Stand-Alone Photovoltaic System Assessment in Warmer Urban Areas in Mexico

Abstract

Abstract:The aim of this study is to examine the possibility of using a stand-alone photovoltaic system (SAPVS) for electricity generation in urban areas in Southern Mexico. In Mexico, an urban area is defined as an area where more than 2500 inhabitants live. Due to constant migration from the countryside to the cities, the number of inhabitants of urban localities has been increasing. Global horizontal irradiation (GHI) data were recorded every 10 min during 2014-2016 in Coatzacoalcos in the state of Veracruz located on 18 • 08 09 N and 94 • 27 48 W. In this study, batteries represented 77% of the total cost, 12 PV panels of 310 W could export 5.41 MWh to the grid, and an inverter with an integrated controller and charger was selected, which decreased the initial cost. The city of Coatzacoalcos was chosen because the average annual temperature is 28 • , with an average relative humidity of 75% and an average irradiance of 5.3 kWh/m 2 /day. An emission factor 0.505 tCO 2 /MWh of greenhouse gases (GHG) were obtained, based on the power system, the reduction of net annual GHG would be 11 tCO 2 and a financial revenue of 36.951 × 10 3 $/tCO 2 would be obtained. Financial parameters such as a 36.3% Internal Rate Return (IRR) and 3.4 years payback show the financial viability of this investment. SAPVSs in urban areas in Mexico could be a benefit as long as housing has a high consumption of electricity.

Optimum Design of a Standalone Solar Photovoltaic System Based on Novel Integration of Iterative-PESA-II and AHP-VIKOR Methods

“…This method takes a long period of time in implementing the system simulation. The numerical method can be classified into two parts, which are stochastic (deterministic) and probabilistic approaches [10,35]. The probabilistic approach is preferred because the uncertainty of the meteorological data is considered, in which the performance of the system can be more reliable and accurate than the stochastic approach.…”

Grid Load Reduction through Optimized PV Power Utilization in Intermittent Grids Using a Low-Cost Hardware Platform

“…The proposed low-cost hardware platform allows efficient incorporation of PV in the residential building with intermittent grid supply availability. Therefore, the proposed solution adds to the literature in terms of energy reliability, electricity access, energy efficiency, energy optimization and soft computing along with PV and battery storage technologies [33][34][35][36]. Moreover, in the global context, this method is applicable for feed-in-tariff, optimal battery charging and discharging as well as peak shaving for the varying time of usage (TOU) tariff [37,38].…”

Meteorological Variables’ Influence on Electric Power Generation for Photovoltaic Systems Located at Different Geographical Zones in Mexico

“…Solar technologies are characterized depending on the way they capture, convert, and distribute sunlight such as photovoltaic (PV) systems and their corresponding requirements for an energy storage arrangement [2,3]. Consequently, these technologies feed power to the electric grid by using solar panels as generators [4][5][6]. In addition, concentrating solar power plants (CSP) use mirrors to focus the energy from the sun to drive traditional steam turbines or engines to create electricity; solar heating and cooling (SHC) systems which collect the thermal energy from the sun use this heat to provide hot water, space heating, and cooling for residential, commercial, and industrial applications.…”

“…The first step is to define the type of panel, where the most known is monocrystalline or polycrystalline and where the solar cells are manufactured using wafers made of silicon [10]. Nowadays, the PV systems are widely used to generate electricity due its accessible cost [5,6,11,12]. Some studies aimed at reducing this cost even more, e.g., in Reference [13], a design optimization model for the residential PV systems in South Korea was proposed, where the objective function to be minimized consisted of three costs, such as the monthly electric bill, the PV-related construction costs, and the PV-related maintenance cost.…”