A. Al Tarabsheh

Energy Yield of Tracking PV Systems in Jordan

This paper analyzes the energy yield of photovoltaic (PV) modules mounted on fixed tilt, one-axis, and two-axis tracking system towards maximizing the annual energy production. The performance evaluation of the proposed design of the tracking systems is carried via simulating the global radiation averages using METEONORM software and depicting the simulation results in figures using MATLAB software. The one-axis system is simulated by either fixing the azimuth angle while optimizing the inclination angles or fixing the inclination angle while optimizing the azimuth angles; simulation results show an increase in energy yield of 5.87% and 20.12% compared to that of fixed tilt system, respectively. In the two-axis system, optimization of both azimuth and inclination angles is carried out simultaneously which resulted in 30.82% improvement in energy yield. Therefore, 30% improvement in energy yield is directly reflected as saving in PV system cost due to reduction of the PV modules surface area.

Dynamic and Steady-State Characteristics of Dc Machines Fed by Photovoltaic Systems

Abstract This paper presents the dynamical model and analysis of DC shunt, series and permanent-magnet (PM) motors fed by photovoltaic (PV) energy systems at different illuminations. At the full solar intensity, the maximum power point of current/voltage (I/V) characteristic of the PV modules is designed to be at the rated conditions of the machines. The nonlinear behaviour of I/V characteristics of the PV modules and that of the magnetization curve of the ferromagnetic materials of the machines are approximated by polynomial curve fitting. The dynamical analysis of the machines fed by fixed terminal voltage has also been carried out and a comparison between the cases of supplying the motors by fully illuminated solar cells, partially illuminated solar cells and fixed terminal voltage is addressed. The steady-state output characteristics, and the torque-speed characteristics, of the three DC motors with the two inputs are presented and compared. All the simulations are executed using MATLAB.

Investigation of the shunting effects of parallel-connected a-Si:H solar cells

This paper investigates the performance of parallel-connected amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells based on the separation of the shunting effects of individual cells under different illumination intensities, Φ. The cells are arranged in photovoltaic (PV) modules to meet the desired electrical requirements. According to traditional methods of determining the shunt resistance of each cell, one has to remove the lamination over the PV modules, resulting in a probable damage of the physical connections between the cells. Therefore, to solve such a problem, we make use of the illumination-intensity dependence of the shunt resistance of a-Si:H solar cells. The purpose of this study is to determine the shunt resistance of any cell in the PV module even without accessing the electrical contacts of the corresponding cell, and consequently, we non-destructively identify any shunted (low quality) cell in the PV module.

Analysis of the Ideality Factor of a-Si:H Solar Cells

This paper analyzes the ideality factor of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells as a function of both the thickness of the intrinsic layer and the applied voltage to the cells. The ideality factor in this work is extracted from the current/voltage characteristic that is calculated by solving the continuity and transport equations and taking into account the contributions of diffusion and drift currents for minority and majority carriers and, especially, the nonequality of mobilities and lifetimes of electrons and holes in a-Si:H solar cells.

Design and simulation of a PV-grid connected system

This work presents the design and simulation of 10 kW grid-connected photovoltaic PV systems as feasible power generators for the Hashemite University campus 32.05°N, 36.06°E. The simulation is performed to justify the accuracy and reliability of such design using PV-SOL and Meteonorm simulation software. In the primary simulation runs a set of parameters including the module power, PV-solar panel size, inverter type, global radiation and angle of inclination were used. The results of those runs lead to the final simulation parameters which are used for the 10 kW PV system. This work also presents a comparison between the performances of different PV panel sizes and different inclination angles. The final design of 10-kW PV-system consists of 33 PV panels of 300 W each and three inverters of 3.4 kW each. In order to highlight the economical and ecological effectiveness and the promising potential of the proposed system, a comparison between the costs of one kWh generated by our system with that of the public electricity tariff has been conducted.