IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v133y2020ics1364032120304305.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performance evaluation of a utility-scale dual-technology photovoltaic power plant at the Shagaya Renewable Energy Park in Kuwait

Author

Listed:
  • AL-Rasheedi, Majed
  • Gueymard, Christian A.
  • Al-Khayat, Mohammad
  • Ismail, Alaa
  • Lee, Jared A.
  • Al-Duaj, Hamad

Abstract

This study presents the actual monitoring data and performance analysis results obtained from the 11.15-MW grid-connected Shagaya Photovoltaic Park, Kuwait (latitude 29.2°N, longitude 47.04°W). The plant was specifically built to compare two PV technologies: a Thin-Film (TF) installation of 5.5 MW and a Polycrystalline (PC) silicon installation of 5.6 MW. The plant has been designed as a pilot testbed to evaluate the performance of different grid-tied PV technologies under a hot desert environment. A 25-month monitoring period has provided important information that will be used to prepare the design of upcoming GW-size PV projects at Shagaya. Performance parameters of the PV system evaluated here include: final yield, reference yield, array yield, system losses, array capture losses, cell temperature losses, PV module efficiency, system efficiency, inverter efficiency, performance ratio, and capacity factor. Comparison between the TF and PC PV subsystems reveals no significant difference between the two technologies regarding annual reference yields (1805 kWh/kW for TF and 1810 kWh/kW for PC), performance ratios (80.0% for TF and 80.2% for PC), or system losses (20.04% for TF and 19.81% for PC). The PC panels are affected by slightly higher module capture losses due to their higher negative temperature coefficient. It is found, most importantly, that the two PV subsystems have very similar performance behavior when they have similar capacity and operate under the same Shagaya desert environment with the same stringent operational and maintenance strategies. One disadvantage of the TF subsystem, however, is that it requires 18.5% more land area than the PC subsystem to match the installed capacity. The soiling of panels is substantial and requires monthly cleaning with water, which is scarce in a desert environment. A smaller total panel area for a similar power output could constitute a significant economic advantage for the PC technology under such conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • AL-Rasheedi, Majed & Gueymard, Christian A. & Al-Khayat, Mohammad & Ismail, Alaa & Lee, Jared A. & Al-Duaj, Hamad, 2020. "Performance evaluation of a utility-scale dual-technology photovoltaic power plant at the Shagaya Renewable Energy Park in Kuwait," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:133:y:2020:i:c:s1364032120304305
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.110139
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120304305
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110139?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. Lupangu, C. & Bansal, R.C., 2017. "A review of technical issues on the development of solar photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 950-965.
    2. Salahuddin, Mohammad & Gow, Jeff & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2015. "Is the long-run relationship between economic growth, electricity consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and financial development in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries robust?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 317-326.
    3. Agata Zdyb & Slawomir Gulkowski, 2020. "Performance Assessment of Four Different Photovoltaic Technologies in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Costa, Suellen C.S. & Diniz, Antonia Sonia A.C. & Kazmerski, Lawrence L., 2016. "Dust and soiling issues and impacts relating to solar energy systems: Literature review update for 2012–2015," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 33-61.
    5. Al-Dousari, Ali & Al-Nassar, Waleed & Al-Hemoud, Ali & Alsaleh, Abeer & Ramadan, Ashraf & Al-Dousari, Noor & Ahmed, Modi, 2019. "Solar and wind energy: Challenges and solutions in desert regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 184-194.
    6. Ali, Hayder & Khan, Hassan Abbas, 2020. "Techno-economic evaluation of two 42 kWp polycrystalline-Si and CIS thin-film based PV rooftop systems in Pakistan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 347-357.
    7. Balaska, Amira & Tahri, Ali & Tahri, Fatima & Stambouli, Amine Boudghene, 2017. "Performance assessment of five different photovoltaic module technologies under outdoor conditions in Algeria," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 53-60.
    8. Martin A. Green, 2016. "Commercial progress and challenges for photovoltaics," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(1), pages 1-4, January.
    9. Maghami, Mohammad Reza & Hizam, Hashim & Gomes, Chandima & Radzi, Mohd Amran & Rezadad, Mohammad Ismael & Hajighorbani, Shahrooz, 2016. "Power loss due to soiling on solar panel: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1307-1316.
    10. Touati, Farid & Al-Hitmi, M.A. & Chowdhury, Noor Alam & Hamad, Jehan Abu & San Pedro Gonzales, Antonio J.R., 2016. "Investigation of solar PV performance under Doha weather using a customized measurement and monitoring system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 564-577.
    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. Ephraim Bonah Agyekum & Usman Mehmood & Salah Kamel & Mokhtar Shouran & Elmazeg Elgamli & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo, 2022. "Technical Performance Prediction and Employment Potential of Solar PV Systems in Cold Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Stefano Alessandrini & Tyler McCandless, 2020. "The Schaake Shuffle Technique to Combine Solar and Wind Power Probabilistic Forecasting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Hamid Iftikhar & Eduardo Sarquis & P. J. Costa Branco, 2021. "Why Can Simple Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Practices in Large-Scale Grid-Connected PV Power Plants Play a Key Role in Improving Its Energy Output?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-29, June.
    4. Muhammad Talut & AbuBakr S. Bahaj & Patrick James, 2022. "Solar Power Potential from Industrial Buildings and Impact on Electricity Supply in Bangladesh," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Yang, Dazhi & Wang, Wenting & Gueymard, Christian A. & Hong, Tao & Kleissl, Jan & Huang, Jing & Perez, Marc J. & Perez, Richard & Bright, Jamie M. & Xia, Xiang’ao & van der Meer, Dennis & Peters, Ian , 2022. "A review of solar forecasting, its dependence on atmospheric sciences and implications for grid integration: Towards carbon neutrality," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    6. Fuster-Palop, Enrique & Vargas-Salgado, Carlos & Ferri-Revert, Juan Carlos & Payá, Jorge, 2022. "Performance analysis and modelling of a 50 MW grid-connected photovoltaic plant in Spain after 12 years of operation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    7. Deepak Jain Veerendra Kumar & Lelia Deville & Kenneth A. Ritter & Johnathan Richard Raush & Farzad Ferdowsi & Raju Gottumukkala & Terrence Lynn Chambers, 2022. "Performance Evaluation of 1.1 MW Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant in Louisiana," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, May.
    8. Sue Ellen Haupt & Tyler C. McCandless & Susan Dettling & Stefano Alessandrini & Jared A. Lee & Seth Linden & William Petzke & Thomas Brummet & Nhi Nguyen & Branko Kosović & Gerry Wiener & Tahani Hussa, 2020. "Combining Artificial Intelligence with Physics-Based Methods for Probabilistic Renewable Energy Forecasting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-23, April.

