Case study of PV output power degradation rates in Oman

Honnurvali, Mohamed Shaik; Gupta, Naren; Goh, Keng; Umar, Tariq; Kabbani, Adnan; Nazeema, Needa

Abstract

To meet the increase in peak electricity demand, reduce fossil fuel emissions in Oman, and as an initiative taken by the government, by 2030 15% (3000 MW) of the total energy mix (20,000 MW) should be generated from renewable energy resources. It is crucial for the stakeholders and photovoltaic (PV) enthusiast to predict the return on investments and its performance in the local climatic conditions. In this study, a case study has been presented where different factors under local climatic conditions are studied. The results showed that the output power degradation for all modules is around 1.96%/year, which is almost double compared with European countries. Electrical analysis of different PV technologies showed that multi-crystalline silicon technology installed in hot-and-dry climate is degrading (around 2.54%/year) faster, while thin-film technology (CdTe) has shown lowest degradation (average of 0.8%/year) compared with any other PV technology. Furthermore, infrared image analysis showed that the presence of hot cells in PV modules is also a significant contributing factor in PV degradation rates. Severity of interconnect breakage tests confirm the increase of the series resistance of PV modules, which further contributes to the reduction of short-circuit current and thus PV maximum output. power.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 8, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Nov 6, 2018
• Publication Date: 2019-02
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2022
• Journal: IET Renewable Power Generation
• Electronic ISSN: 1752-1424
• Publisher: Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 352-360
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-rpg.2018.5457
• Keywords: cadmium compounds; maximum power point trackers; investment; short-circuit currents; infrared imaging; elemental semiconductors; power generation economics; power system interconnection; cost-benefit analysis; solar cells; photovoltaic power systems; sili
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/8661849
• Publisher URL: https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/iet-rpg.2018.5457