A Photovoltaic Park’s Performance on the Island of Crete

Abstract

The favorable climate conditions of the island of Crete and the recent legislation for the utilization of renewable energy sources, provide a substantial incentive for the installation of photovoltaic power plants. In this paper, the grid-connected photovoltaic park (PV park) of C. Rokas SA in Sitia, Crete is presented and its performance is evaluated. The photovoltaic park has a peak power of 170 kWp, and has been in operation since 2002. The park is suitably monitored for a one year internal and the performance ratio and the various power losses (temperature, soiling, internal network, power electronics, grid availability & interconnection) are calculated. The PV Park supplied 230 MWh to the grid during 2007, ranging from 335 kWh to 870 kWh per day. The final yield (YF) ranged from 2 h/d to 5 h/d and the performance ratio (PR) ranged from 58 % to 73 %, giving an annual PR of 67,36 %.