Title: Exergy analysis of a 100 KW_p multi-crystalline solar photovoltaic array system in a tropical Savanna climate in India

Authors: Sivasankari Sundaram; Jakka Sarat Chandra Babu

Addresses: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, Tamilnadu, India ' Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract: Exergy analysis acts as an efficient assessment tool for determining the true performance or efficiency of the system close to its ideal working condition. It thus becomes essential to know the maximum amount of useful work for an operating system by applying the above rational analysis. Hence an exergy analysis is performed on the multi-crystalline photovoltaic array which forms the source of power generation of 100 KWp plant at NIT Tiruchirappalli. The exergy, energy and power conversion efficiencies are calculated and compared for all working days of the plant from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. for the duration from September 2013 to December 2013. In addition a single diode solar photovoltaic model was developed in MATLAB by which a comparison of actual and simulated energy efficiency was also made. The effect of DC power output over the exergy efficiency for the operating period is also discussed and concluding its impact over one another.

Keywords: exergy efficiency; energy efficiency; power conversion efficiency; DC power output; mean bias error; root mean square error; single diode model; solar energy; solar power; photovoltaic arrays; tropical climate; India; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2015.072165

International Journal of Exergy, 2015 Vol.18 No.2, pp.157 - 176

Received: 24 Jun 2014
Accepted: 13 Sep 2014
Published online: 02 Oct 2015 *

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