Houshang Karimi - Step-by-Step Design of Large-Scale Photovoltaic Power Plants

1 Cover

2 Title Page Step‐by‐Step Design of Large‐Scale Photovoltaic Power Plants Davood Naghaviha Daneshmand Engineers Co. Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran Hassan Nikkhajoei United Globe Engineering Inc Thornhill, ON, Canada Houshang Karimi Polytechnique Montreal Montreal, QC, Canada

3 Copyright Page

4 Dedication Page

5 Preface

6 Acknowledgment

7 Acronyms

8 Symbols

9 1 Introduction1.1 Solar Energy 1.2 Diverse Solar Energy Applications 1.3 Global PV Power Plants 1.4 Perspective of PV Power Plants 1.5 A Review on the Design of Large‐Scale PV Power Plant 1.6 Outline of the Book References

10 2 Design Requirements2.1 Overview 2.2 Development Phases 2.3 Project Predesign 2.4 Project Detailed Design 2.5 The Main Components Required for Realizing an LS‐PVPP 2.6 An Overview of PV Technologies 2.7 Solar Inverter Topologies Overview 2.8 Solar Panel Mounting 2.9 Solar Panel Tilt 2.10 Solar Tracking System References

11 3 Feasibility Studies3.1 Introduction 3.2 Preliminary Feasibility Studies 3.3 Technical Feasibility Study 3.4 Environmental Feasibility 3.5 Social Feasibility 3.6 Economic Feasibility 3.7 Timing Feasibility 3.8 Summary References

12 4 Grid Connection Studies4.1 Introduction 4.2 Introducing Topics of Grid Connection Studies 4.3 Modeling of Grid and PV Power Plants 4.4 Summary References

13 5 Solar Resource and Irradiance5.1 Introduction 5.2 Radiometric Terms 5.3 Solar Resources 5.4 Solar Energy Radiation on Panels 5.5 Solar Azimuth and Altitude Angle 5.6 Tilt Angle and Orientation 5.7 Shadow Distances and Row Spacing References

14 6 Large‐Scale PV Plant Design Overview6.1 Introduction 6.2 Classification of LS‐PVPP Engineering Documents 6.3 Roadmap Proposal for LS‐PVPP Design 6.4 Conclusion References

15 7 PV Power Plant DC Side Design7.1 Introduction 7.2 DC Side Design Methodology 7.3 PV Modules Selection 7.4 Inverter Selection 7.5 PV Modules Number 7.6 Size of PV Plant DC Side 7.7 DC Cables 7.8 DC Combiner Box 7.9 String Diode 7.10 Fuse 7.11 Surge Arrester 7.12 DC Switch 7.13 Conclusion Note References

16 8 PV System Losses and Energy Yield8.1 Introduction 8.2 PV System Losses 8.3 Energy Yield Prediction 8.4 Conclusion References

17 Index

18 End User License Agreement

1 Chapter 2Table 2.1 The electrical characteristics of inverter types.

2 Chapter 3Table 3.1 Satellite meteorological data from a station 30 miles south of th...

3 Chapter 4Table 4.1. The typical types of protection for PV power plants.

4 Chapter 5Table 5.1 Radiometric terminology and units [2].Table 5.2 Inventory of solar resource data sources, presented in alphabetic...Table 5.3 Selected mean monthly R Bvalues for southerly oriented surfaces...Table 5.4 Guide values for the reflection factor ρ [3].Table 5.5 The elements of the geometric shape shown in Figure 5.10.Table 5.6 NRMSE for all different orientations and tilt angles at SERIS met...

5 Chapter 7Table 7.1 PV modules with various technologies that are currently manufactu...Table 7.2 The inverter topologies comparison [5].Table 7.3 The technical specifications of a DC solar cable [18].

6 Chapter 8Table 8.1 Solar irradiance and cell temperatures [29].Table 8.2 Average yearly output loss of PV cells.Table 8.3 Aux consumption of PV plant of various capacity [38].Table 8.4 PV plants annual failure ratio per kW [40].

