Design and comparative analysis of different solar cell technologies of a 3MW Grid-Connected PV system in Meitar, Israel

Abstract

The main purpose of this thesis is to make a design and comparative analysis of different solar cell technologies (Polycrystalline, Monocrystalline, Thin-Film CIS, Thin-Film A-Si and Multi- Junction) of a 3 MW PV grid connected system that located in Meitar Israel. The comparative analysis considers the area, the cost, the LCOE (Levelized cost of energy) and the payback. The main procedure of this thesis was divided into four parts. The first part presents the technical and legislation requirements of Israel, this part has explained the laws to install a PV system and the tariffs. The second part shows the geographical situation and the meteorological data of Meitar, which has included presentation of the village, the solar irradiation during the year and the ambient temperature. The third part shows the component selection of the different PV systems. This part has included a carefully study in order to choose the most correctly and the financially modules and inverters for the systems. The last part shows the sizing and the simulation of the different PV systems. This part has presented the necessary number of modules and inverters, the total necessary area and the economic analysis for each system. The simulation of the different PV systems was done by the software PVsyst. This software has a wide database of the meteorological data including the global solar irradiation, diffuse irradiation and the ambient temperature during the year. Also, there is a database of the solar energy components from various manufacturers. After the analysis of the results of the different PV systems, it was possible to see which cell technology will be preferable for this system. First, was made a comparison of the necessary area between the different PV systems. Second, was made an economic analysis in order to see which cell technology will be the most financially, including calculations of the LCOE and payback of each PV system. After the analysis of the results the polycrystalline technology has shown superiority on the rest. That means, the installation of the grid connected PV system with the Polycrystalline technology will return the investment faster and will produce electricity with the lower price and with the higher returns compare to the other PV systems. At the tariff conditions in Israel the installation of this PV system will be very financially due to the high feed-in tariff regarding the electricity production from PV systems.