Published on AE 868: Commercial Solar Electric Systems (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/ae868)

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Lesson 2 Activity

Lesson 2 Activity
Activity Details
Assignment Refer to the scenario on the first page of this lesson. Imagine that, In addition to working in procurements, you are also a solar analyst for this company. You have a client in Charlotte, NC. The client has a farm where he wants to install 10 kW system and 240V service. Given the PV module used (Trina solar TSM-250PC/PA05A), you are to come up with the estimated annual energy yield. (Note: By this time you should have downloaded the latest version of SAM and completed the Simulation Exercise [1]. Also, the choice of power conditioning units including inverters is not considered at this time, so use Enphase Energy M 215 if SAM asks for it.) Please note that Enphase 215 is a micro-inverter such that each PV module requires a single micro-inverter. These micro-inverters are finaly connected in parallel.   
 
  1. Choose the right PV module, system configuration(series/parallel), and simulate the effect of title angle and azimuth at that location
.
  2. Go to NREL PVWatt website [2] and try to choose the same values for the system size, tilt, and azimuth angles for the same location, and simulate the energy production and compare with SAM
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Deliverable

Prepare a report showing both simulation results for SAM and PVWatt. The report is to be no more than two double-spaced pages in a 12 point font. Include the following in your report:

  • Indicate the corresponding tilt and azimuth that give the best annual energy productions. (Hint: this lesson covered the best tilt and orientation using the location’s sun chart.)
  • What are the optimal tilt and orientation angles that can be used when installing the system? Explain why.
Bonus: Create a calculator to estimate the power and voltage ranges when ambient conditions (irradiance and temperature) change. (Hint: you may use Microsoft Excel for equations. Your input will be the ambient temperature and irradiance; your output will be actual voltage and power).
Submission Instructions and Grading Please visit the Lesson Activity [3] page for submission instructions and grading information.


Source URL: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/ae868/node/888

Links
[1] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/ae868/641
[2] http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/
[3] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/ae868/891