Evaluating the Significance of Solarimetric Data for Photovoltaic System Simulation in a Real-World Case

Solarimetric stations in photovoltaic (PV) systems serve an essential role in identifying issues and evaluating performance by providing data for simulations. This study aims to illustrate the value of employing solarimetric station data through a case study of a PV installation. The methodology involved using solarimetric station data, comprising global, direct normal, and diffuse irradiance, to generate Plane of Array (POA) irradiance data. The POA data were input into the PVsyst software to simulate and compare with actual energy generation. A significantly lower discrepancy of 0.21% was discovered between the real and simulated data using POA, versus a 3.13% discrepancy with meteonorm data in PVsyst. This outcome emphasizes the enhancement in simulation precision when integrating real-world POA data, highlighting the necessity to leverage authentic irradiance data for accurate PV system simulations. Additionally, statistical analyses were conducted to comprehend the relation between POA and the generation data.