Field performance analysis of PV systems in Antofagsta

1. Performance evaluation of PV systems in
Antofagasta
Dr. Pablo Ferrada, CDEA-UA / SERC
pablo.ferrada@uantof.cl
Mg. Ing. Francisco Araya
Francisco.araya.rojas@uantof.cl
Dr. Aitor Marzo
Mg. Ing. Cristóbal ParradoAntofagasta, 14.01.2015

2. Contents
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Location Chile
PV performance analysis
Coastal zone of Atacama Desert
Industrial environment
Future investigations
Photo: ALMA, Atacama Large Millimeter Array

3. 33/16
Scenario
ALMA at 5058 m high: 0.3 to 9.6 mm
• High solar radiation levels, natural resources, financial and political-social stability.
• Mining industrial environment with high energy consumption, carbon footprint.
• Possibility for becoming Solar Energy reference in Latin America.
Very Large Telescope (VTL) at 2630 m:
300 nm to 20 µm
Nº of large observatories > 12 in Chile

4. 4/16
• “4th National Competition for Excellence Centers in Research on Priority Areas: “Solar Energy Research Center (SERC-Chile).”
• Performance Agreement for Higher Education "Strengthening the University of Antofagasta as Regional and National
Reference in Non-Conventional Renewable Energy (ERNC)" 2012.
• “Implementation, development and diffusion of the Atacama Solar Platform (PSDA) within the system of regional
technological parks”, financed by Fondos para la Innovación y Competitividad (FIC-R, Antofagasta Region).
• “Photovoltaic Laboratory for Education and Demonstration”, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ.
• Ferrada, Cabrera: SERC Grant for the Internationalization of Solar Energy Research in Chile (bifiPV-PSDA workshop in January
2015” about the Bifacial Photovoltaic Modules implemented for the Atacama Desert.
• Ferrada, Cabrera et al: SERC Grant for acquiring a h.a.l.m. IV tracer to characterize mini-modules & size-standard modules.
• Ferrada, Fuentealba, Schneider, Cabrera “Evaluation of defect patterns found in solar modules installed in Chile for
continuous improvement of solar materials and the generation of quality standards for the location of Chile”
• Ferrada, Araya et al: Call for a tender to install 12 PV plants at U. Antofagasta and PSDA (research, architecture, generation).
Relevant projects involving PV

5. 5

6. Atacama Desert Solar Platform
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 Collaboration between research centers (CIEMAT, CTAER, ISC-Konstanz)
 Implementation and testing of solar technologies
 Testing of commercial equipment, in-situ conditions of the Atacama Desert
 Laboratory demonstrative of solar technologies for future researchers.
16
~80 ha
~85 km
~1100 over sea level

7. PV plants for research purposes in Antofagasta
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8. Soiling
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Process by which dust deposits on a surface during exposure to the environment
1. Due to gravity: sedimentation of the
particles on the surface.
2. Adhesion due to: humidity, Van der Waals
force and/or electrostatic.
3. Cementation with salt and other
substances.
4. Others: e. g. bird dropping

9. Chemical composition and particle size
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PV plants at the coast of the Atacama desert: µc-Si/a-Si tandem thin films, mc-Si and mono-Si

10. PV plants at coastal zone of Atacama Desert
   /
22 








m
kW
m
kWh
Y
kWpkWhY
G
H
P
E
PR
r
f
STC
POA
STC
DC
Yr: Avg nº of peak sun hours defining solar resource available for PV plant
Yf: nº of hours that the PV array would need to operate at its rated power to
provide the measured (DC) energy
HPOA: 2600 kWh/m2*year Yf,mono-Si: 1760 kWh/kWp*year
Yf,a-Si/µc-Si: 1690 kWh/kWp*year
Yf,mc-Si: 1590 kWh/kWp*year
PRslopemono-Si: -1.7, -3.7, -1.8 %/month
PRslopea-Si/µc-Si: -4.2, -4.4, -3.7 %/month
PRslopemc-Si: -1.8, -3.8, -3.1 %/month

11. Daily performance ratio and temperature
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12. Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE)
LCoE represents the generated electricity cost including the initial capital, the return of investment and variable cost
𝐿𝐶𝑜𝐸 =
𝐴𝑇𝐶
𝑇𝐸𝑃 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙
ATC is the annualized total costs and TEP is the total energy produced.
The ATC depends on total investment and variable costs (𝑇𝐶) and annualized factor (𝑓):
𝐴𝑇𝐶 = 𝑇𝐶 · 𝑓 f=
(1+𝑟) 𝑛 𝑟
(1+𝑟) 𝑛−1
Where r is the discount rate and n is the lifetime of the plant in years.
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Full Load Hours

13. Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE)
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LCoE Thin film mono-Si mc-Si
Clean (cEURO/kWh) 14.49 13.37 15.65
Dirty (cEURO/kWh) 15.56 14.33 16.71
Thin film mono-Si mc-Si
Item Value Quantity Total Value Quantity Total Value Quantity Total
Modules 132.8 24 3187.2 231.5 18 4167 240 14 3360
Inverters 1000 1 1000 900 1 900 900 1 900
Dataloggers 329 0,5 164.5 329 0,5 164.5 329 1 329
Sensors 223 1 223 223 1 223 346 1 346
Structure 320 10 3200 320 6 1920 320 8 2560
O&M 1
O&M 2
48.15
48.15
3
12
48.11
192.46
48.15
48.15
3
12
48.11
192.46
48.15
48.15
3
12
48.11
192.46
Others 209.18 1 209.18 209.18 1 209.18 209.18 1 209.18
Total 1
Total 2
8031.99
8176.34
7631.79
7776.14
7752.29
7896.64

14. PV plants at industrial environment in Atacama
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GHI: 2540 ± 60 kWh/m2*year
GTI: 2850 ± 10 kWh/m2*year
GTI: 2640 ± 10 kWh/m2*year
TGI: 3500 ± 20 kWh/m2*year
GHI: Global Horizontal Irradiation
GTI: Global Tilted Irradiation
TGI: 1-axis Sun-Tracking Global Irradiation
Yf,CdTe: 1590 ± 80 kWh/kWp*year
Yf,mc-Si: 1790 ± 50 kWh/kWp*year
Yf,mc-Si-track :2320 ± 60 kWh/kWp*year
PRslope,CdTe: -4.3 ± 0.2 %/month
PRslope,mc-Si: -4.0 ± 0.2 %/month
PRslope,mc-Si-track : -4.4 ± 0.4 %/month

15. Future investigations
EVA: ethylene vinyl acetate
POE: polyolefin elastomer
Main content of the samples (%)
][mA/cm)()()( 2
0
2
1



dTISRqJ 
[Nelson 2011]

16. Conclusions
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• High solar radiation levels, moderate temperatures and clear sky in northern Chile
• Different environmental conditions and energy needs in Chile
• Behavior of PV technologies not well known in Chile
• Soiling and interaction of materials with the environment
• Determination of LCoE for PV plants considering actual performance, and prediction for new PV projects
• Possibility to test PV devices in Atacama (performance and material degradation, electricity costs)
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17. Thank you for your attention