cell temperature in high concentration photovoltaic modules for electrical characterization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 478-488.
    4. Xie, W.T. & Dai, Y.J. & Wang, R.Z. & Sumathy, K., 2011. "Concentrated solar energy applications using Fresnel lenses: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 2588-2606, August.
    5. Almonacid, F. & Pérez-Higueras, P. & Rodrigo, P. & Hontoria, L., 2013. "Generation of ambient temperature hourly time series for some Spanish locations by artificial neural networks," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 285-291.
    6. Talavera, D.L. & Pérez-Higueras, P. & Ruíz-Arias, J.A. & Fernández, E.F., 2015. "Levelised cost of electricity in high concentrated photovoltaic grid connected systems: Spatial analysis of Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 49-59.
    7. Renzi, M. & Egidi, L. & Comodi, G., 2015. "Performance analysis of two 3.5kWp CPV systems under real operating conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 687-696.
    8. repec:elg:eechap:14251_1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Muñoz, E. & Vidal, P.G. & Nofuentes, G. & Hontoria, L. & Pérez-Higueras, P. & Terrados, J. & Almonacid, G. & Aguilera, J., 2010. "CPV standardization: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 518-523, January.
    10. García-Domingo, B. & Aguilera, J. & de la Casa, J. & Fuentes, M., 2014. "Modelling the influence of atmospheric conditions on the outdoor real performance of a CPV (Concentrated Photovoltaic) module," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 239-250.
    11. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, Florencia & Soria-Moya, Alberto & Terrados, Julio, 2015. "Experimental analysis of the spectral factor for quantifying the spectral influence on concentrator photovoltaic systems under real operating conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 1878-1886.
    12. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Pérez-Higueras, P. & Almonacid, F. & Ruiz-Arias, J.A. & Rodrigo, P. & Fernandez, J.I. & Luque-Heredia, I., 2015. "Model for estimating the energy yield of a high concentrator photovoltaic system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 77-85.
    13. Micheli, Leonardo & Sarmah, Nabin & Luo, Xichun & Reddy, K.S. & Mallick, Tapas K, 2013. "Opportunities and challenges in micro- and nano-technologies for concentrating photovoltaic cooling: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 595-610.
    14. Rodrigo, P. & Fernández, E.F. & Almonacid, F. & Pérez-Higueras, P.J., 2013. "Models for the electrical characterization of high concentration photovoltaic cells and modules: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 752-760.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guobin Cao & Hua Qin & Rajan Ramachandran & Bo Liu, 2019. "Solar Concentrator Consisting of Multiple Aspheric Reflectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Almonacid, Florencia & Fernandez, Eduardo F. & Mellit, Adel & Kalogirou, Soteris, 2017. "Review of techniques based on artificial neural networks for the electrical characterization of concentrator photovoltaic technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 938-953.
    3. Saleheen, Mohammed Zeehan & Salema, Arshad Adam & Mominul Islam, Shah Mohammad & Sarimuthu, Charles R. & Hasan, Md Zobaer, 2021. "A target-oriented performance assessment and model development of a grid-connected solar PV (GCPV) system for a commercial building in Malaysia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 371-382.
    4. Fernandez, Eduardo F. & Chemisana, Daniel & Micheli, Leonardo & Almonacid, Florencia, 2019. "Spectral nature of soiling and its impact on multi-junction based concentrator systems," MPRA Paper 106251, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Prince Waqas Khan & Yongjun Kim & Yung-Cheol Byun & Sang-Joon Lee, 2021. "Influencing Factors Evaluation of Machine Learning-Based Energy Consumption Prediction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Villar-Fernández, Antonio & Montes-Romero, Jesús & Ruiz-Torres, Laura & Rodrigo, Pedro M. & Manzaneda, Antonio J. & Almonacid, Florencia, 2022. "Global energy assessment of the potential of photovoltaics for greenhouse farming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    7. Nofuentes, Gustavo & de la Casa, Juan & Solís-Alemán, Ernesto M. & Fernández, Eduardo F., 2017. "Spectral impact on PV performance in mid-latitude sunny inland sites: Experimental vs. modelled results," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1857-1868.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Almonacid, Florencia & Rodrigo, Pedro & Fernández, Eduardo F., 2016. "Determination of the current–voltage characteristics of concentrator systems by using different adapted conventional techniques," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 146-160.
    2. Almonacid, Florencia & Fernandez, Eduardo F. & Mellit, Adel & Kalogirou, Soteris, 2017. "Review of techniques based on artificial neural networks for the electrical characterization of concentrator photovoltaic technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 938-953.
