Performance, energy loss, and degradation prediction of roof-integrated crystalline solar PV system installed in Northern India

This article predicts the performance, energy loss, and degradation of a 200 kW roof-integrated crystalline photovoltaic (PV) system installed at IRB Complex-5, Chandigarh in the Northern part of India. PVsyst simulation tool is used for predicting the energy generation, and energy loss. Analysis of the energy generation and various input parameters are carried out for evaluating the capacity factor (CF), performance ratio (PR), and efficiencies. For a detailed analysis of the energy losses, a three-stage approach (sunlight reaching onto the PV array, sunlight into DC electricity conversion, and DC to AC electricity conversion) is used. The light-induced degradation (LID), which is possible in the PV modules in the second stage (sunlight into DC electricity conversion) is predicted using the PVsyst simulation modeling. Apart from this, the possible degradation rate (DR) in the crystalline PV systems is considered based on the All-India survey of PV module reliability reports. The predicted results show that 292954 kWh of energy generation is possible on an annual basis from the planned PV system. The system is estimated to operate with a yearly CF, PR, and energy losses as 16.72%, 77.27%, and -26.5% respectively. The estimated DR of the PV system would lie between -0.6 to -5%/year, and the possible LID is -2.5%/year. Finally, the energy losses due to LID, and DR are predicted as -8109.99 kWh/year, and -1757.724 to -14647.7 kWh/year respectively.