Comparison of the Performance of Solar Panels Designed in Three Different Ways under the Same Conditions

Abstract

Renewable energy sources such as solar energy have great potential to alleviate some of the negative environmental problems, including climate change, caused by intensive fossil fuel use. Solar energy will play an important part in future energy systems because of its rapid installation technology and lowering costs. In order to use solar radiation intensity in a wide range in the most efficient way, the plants must either be at an optimum angle in the area where they are installed or they should be designed with moving systems. In this study, performance and efficiency comparisons of solar tracking systems and fixed-designed systems based on real-field conditions have been made. In this way, price performance ratios can be determined clearly and it will be easier to decide on the types of power plants to be built. While solar tracking systems move according to the most efficient position that they can get from the sun through radiation sensors, they are designed with elements such as PLCs using multi-year solar data that operate with an open loop and based on meteorological data. In this study, three different power plant types designed as 1-axis, 2-axis, and fixed angle were controlled as open loop with PLC software and production differences between power plants were evaluated for 1 year. According to this research we have done, it has been concluded that 2-axis tracking systems produce approximately 32% more energy annually than a fixed-angle system, with an annual efficiency rate of 23% higher than a 1-axis system.

Keywords

• Photovoltaic systems
• Solar power
• PLC

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