Variability and performance analysis of the PV plant at The University of Queensland

Variability in the output of photovoltaic (PV) power plants continues to hinder their interconnection to power systems. Consequently, available PV plant data should be carefully analysed so that appropriate strategies can be developed to mitigate effects associated with variability in PV output. This paper constructively illustrates the characterisation of the variability and evaluates performance of the 1.2MW PV plant at The University of Queensland. The characterisation is based on some of the recently proposed indices and utilises 1-minute resolution data captured over a 21-month period.