Design of Grid

Connect PV systems
 INTRODUCTION

• The document provides the minimum knowledge

required when designing a PV Grid connect system.
The actual design criteria could include: -
1- Specifying a specific size (in kWp ) for an array.
2- Available budget.
3- Available roof space.
4- Wanting to zero their annual electrical usage or a
number of other specific customer related criteria.
 DESIGNING A SYSTEM SUMMARY

Whatever the final design criteria a designer shall be

capable of:
• Determining the energy yield.
• Specific yield and performance ratio of the grid connect PV
system.
• Determining the inverter size based on the size of the array.
• Matching the array configuration to the selected inverter
maximum voltage and voltage operating windows.
 SITE VISIT
Prior to designing any Grid Connected PV system a designer shall
either visit the site or arrange for a work colleague to visit the
site and undertake/determine/obtain the following:
Discuss energy efficient initiatives that could be implemented by
the site owner.
These could include:
• Replacing inefficient electrical appliances with new energy
efficient electrical appliances
• Replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents
and/or efficient LED lights
• Assess the occupational safety and health risks when working on
that particular site.
 SITE VISIT
• Determine the solar access for the site.
• Determine whether any shading will occur and estimate its
effect on the system.
• Determine the orientation and tilt angle of the roof if the
solar array is to be roof mounted.
• Determine the available area for the solar array.
• Determine whether the roof is suitable for mounting the
array.
 SITE VISIT
• Determine how the modules will be mounted on the roof.
•Determine where the inverter will be located.
• Determine the cabling route and therefore estimate the
lengths of the cable runs.
• Determine whether monitoring panels or screens are
required and determine a suitable location with the owner
 STANDARDS for DESIGN
In Australia and New Zealand the following standards are applicable: …

In Australia and New Zealand the relevant standards include:

AS/NZ 3000 Wiring Rules
AS 3008 Selection of Cables
AS /NZS4777 G Grid Connection of energy systems by inverters
AS/NZS 5033 Installation of PV Arrays
AS 4509 Stand-alone power systems (note some aspects of these standards are
relevant to grid connect systems)
AS 3595 Energy management programs
AS 1768 Lightning Protection
 STANDARDS for DESIGN 2
In USA the relevant codes and standards include:
• Electrical Codes-National Electrical Code Article 690: Solar
Photovoltaic Systems and NFPA 70
• Uniform Solar Energy Code
• Building Codes- ICC, ASCE 7
• UL Standard 1701; Flat Plat Photovoltaic Modules and Panels
• IEEE 1547, Standards for Interconnecting distributed Resources with
Electric Power Systems
• UL Standard 1741, Standard for Inverter, converters, Controllers and
Interconnection System Equipment for use with Distributed Energy
Resources
 AC ENERGY OUTPUT OF PV ARRAY
The AC energy output of a solar array : is the electrical AC
energy delivered to the grid at the point of connection of the
grid connect inverter to the grid.
The output of the solar array is affected by:
• Average solar radiation data for selected tilt angle and
orientation;
• Manufacturing tolerance of modules;
• Temperature effects on the modules;
• Effects of dirt on the modules;
• System losses (eg power loss in cable); and
• Inverter efficiency
 ENERGY YIELD
➢ For a specified peak power rating (kWp ) for a solar array a
designer can determine the systems energy output over the
whole year.
➢ Energy Yield is the system energy output over a whole
year
The average yearly energy yield can be determined as
follows:
 Array Losses/Output
Parray_stc Rated output power of the array under
standard test conditions, in watts
ftem Temperature de-rating factor, dimensionless (refer
next section)
fman De-rating factor for manufacturing tolerance,
dimensionless (refer next section)
fdirt De-rating factor for dirt, dimensionless (refer next
section)
Htilt Yearly irradiation value (kWh/m2 ) for the selected
site (allowing for tilt, orientation and shading)
 SYSTEM LOSSES

ηinv Yearly irradiation value (kWh/m2 ) for the

selected site (allowing for tilt, orientation and shading)
η𝑝𝑣−𝑖𝑛𝑣 Efficiency of the inverter dimensionless
η𝑖𝑛𝑣−𝑠𝑢 Efficiency of the subsystem (cables) between
the inverter and the switchboard
 SOLAR RADIATION

Solar irradiation is typically provided as kWh/m2 .