    3. Almonacid, F. & Fernández, E.F. & Mallick, T.K. & Pérez-Higueras, P.J., 2015. "High concentrator photovoltaic module simulation by neuronal networks using spectrally corrected direct normal irradiance and cell temperature," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 336-343.
    4. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Pérez-Higueras, P. & Almonacid, F. & Ruiz-Arias, J.A. & Rodrigo, P. & Fernandez, J.I. & Luque-Heredia, I., 2015. "Model for estimating the energy yield of a high concentrator photovoltaic system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 77-85.
    5. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, Florencia & Soria-Moya, Alberto & Terrados, Julio, 2015. "Experimental analysis of the spectral factor for quantifying the spectral influence on concentrator photovoltaic systems under real operating conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 1878-1886.
    6. Rodrigo, P. & Velázquez, Ramiro & Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, F. & Pérez-Higueras, P.J., 2016. "Analysis of electrical mismatches in high-concentrator photovoltaic power plants with distributed inverter configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 374-387.
    7. Manuel Angel Gadeo-Martos & Antonio Jesús Yuste-Delgado & Florencia Almonacid Cruz & Jose-Angel Fernandez-Prieto & Joaquin Canada-Bago, 2019. "Modeling a High Concentrator Photovoltaic Module Using Fuzzy Rule-Based Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, February.
    8. Rodrigo, P. & Fernández, E.F. & Almonacid, F. & Pérez-Higueras, P.J., 2014. "Review of methods for the calculation of cell temperature in high concentration photovoltaic modules for electrical characterization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 478-488.
    9. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, Florencia & Garcia-Loureiro, Antonio J., 2015. "Multi-junction solar cells electrical characterization by neuronal networks under different irradiance, spectrum and cell temperature," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P1), pages 846-856.
    10. Rodrigo, P.M. & Talavera, D.L. & Fernández, E.F. & Almonacid, F.M. & Pérez-Higueras, P.J., 2019. "Optimum capacity of the inverters in concentrator photovoltaic power plants with emphasis on shading impact," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    11. Zhe Mi & Jikun Chen & Nuofu Chen & Yiming Bai & Wenwang Wu & Rui Fu & Hu Liu, 2016. "Performance Analysis of a Grid-connected High Concentrating Photovoltaic System under Practical Operation Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-12, February.
    12. Sharaf, Omar Z. & Orhan, Mehmet F., 2015. "Concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) solar collector systems: Part I – Fundamentals, design considerations and current technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1500-1565.
    13. Aqachmar, Zineb & Campana, Pietro Elia & Bouhal, Tarik & El Qarnia, Hamid & Outzourhit, Abdelkader & Alami Ibnouelghazi, El & Mouak, Said & Aqachmar, Atman, 2022. "Electrification of Africa through CPV installations in small-scale industrial applications: Energetic, economic, and environmental analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 723-746.
    14. Talavera, D.L. & Pérez-Higueras, P. & Almonacid, F. & Fernández, E.F., 2017. "A worldwide assessment of economic feasibility of HCPV power plants: Profitability and competitiveness," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 408-424.
    15. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, Florencia, 2014. "Spectrally corrected direct normal irradiance based on artificial neural networks for high concentrator photovoltaic applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 941-949.
    16. Rodrigo, P. & Gutiérrez, S. & Velázquez, Ramiro & Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, F. & Pérez-Higueras, P.J., 2015. "A methodology for the electrical characterization of shaded high concentrator photovoltaic modules," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 768-777.
    17. Renzi, Massimiliano & Cioccolanti, Luca & Barazza, Giorgio & Egidi, Lorenzo & Comodi, Gabriele, 2017. "Design and experimental test of refractive secondary optics on the electrical performance of a 3-junction cell used in CPV systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 233-243.
    18. Conceição, Ricardo & González-Aguilar, José & Merrouni, Ahmed Alami & Romero, Manuel, 2022. "Soiling effect in solar energy conversion systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    19. Yadav, Pankaj & Tripathi, Brijesh & Rathod, Siddharth & Kumar, Manoj, 2013. "Real-time analysis of low-concentration photovoltaic systems: A review towards development of sustainable energy technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 812-823.
    20. Rodrigo, P.M., 2020. "Balancing the shading impact in utility-scale dual-axis tracking concentrator photovoltaic power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:106:y:2016:i:c:p:790-801. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.