1 Chapter 1 Figure 1.1 Energy conversion cycle. Figure 1.2 Various solar power plant categories. Figure 1.3 Various applications of solar thermal energy: (a) Parabolic plant... Figure 1.4 Schematic diagram of a grid‐connected PV plant. Figure 1.5 Schematic diagram of a stand‐alone PV plant. Figure 1.6 Schematic diagram of a direct‐coupled PV plant. Figure 1.7 Schematic diagram of a hybrid‐connected PV plant. Figure 1.8 Schematic diagram of a grid energy storage PV plant. Figure 1.9 Different types of PV plants based on their installation location... Figure 1.10 Classification of power plants in terms of their mounted places.... Figure 1.11 Classification of power plants in terms of size. Figure 1.12 Average module efficiency, 2010–2020. Figure 1.13 Utility‐scale and commercial inverter prices, 2010–2020. Figure 1.14 PV modules prices, 2015–2020. Figure 1.15 Global solar PV and coal‐fired installed capacity by scenario, 2...

2 Chapter 2 Figure 2.1 The main steps for designing an LS‐PVPP. Figure 2.2 The main components needed for realization of an LS‐PVPP. Figure 2.3 Classification of solar cells based on the primary active materia...Figure 2.4 Types of solar inverters.Figure 2.5 Characteristic vectors in a one‐axis tracker.Figure 2.6 Types of one‐axis solar tracking systems.Figure 2.7 Two‐axis solar tracking system.

3 Chapter 3Figure 3.1 Feasibility study topics.Figure 3.2 Five lands with different geometric shapes near the town of Twent...Figure 3.3 The topography map of a 200 000‐ha area.Figure 3.4 Satellite image of seasonal floods.Figure 3.5 Initial site plan of the solar power plant at a selected site.Figure 3.6 Important input parameters for financial modeling.Figure 3.7 The results of a financial model of an example of PV power plant....Figure 3.8 A plot showing break‐even point.

4 Chapter 4Figure 4.1 Block diagram representation of grid connection study report.Figure 4.2 Single‐line diagram of a hypothetical electrical grid and the inf...Figure 4.3 Single‐line diagram of a hypothetical PV power plant and the info...Figure 4.4 The complete electrical network and PV plant diagrams in DIgSILEN...Figure 4.5 The results of load flow studies before the PV plant connection....Figure 4.6 The results of load flow studies after the PV plant connection.Figure 4.7 Contingency (N − 1) studies before the PV plant connection.Figure 4.8 Contingency (N − 1) studies after the PV plant connection.Figure 4.9 Results of three‐phase short circuit studies for the power grid b...Figure 4.10 Results of three‐phase short circuit studies for the power grid ...Figure 4.11 The results of harmonics studies related to the connection of a ...Figure 4.12 Power curve before connecting the PV to the PCC.Figure 4.13 Power curve after connecting the PV to the PCC.Figure 4.14 The network losses before connecting the PV to the PCC.Figure 4.15 The network losses after connecting the PV to the PCC.

5 Chapter 5Figure 5.1 Reference extraterrestrial spectrum (ASTM E‐490‐06) and 5800 K bl...Figure 5.2 The earth's orbit around the sun and the position of the earth's ...Figure 5.3 Scattering of the direct‐beam photons by the atmosphere: variatio...Figure 5.4 Solar radiation components resulting from interactions with the a...Figure 5.5 Geometric representation of DHI and DNI.Figure 5.6 The worldwide spatial distributions of GHI [5].Figure 5.7 The worldwide spatial distributions of DNI captured by [5].Figure 5.8 Automatic solar tracker.Figure 5.9 Irradiation H Garriving at an angle of incidence relative to a ho...Figure 5.10 Illustration of the solar angles: (a) altitude angle, α; (b) azi...Figure 5.11 Erbs model for the diffuse.Figure 5.12 Polar contour plot of annual tilted irradiation for different ti...Figure 5.13 Sun path charts for Farmington.Figure 5.14 Fixed ground‐mounted PV array and its shading.Figure 5.15 Fixed PV array.Figure 5.16 Single‐axis tracking PV system.

6 Chapter 6Figure 6.1 Classification of LS‐PVPP engineering documents.Figure 6.2 Documents of different parts of basic design.Figure 6.3 MDL structure.Figure 6.4 An example of a Gantt chart schedule.Figure 6.5 An example of a plot plan.Figure 6.6 Terminologies commonly used in submitted version of engineering d...Figure 6.7 A flowchart of the proposed roadmap for optimal design of PV plan...Figure 6.8 General information.Figure 6.9 Collecting information by site visit.Figure 6.10 The methodology of solar PV mounting structure selection.Figure 6.11 The typical image of the dynamic hill shading analysis.Figure 6.12 Important criteria and indicators for optimizing PV plant.