    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. Kumar, Manish & Kumar, Arun, 2017. "Performance assessment and degradation analysis of solar photovoltaic technologies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 554-587.
    2. Costa, Suellen C.S. & Diniz, Antonia Sonia A.C. & Kazmerski, Lawrence L., 2018. "Solar energy dust and soiling R&D progress: Literature review update for 2016," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2504-2536.
    3. 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).
    4. Abdulsalam S. Alghamdi & AbuBakr S. Bahaj & Luke S. Blunden & Yue Wu, 2019. "Dust Removal from Solar PV Modules by Automated Cleaning Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-21, July.
    5. Karim Menoufi, 2017. "Dust Accumulation on the Surface of Photovoltaic Panels: Introducing the Photovoltaic Soiling Index (PVSI)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-12, June.
    6. Cherupurakal, Nizamudeen & Mozumder, Mohammad Sayem & Mourad, Abdel- Hamid I. & Lalwani, Shubra, 2021. "Recent advances in superhydrophobic polymers for antireflective self-cleaning solar panels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    7. Alami Merrouni, Ahmed & Elwali Elalaoui, Fakhreddine & Mezrhab, Ahmed & Mezrhab, Abdelhamid & Ghennioui, Abdellatif, 2018. "Large scale PV sites selection by combining GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process. Case study: Eastern Morocco," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 863-873.
    8. Isabel Santiago & David Trillo Montero & Juan J. Luna Rodríguez & Isabel M. Moreno Garcia & Emilio J. Palacios Garcia, 2017. "Graphical Diagnosis of Performances in Photovoltaic Systems: A Case Study in Southern Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-26, November.
    9. Fernández-Solas, Álvaro & Micheli, Leonardo & Almonacid, Florencia & Fernández, Eduardo F., 2021. "Optical degradation impact on the spectral performance of photovoltaic technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    10. Huang, Wenfeng & Zhou, Kun & Sun, Ke & He, Zhu, 2019. "Effects of wind flow structure, particle flow and deposition pattern on photovoltaic energy harvest around a block," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Adak, Deepanjana & Bhattacharyya, Raghunath & Barshilia, Harish C., 2022. "A state-of-the-art review on the multifunctional self-cleaning nanostructured coatings for PV panels, CSP mirrors and related solar devices," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    12. Chanchangi, Yusuf N. & Ghosh, Aritra & Sundaram, Senthilarasu & Mallick, Tapas K., 2020. "Dust and PV Performance in Nigeria: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    13. Polo, Jesús & Martín-Chivelet, Nuria & Sanz-Saiz, Carlos & Alonso-Montesinos, Joaquín & López, Gabriel & Alonso-Abella, Miguel & Battles, Francisco J. & Marzo, Aitor & Hanrieder, Natalie, 2021. "Modeling soiling losses for rooftop PV systems in suburban areas with nearby forest in Madrid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 420-428.
    14. Murat Altıntaş & Serdal Arslan, 2021. "The Study of Dust Removal Using Electrostatic Cleaning System for Solar Panels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    15. Alshawaf, Mohammad & Poudineh, Rahmatallah & Alhajeri, Nawaf S., 2020. "Solar PV in Kuwait: The effect of ambient temperature and sandstorms on output variability and uncertainty," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    16. Song, Zhe & Liu, Jia & Yang, Hongxing, 2021. "Air pollution and soiling implications for solar photovoltaic power generation: A comprehensive review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    17. Eleonora Riva Sanseverino & Maurizio Cellura & Le Quyen Luu & Maria Anna Cusenza & Ninh Nguyen Quang & Nam Hoai Nguyen, 2021. "Life-Cycle Land-Use Requirement for PV in Vietnam," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-11, February.
    18. Bukhary, Saria & Ahmad, Sajjad & Batista, Jacimaria, 2018. "Analyzing land and water requirements for solar deployment in the Southwestern United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3288-3305.
    19. Hammad, Bashar & Al–Abed, Mohammad & Al–Ghandoor, Ahmed & Al–Sardeah, Ali & Al–Bashir, Adnan, 2018. "Modeling and analysis of dust and temperature effects on photovoltaic systems’ performance and optimal cleaning frequency: Jordan case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2218-2234.
    20. Fouad, M.M. & Shihata, Lamia A. & Morgan, ElSayed I., 2017. "An integrated review of factors influencing the perfomance of photovoltaic panels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1499-1511.

    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:rensus:v:133:y:2020:i:c:s1364032120304305. 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.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    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.