However it can be stated as daily peak Sunhrs (PSH).
This is the equivalent number of hours of solar irradiance
of 1kW/m2 .
 SOLAR RADIATION DATA
• Suva, Fiji (Latitude 18°08′S Longitude 178°25′E)
• Apia, Samoa (Latitude 13o50' S' Longitude 171o44’ W)
• Port Vila, Vanuatu (Latitude 17° 44' S Longitude 168° 19' E)
• Tarawa, Kiribati (Latitude 1°28'N, Longitude 173°2’E)
• Raratonga, Cook islands( Latitude 21°30'S, Longitude
160°0’W)
• Nuku’alofa, Tonga (Latitude 21º14'S Longitude 175º22’W)
• Honiara, Solomon Islands (Latitude 09°27'S, Longitude
159°57’E)
• Koror, Palau ( Latitude 7°20’N Longitude 134°28'E)
 SOLAR RADIATION DATA
• Palikir, Pohnpei FSM (Latitude: 6°54'N, Longitude: 158°13'E)
• Majuro, Marshall Islands (Latitude: 7º 12N, Longitude 171º
06E)
• Alofi, Niue (Latitude 19°04' S. Longitude 169° 55' W)
• Nauru (Latitude 0º55’S, Longitude 166º 91’E)
• Tuvalu (Latitude 8°31′S, Longitude 179°13′E)
• Hagåtña, Guam (Latitude 13°28′N Longitude: 144°45′E)
• Noumea, New Caledonia (Latitude 22°16′S Longitude:
166°27′E)
• Pago Pago, American Samoa (Latitude 14°16′ S Longitude:
170°42′W)
SOLAR RADIATION Sample
 DERATING MODULES OUTPUT

1- Derating due to Manufacturers Output Tolerance

2. Derating due to dirt

3. Derating due to Temperature

 DERATING MODULES Manufacturers

The output of a PV module is specified in watts and with a

manufacturing tolerance based on a cell temperature of 25
degrees C.
• Historically 5%
• recent years typical figures have been 3%
• System design must incorporate this tolerance.
As a worked example:

- Assuming the tolerance is 5% the “worst case”

- Adjusted output of a 160W
- PV module is therefore around 152W ….. (0.95 x 160W),
or 5% loss from the rated 160W.
 DERATING MODULES Dirt

The output of a PV module can be reduced as a result of a build-

up of dirt on the surface of the module.
• If in doubt, an acceptable derating would be 5% from the
already derated figure that includes manufacturers’ tolerances.
As a worked example:

- Assuming power loss due to dirt of 5% then the already derated

152 W
- module would now be derated further to 144.4W (0.95 x 152W).
 DERATING MODULES Temperature

➢ A solar modules output power decreases with

temperature above 25°C and increases with
temperatures below 25°C

➢ Minimum Effective Cell Temp = Ambient Temperature +

25°C
 DERATING MODULES Temperature
1- Monocrystalline Modules
-Monocrystalline Modules typically have a temperature coefficient of
–0.45%/ °C.
That is for every degree above 25°C the output power is derated by
0.45%.
2- Polycrystalline Modules
- Polycrystalline Modules typically have a temperature coefficient of –
0.5%/ °C.
3- Thin Film Modules
-Thin film Modules have a different temperature characteristic
resulting in a lower co-efficient typically around 0%/°C to - 0.25%/°C,
but remember to check with the manufacturer
 DERATING MODULES Temperature Example
For the worked example,
Assume the ambient temperature is 30 °C.
Therefore the effective cell temperature is 30 °C +25 °C = 55 °C
Therefore this is 30 °C above the STC temperature of 25 °C

