A study on the PV potential analysis for grid connected PV system in NIT Rourkela

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is an integrated set of PV module and its co-components, used primarily in grid-connected electricity to supply sufficient power to the consumers. To operate a PV system in the optimal condition, the study regarding the climatic situation of the site is useful. Considering stochastic nature of climatic parameters like temperature and radiation, employment of suitable methods to predict the energy output of a plant-to-be installed becomes effective. The present paper uses three methods for the PV potential analysis of grid connected crystalline PV system on the campus of NIT Rourkela. The first method implements the use of online tools to estimate the energy yield while the second and third method utilize in-house build model and software for the analysis. Analysis of the climate and input for the above methods uses the data regarding the meteorological parameters, collected from the database of NASA, PVGIS, PVWatts, and SolarGIS. The prediction of annual energy yield is compared with all the methods to check the range of PV energy potential and size of a solar power plant that is realizable within the campus meeting the energy demand.