Performance Analysis of a Grid-connected High Concentrating Photovoltaic System under Practical Operation Conditions

Abstract

High concentrating photovoltaic (HCPV) is a promising technique for the practical commercial utilization of solar energy. However, the performance of a HCPV system is significantly influenced by environmental parameters such as solar direct normal irradiance (DNI) level and environmental temperature. This paper analyzes the performance of a 9 kWp grid-connected HCPV system in Kunming (Yunnan, China), during practical field operations over an entire year, and discusses how the environmental parameters influence the performance from both the energy conversion and power inversion perspective. Large variations in the performance of the HCPV system have been observed for different months, due to the respective changes in the environmental parameters. The DNI level has been found to be a dominant parameter that mainly determines the amount of energy production as well as the performance ratio of the HCPV system. The environmental temperature and wind velocity have less influence on the system performance ratio than expected. Based on the performance of the present HCPV system, a quantified correlation between the output power and the direct normal irradiance has been derived, which provides guidelines for both the cogent application and the modeling of HCPV techniques for grid-connected power generation.

Keywords

• HCPV system
• performance ratio
• efficiency
• DNI
• temperature
• 88.40.hj