Analysis and Assessment of Grid Connected Photovoltaic Plant Performance in a Desert Climate of Southern Algeria

In this paper a detailed evaluation analysis of a photovoltaic plant with 2.5 Kwp capacity was performed, this grid tied photovoltaic plant is located and installed on the roof top of the Research Unit on Renewable Energy (URER-MS) in Adrar region in southern Algeria (Latitude 27.88°N, Longitude -0.27 °E, Altitude 262 m) in year 2018/2019. The Adrar region is characterized by a very high average temperature, low humidity rate and high potential for solar radiation. This analysis was carried out by carrying out a precise evaluation of the various impacts of the environmental parameters on the operating performance of the grid-connected photovoltaic installation. During 12 months of the year 2019 with the annual average temperature was 32°C, the grid connected photovoltaic plant was supplied a total power of 4456 kWh. The experimental results indicated that for different months an important variation have been observed in performance parameters. The maximum/minimum of monthly average daily values of final, reference, and array yields are; 5.55-4.08 kW h/kWp/day, 5.68-5.2 kW h/kWp/day, and 5.07/3.75 kW h/kWp/day, respectively. The overall system, PV module and inverter efficiency reached; 12.80-11.87%, 15.08-11.78%, and 97.5-/98.01%, respectively. The annual performance ratio (PR) is from 65.4% to 82.74%.