Technical and Economic Analysis of Modernization of Solar Power Plant: A Case Study from the Republic of Cuba

The problem of increasing the efficiency of existing power plants is relevant for many countries. Solar power plants built at the end of the 20th century require, as their shelf lives have now expired, not only the replacement of the solar modules, but also the modernization of their component composition. This is due to the requirements to improve the efficiency of power plants to ensure the expansion of renewable energy technologies. This article presents a technical and economic analysis of the choice of solar power plant modernization method, which consists of (1) a method for calculating the amount of power generation; (2) the modeling of solar power plants under specific climatic conditions; (3) the analysis of electricity generation using different types of PV modules and solar radiation trapping technologies in Matlab/Simulink; and (4) the technical and economic analysis of a 2.5 MW solar power plant in the Republic of Cuba (in operation since 2015), for which four different modernization options were considered. All the scenarios differ in the depth of modernization; the results of the analysis were compared with the existing plant. The results of the study showed that the different modernization scenarios respond differently to changes in the inputted technical and economic parameters (cost per kWh, inflation rate, losses, and power plant efficiency). The maximum NPV deviations among the considered scenarios are: a 1% increase in inflation reduces NPV by 2%; a decrease in losses from 20% to 10% increases the NPV by 2.5%; a change in cost from EUR 0.05 to EUR 0.1 increases the NPV by more than 3.5 times. The dependence of the economic results was also tested as a function of three factors: solar module efficiency, inflation, and the price per 1 kWh. It was found that the greatest influence on the NPV of the proposed model is the price per 1 kWh. Based on this analysis, an algorithm was developed to choose the most effective scenario for the conditions of the Republic of Cuba for the modernization of the existing power plants.

PARAMETERS MONITORING ORGANIZATION OF THE SOLAR PANELS EXPERIMENTAL STAND

Актуальность разработки обусловлена необходимостью создания устройства для сбора и обработки информации с экспериментального стенда солнечных панелей. Назначением стенда является получение достоверных данных для верификации моделей оценки показателей гелиопотенциала, использующихся при обосновании эффективности применения солнечных электростанций на территории восточных регионов России. Дано описание основного и вспомогательного оборудования экспериментального стенда. Солнечные панели стенда разноориентированы для определения наиболее эффективного угля наклона и обоснования необходимости применения следящей за солнцем системы. Для снятия и записи мгновенной мощности солнечных панелей разработано устройство на основе микроконтроллера Arduino. Для мониторинга показаний силы тока используется шунтовый амперметр, подключаемый в разрыв цепи питания. Приведена схема счётчика тока и описана его работа. Приведены первичные результаты собранных данных. Намечены основные этапы дальнейшей обработки данных. The relevance of the presented development is due to the need to create a device to read and process information from an experimental array of solar panels. The purpose of the array is to obtain reliable data for the verification of models for estimating photovoltaic power potential indicators used in justifying the feasibility of the adoption of solar power plants in the eastern regions of Russia. We present a description of the main and auxiliary equipment of the experimental array. The array's solar panels are arranged in different ways so as to determine the most efficient tilt angle and justify the need to use a sun tracking system. The proprietary device based on the Arduino microcontroller was designed to read and write the value of instantaneous power of solar panels. To monitor the readings of the amperage, a shunt ammeter is used, which is connected to the gap of the power circuit. The study provides a diagram of the current meter and describe its operation. We outlined the main stages of subsequent data processing.

Optimal Solar Plant Site Identification Using GIS and Remote Sensing: Framework and Case Study

Many countries have set a goal for a carbon neutral future, and the adoption of solar energy as an alternative energy source to fossil fuel is one of the major measures planned. Yet not all locations are equally suitable for solar energy generation. This is due to uneven solar radiation distribution as well as various environmental factors. A number of studies in the literature have used multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) to determine the most suitable places to build solar power plants. To the best of our knowledge, no study has addressed the subject of optimal solar plant site identification for the Al-Qassim region, although developing renewable energy in Saudi Arabia has been put on the agenda. This paper developed a spatial MCDA framework catering to the characteristics of the Al-Qassim region. The framework adopts several tools used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), such as Random Forest (RF) raster classification and model builder. The framework aims to ascertain the ideal sites for solar power plants in the Al-Qassim region in terms of the amount of potential photovoltaic electricity production (PVOUT) that could be produced from solar energy. For that, a combination of GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques were employed to determine five sub-criteria weights (Slope, Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), proximity to roads, proximity to residential areas, proximity to powerlines) before performing spatial MCDA. The result showed that ‘the most suitable’ and ‘suitable’ areas for the establishment of solar plants are in the south and southwest of the region, representing about 17.53% of the study area. The ‘unsuitable’ areas account for about 10.17% of the total study area, which is mainly concentrated in the northern part. The rest of the region is further classified into ‘moderate’ and ‘restricted’ areas, which account for 46.42% and 25.88%, respectively. The most suitable area for potential solar energy, yields approximately 1905 Kwh/Kwp in terms of PVOUT. The proposed framework also has the potential to be applied to other regions nationally and internationally. This work contributes a reproducible GIS workflow for a low-cost but accurate adoption of a solar energy plan to achieve sustainable development goals.