Certification Training Course

CONFIDENTIAL

SESSION - 2 LIMITED USE

1. On site Survey and Sizing

2. Design of a Solar PV system
3. Connection of a PV plant to the grid

DRRG – Certification Training Course

Certification Training Course
CONFIDENTIAL

SESSION - 2: Site Assessment LIMITED USE

a. Site Assessment
b. Productivity of the PV system

DRRG – Certification Training Course

Site Assessment

DRRG – Certification Training Course

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Site Assessment

In general, the site assessment for PV plants needs a specific

work as regards the following aspects:
• Producibility of the site
• Shading
• General conditions of the site, the building, the soil
• Viability of the area, access, inclination, homogenity
• Conditions of the electric grid on the spot
• Permitting

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Site Assessment

SHADING
• Unless the site is reasonably free of obstructions, shadings
shall be measured in a sufficient number of points on the
perimeter of the area chosen for the PV installation
• If the site is particularly extended, it is useful to take the
position of each point by means of a GPS
• If only a part of the available area is suitable for a PV
installation it can be advisable to trace the outline of the area
on drawings

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Site Assessment

CONDITIONS OF THE SITE, THE BUILDING, THE SOIL

• If the PV system has to be built on soil it the following actions
are needed:
– Measures necessary to the reclamation
– Accommodation and soil stabilization
– Water conveyance
• If the PV system has to be built on an existing building it is
necessary to assess:
– Structural stability and anchoring options
– Constraints of various kinds

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Site Assessment

VIABILITY OF THE AREA, ACCESS, INCLINATION,

HOMOGEINITY
• The area must be viable and accessible for the delivery of
materials and the execution of the works
• If on soil, the inclination, where present, should not lead to
failure over time even in the presence of exceptional events
• Areas with different characteristics give rise to different
producibility, and sometimes different technical solutions

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Site Assessment

CONDITION OF THE ELECTRIC GRID ON THE SPOT

• The distance from a distribution substation of sufficient power
in some cases may be an issue
• One should always consider that the long-distance power
transport might be too expensive
• One should always be sure that the local grid is able to receive
the power produced by the PV system (Application to DEWA)

DRRG – Certification Training Course

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Certification Training Course
CONFIDENTIAL

SESSION - 2: Site Assessment LIMITED USE

a. Site Assessment
b. Productivity of the PV system

DRRG – Certification Training Course

Productivity of
the PV System

DRRG – Certification Training Course

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

The producibility of a PV system of a given power is mostly

affected by:
• Size and characteristics of the PV system
• Solar radiation on the site
• Eventual obstructions to solar paths
• Technology, mainly in terms of:
– Structures (fixed, tracking …)
– PV cell technology (behavior with respect to the
temperature, solar spectrum …)

DRRG – Certification Training Course

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

SIZE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PV SYSTEM

Efv [kWh] = P0  Yr  365.25  BOS  K

Where:
P0 = Nominal power of the PV system [kWp]
Yr = GI / Gref
GI = Total daily in-plane irradiation [kWh/m2day]
Gref = Reference Irradiation [1 kW/m2]
BOS = Balance Of System efficiency
K = Coefficient of reduction (shading, fouling, aging …)

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

TYPICAL COMPOSITION OF BOS

Type of loss Efficiency

Deviation of the PV cell temperature from STC 0.85 ÷ 0.95

Mismatch among modules and strings 0.90 ÷ 1.00

Losses in DC circuits 0.98 ÷ 0.99

Inverter 0.92 ÷ 0.98

Losses in AC circuits 0.95 ÷ 0.99

BOS 0.66 ÷ 0.91

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

• Sun path varies according to the period of the year

• It is important that the PV system is well exposed and free of
obstructions on sun paths in order to optimize the power
produced

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

• Actually, the skyline interferes with sun paths

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

• We may consider a circular surface around the observer, where

sun paths draw a number of lines according to the reference
month
• The highest line is at 21st June, the lowest is at 21st December
• The circular surface is then put on a plane

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

• It is important to know if in the skyline there are obstructions

that interfere with sun paths
• A shading analysis is therefore necessary and must be made
by means of Compass and Clinometer

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

• The shading diagram is overlapped to sun paths and it is

important to see if the shadows interfere with sun paths
• In the example below only the shadings in red circles affect the
power production

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

• The effect of the obstructions in the first example reduces the

yearly power production of about -2.7 %
• Shading from skyline limited to an average of 10° on solar
paths actually can be considered acceptable in most cases
• On the contrary, shadings that affect the top of solar paths must
be always avoided

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On-site Survey and Sizing
Productivity of the PV system

SOLAR TRACKING PV SYSTEMS

• PV systems with a fixed orientation have the added advantage
of having no moving parts and this characteristic can be fully
exploited in buildings
• Anyway, the energy yield can be increased by using tracking
systems as in the examples below:

1-Axis Tracking 2-Axes Tracking

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On-site survey and sizing
Productivity of the PV system

• The use of solar trackers may increase the energy production

up to and above 30% (2-axes trackers)
• Anyway one should be aware that shadings, in particular
reciprocal shading among heliostats, can be a concern

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