Energy production trade-offs in photovoltaic system design

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6141762

Jones, G J

The energy per unit area produced annually by a photovoltaic system is a function of collector efficiency and incident solar radiation. The incident energy is determined by geographic location and type of mounting structure: fixed or tracking. Because of significant differences in the solar energy available to various structure and tracking concepts, it is possible to achieve equal energy cost for widely varying array field prices. Our analysis (using recent estimates for balance-of-system costs) of several array options shows that two-axis tracking of flat-panel collectors results in lower energy cost than do fixed arrays, even at low module prices. We also show that concentrating collector modules and flat-plate modules achieve the same energy cost at similar cost per square meter.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6141762
• Report Number(s): SAND-82-2239; ON: DE83011468
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140600* -- Solar Energy-- Photovoltaic Power Systems
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONCENTRATOR SOLAR CELLS
COST
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
OPTIMIZATION
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SUPPLIES
POWER SUPPLIES
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR TRACKING