Performance Analysis of a Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic System

Abstract

Turkey is among the countries largely dependent on energy import. This dependency has increased interest in new and alternative energy sources. Installation of rooftop solar photovoltaic systems (RSPSs) in Turkey is increasing continuously regarding geographical and meteorological conditions. This paper presents an insight into the potential situation for Turkey and a simulation study for the RSPS designing and calculation for the faculty building at Marmara University in Istanbul. This simulation study demonstrates that 84.75-kWp grid-connected RSPS can produce remarkable power. The system is performed in detail with the PV*SOL software (Premium 2017 R8-Test Version, Valentin Software GmbH, Berlin, Germany). Detailed financial and performance analysis of the grid-connected RSPS for faculty building with various parameters is also carried out in this study. According to the simulation results, the system supplies 13.2% of the faculty buildings' annual electrical energy consumption. The annual savings value of faculty buildings' electrical consumption is approximately 90,298 kWh energy which costs roughly $7296. A photovoltaic (PV) system installation for the faculty building, which has considerable potential for solar energy and sunshine duration, is indispensable for clean energy requirements and was supported by the simulation results. This paper can be considered to be a basic feasibility study prior to moving on to the implementation project.