Simulation of Photovoltaic Power Output for the Salt River Project Integration Study
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Washington, DC (United States)
One year of power output was simulated at one-minute intervals for each of fourteen hypothetical utility-scale photovoltaic power plants and for the aggregate power output from a large number of distribution-connected photovoltaic systems. For utility-scale plants, the simulation first constructs one-year time series of global horizontal irradiance at one-minute intervals at each plant location, and a performance model translates irradiance and weather information to AC output power. Distribution-connected photovoltaic systems comprise a variety of system configurations: residential-scale rooftop systems at various tilts; commercial-scale flat-roof mounted systems; and commercial-scale ground-mounted tracked systems. For distribution-connected PV systems, the simulation estimates the time series of spatially-averaged irradiance for the region containing the systems, and the performance model is employed to estimate power aggregate power from all systems. The simulation results are validated by comparing statistics for the time series of irradiance with statistics for measured irradiance within the region.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1059474
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--2012-9920
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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