Open AccessPerformance comparison of fixed and single axis tracker photovoltaic system in large scale solar power plants in Malaysia
Author(s) -
Baraa Mahmoud Dawoud,
Siow Chun Lim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
indonesian journal of electrical engineering and computer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.241
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 2502-4760
pISSN - 2502-4752
DOI - 10.11591/ijeecs.v21.i1.pp10-17
Subject(s) - photovoltaic system , renewable energy , scale (ratio) , solar tracker , solar power , solar energy , nameplate capacity , span (engineering) , engineering , electricity generation , environmental science , computer science , automotive engineering , power (physics) , electrical engineering , civil engineering , geography , cartography , physics , quantum mechanics
Malaysia is rapidly expanding the generation capacity of solar power through large scale solar (LSS) projects with the aim to achieve 20% renewable energy mix by 2025. This has motivated many solar industry players to explore the usage of solar PV with single axis tracker (SAT) system. However, many are still hesitant due to the lack of understanding on the comparative performance between fixed mounted solar PV with solar PV with SAT system. This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis on the performance of both systems. Simulation using PVSyst 6.83 was performed in five potential LSS sites spread across Peninsular Malaysia in Perlis, Kelantan, Pahang, Selangor and Johor with the same installed capacity of 10.32MWp. The energy yield and capacity factor for 21 years were simulated. On the average, it was found that SAT outperforms fixed mounted solar PV system by 15.08% based on their performance on their first year operation.