Title :
Decade Performance of a Roof-Mounted Photovoltaic Array
Author :
Begovic, Miroslav ; Ghosh, Seema R. ; Rohatgi, Ajeet
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA
Abstract :
The Georgia Institute of Technology´s Aquatic´s Center is equipped with a 342 kW roof-mounted photovoltaic array. This array will reach its ten year anniversary in July of 2006. It is therefore an appropriate time to review its performance. This system is closely monitored and studied with the help of a data acquisition system. Data collected from this system is stored and analyzed. Meteorological parameters such as plane of array insolation are analyzed and compared with predicted values. Additionally, system parameters such as AC energy production, system efficiency, and module temperature are also monitored. The relationship between certain parameters, such as inverter efficiency and inverter loading, are also examined. With the collected data, the reliability of the system may be analyzed using data from system downtimes. From the analysis, we conclude that the system is operating well and in line with expectations
Keywords :
building integrated photovoltaics; data acquisition; invertors; power system reliability; solar cell arrays; 342 kW; AC energy production; Georgia Institute of Technology´s Aquatic Center; array insolation; data acquisition system; data collection; inverter efficiency; inverter loading; meteorological parameters; module temperature; roof-mounted photovoltaic array performance; system efficiency; system reliability; Condition monitoring; Data acquisition; Data analysis; Inverters; Meteorology; Photovoltaic systems; Production systems; Solar power generation; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Conference Record of the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on
Conference_Location :
Waikoloa, HI
Print_ISBN :
1-4244-0017-1
Electronic_ISBN :
1-4244-0017-1
DOI :
10.1109/WCPEC.2006.279671
