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Article

Lookup Tables for Power Generation Performance of Photovoltaic Systems Covering 40 Geographic Locations (Wilayats) in the Sultanate of Oman, with and without Solar Tracking, and General Perspectives about Solar Irradiation

College of Engineering, University of Buraimi, Al Buraimi 512, Oman
Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13209; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313209
Submission received: 29 September 2021 / Revised: 17 November 2021 / Accepted: 17 November 2021 / Published: 29 November 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Technology and Renewable Energy Projects)

Abstract

An energy modeler for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems may be limited to climatic data of certain major cities, not covering the one for which the PV system is intended. Additionally, a person not skilled in solar PV modeling may still desire a quick estimate of PV system electricity generation to help decide the level of investment in PV systems. This work addresses these points by establishing lookup tables to summarize predicted electricity generation, solar irradiation, and optimum orientation at various locations in the Sultanate of Oman. The results are produced by processing simulation data using the online open-access tool PVGIS (Photovoltaic Geographical Information System) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC). The tables cover 40 out of the country’s 61 s-level administrative divisions (wilayats) and cover fixed and movable PV panels. The results show that the yearly electricity generation can change up to 11.86% due to the change of location. Two-axis PV tracking offers a small improvement (about 4% on average) over single-vertical-axis tracking but offers noticeable improvement (about 34% on average) over optimally oriented fixed PV panels. Monthly profiles of expected PV electricity generation, as well as the generation drop due to changing the PV mounting from free standing to building integrated, were examined for three locations. As general perspectives that may be of interest to global readers, this work provides quantitative evidence of the overall accuracy of the PVGIS-SARAH database through comparison with ground-measured global horizontal irradiation (GHI). In addition, a full example is presented considering 12 different countries in the northern and southern hemispheres that brings the attention of solar energy modelers to the level of errors they may encounter when the impact of longitude (thus, the exact location) is ignored for simplicity, while focus is given to the latitude.
Keywords: lookup tables; photovoltaic; PVGIS; solar; Oman lookup tables; photovoltaic; PVGIS; solar; Oman

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Marzouk, O.A. Lookup Tables for Power Generation Performance of Photovoltaic Systems Covering 40 Geographic Locations (Wilayats) in the Sultanate of Oman, with and without Solar Tracking, and General Perspectives about Solar Irradiation. Sustainability 2021, 13, 13209. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313209

AMA Style

Marzouk OA. Lookup Tables for Power Generation Performance of Photovoltaic Systems Covering 40 Geographic Locations (Wilayats) in the Sultanate of Oman, with and without Solar Tracking, and General Perspectives about Solar Irradiation. Sustainability. 2021; 13(23):13209. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313209

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marzouk, Osama A. 2021. "Lookup Tables for Power Generation Performance of Photovoltaic Systems Covering 40 Geographic Locations (Wilayats) in the Sultanate of Oman, with and without Solar Tracking, and General Perspectives about Solar Irradiation" Sustainability 13, no. 23: 13209. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313209

APA Style

Marzouk, O. A. (2021). Lookup Tables for Power Generation Performance of Photovoltaic Systems Covering 40 Geographic Locations (Wilayats) in the Sultanate of Oman, with and without Solar Tracking, and General Perspectives about Solar Irradiation. Sustainability, 13(23), 13209. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313209

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