Sun Tracking PV Power Plants: Experimental Validation of Irradiance and Power Output Prediction Models

Abstract

Unlike traditional power plants, where the power output is easily controlled, those based on intermittent renewable resources have an inherent uncertainty on its availability. In the case of photovoltaics, their output is not only dependent on the solar resource itself, but also on the cell's temperature and on the collection system. The purpose of this paper is to present a model that allows estimating the power produced by PV systems with solar tracking based on irradiance and temperature data related to fixed systems. To that end, the main concepts related to solar geometry and incidence angle computation are recalled and a PV power model (the one diode and five parameters model) is presented. The developed model is validated with experimental data collected in a PV test facility and with PVGIS records.

Keywords

• Photovoltaics, solar collection, solar tracking, power output model

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