Assume the 160Wp module used in the example is a

polycrystalline module with a derating of -0.5%/ °C
Therefore the output power losses due to temperature would
be:
Temperature loss = 30 °C x 0.5%/ °C = 15% loss
DERATING MODULES Temperature Example

Assuming power loss due to temperature of 15%

then the already derated 144.4 W module would now be
derated further to 122.7W (0.85 x 144.4W).
 DERATING MODULES SUMMARY

A solar module has an derated output power = Module

power @ STC x Derating due to manufacturers tolerances x
derating due to dirt x derating due to temperature.
For the worked example:
Derated output power = 160 x 0.95 x 0.95 x 0.85 = 122.7W
 DC ENERGY OUTPUT FROM ARRAY

The actual DC energy from the solar array = the derated

output power of the module x number of modules x
irradiation for the tilt and azimuth angle of the array.
Example :
Assume that the average daily PSH is 5 and that there are 16
modules in the array.
Therefore the DC energy output of the array = 122.7 x 16 x 5 =
9816Wh
 DC SYSTEM LOSSES
The DC energy output of the solar array will be further
reduced by the power loss (voltage drop) in the DC cable
connecting the solar array to the grid connect inverter.

Example
Assume that the cable losses for the DC cables is 3%.
This is a DC subsystem efficiency of 97%.
Therefore the DC energy from the array that will be delivered
to the input of the inverter will be = 9816 x 0.97 = 9521 Wh
 INVERTER EFFICIENCY
The DC energy delivered to the input of the inverter will be
further reduced by the power/energy loss in the inverter.

Example
Assume that the inverter efficiency is 96%.
Therefore the AC energy delivered from the output of the
inverter will be = 9521 x 0.96 = 9140 Wh
 AC SYSTEM LOSSES
The AC energy output of the inverter will be further reduced
by the power loss in the AC cable connecting the inverter to
the grid, say switchboard where it is connected.

Example
Assume that the cable losses for the AC cables is 1%.
the AC energy from the inverter (and originally from the array)
that will be delivered to the grid will be
= 9140 x 0.99 = 9048 Wh
 Energy Yield of example
The worked example included an array of 16 modules each
with a STC rating of 160Wp.
Therefore the array is rated 2560Wp .
The average daily AC energy that was delivered by the array to
the grid was 9048Wh or 9.05kWh.
Therefore over a typical year of 365 days then
Energy Yield of the solar array is = 365 days x 9.05kWh/day =
3303kWh/year
 SPECIFIC ENERGY YIELD
The specific energy yield is the AC energy from the
array (kWh )to the peak rated power (kWp) and it
calculated as follows:

For the worked example:

The AC energy from the array was 3303kWh/year
and the array was rated at 2560Wp
Therefore the specific energy yield = 3303/2.560=
1,290kWh per kWp
 PERFORMANCE RATIO
The performance ratio (PR) is used to access the
installation quality .
The performance ratio provides a normalised basis so
comparison of different types and sizes of PV systems
can be undertaken.
The performance ratio is a reflection of the system
losses
 PERFORMANCE RATIO

Where
𝐸𝑠𝑦𝑠 = actual yearly energy yield from the system
𝐸𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 = the ideal energy output of the array.
 Ideal Energy

Where
𝐻𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑡 = yearly average daily irradiation, in kWh/m2 for
the specified tilt angle
𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦_𝑆𝑇𝐶 = rated output power of the array under
standard test conditions, in watts
 PERFORMANCE RATIO Example

➢ The average daily PSH was 5.

➢ Therefore the yearly irradiation (or PSH) would be
➢ 5 x 365= 1825 kWh/m2 (that is 1825 PSH).
➢ The rated power of the array at STC is 2560Wp
(@kWh/m2 )
 PERFORMANCE RATIO Example

➢Therefore the ideal energy from the array per year

would be: 2.56kW x 1825h = 4672kWh
➢The AC energy from the solar array was 3303 Kwh per
year.
➢ Therefore the performance ratio is 3303/4672 = 0.71