Capacity Factor Of Solar Pv Panels

In the real world most solar panels tend to have efficiencies in the 16 19 range though some manufacturers like mission and sunpower have higher end panels that have efficiencies exceeding 20.

Capacity factor of solar pv panels. A post i wrote a little over two years ago concluded that solar pv capacity factors in the us ranged between 13 and 19 with an average of around 16. After all when it comes to solar wind and hydro we are at the mercy of the nature. Recently however the us energy information agency published a table showing an average capacity factor of around 28 for utility sized pv plants in the us in 2015. An inherent limit to its capacity factor comes from its requirement of daylight preferably with a sun unobstructed by clouds smoke or smog shade from trees and building structures.

Energy information administration form eia 923 power plant operations report. Maximum power point represents the maximum power that a solar cell can produce at the stc i e. The capacity factor for solar panels varies between 15 and 40. Maximum power point p m.

One of the key reasons for this low ratio is the nature of renewable power. A post i wrote a little over two years ago concluded that solar pv capacity factors in the us ranged between 13 and 19 with an average of around 16. This post looks into the reasons for this large difference and also addresses the question of whether the eia estimates can be used to predict future us solar pv output. Pv has become the cheapest source of electrical power in regions with a high solar potential with price bids as low as 0 01567 us kwh in 2020.

Other than stc the solar cell has p m at different values of radiance and cell operating temperature. In practical terms a solar panel system with a total rated capacity of 5kw kilowatts could be made up of either 20 250 watt panels or 16 300 watt panels. Generally it is in the range of 10 25. Recently however the us energy information agency published a table showing an average capacity factor of around 28 for utility sized pv plants in the us in 2015.

This means that if a solar panel has a capacity factor of 25 it s average energy output will be 25 of what it was designed to achieve e g a 100 watt solar panel with a capacity factor of 25 has an average energy output of 25 watts. See the technical note for an explanation of how capacity factors are calculated. Solar radiance of 1000 w m 2 and cell operating temperature of 25 o c. Photovoltaics pv is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect a phenomenon studied in physics photochemistry and electrochemistry.

Energy information administration form eia 860 annual electric generator report and. Panel prices have dropped by the factor of 10. At the low range of capacity factors is the photovoltaic power station which supplies power to the electricity grid from a large scale photovoltaic system pv system. It is measured in w peak or simply w p.

Since the amount of sunlight varies both with the time of the day and the seasons of the year the capacity factor is typically computed on an.