Optimal sizing of a photovoltaic system for peak power shaving application

This paper is a study of variation of load of a small building and implementation of a Photovoltaic system to reduce the peak demand. Load forecasting in this paper uses input data dependent on parameters such as insolent radiation, temperature etc. A multi parameter regression model is used to model the monthly load profile of the system under study. The system under study is based on the electrical system associated with Jadavpur University Saltlake Campus, Kolkata India. An accurate PV module electrical model is presented based on Shockley Diode equation. For simulation purposes data for load temperature irradiance etc are obtained from locally measured values. Suitable assumptions are made with regards to temperature and insolent radiation so that accurate demand profile can be generated. Finally the optimal system size is determined by a Particle Swarm Optimization such that system cost and energy savings reach a breakeven over a period of few years