case study: example of pv solar field in novo pro solar ... study of pv solar field in novo...

Solar Plant Commissioning

Capacity

(MWac)

AC to DC

Ratio Tracking Solar Panel Module

Northwest

Jacksonville Solar 2017 7.06 80.0%* North-South rows++Hanwha Q.Plus L-

G4.2 330

Old Plank Road Solar 2017 3 80.0%* Fixed tilt

Hanwha Q.Plus L-

G4.2 330**

Mount Signal Solar 1 2014 206 77.5% North-South rows FS-6420***

Solar Star 1 2014 314 78.9% North-South rows LG360Q1C-A5***

Solar Star 2 2014 266 76.0% North-South rows LG360Q1C-A5***

* Assumed according to the common practice in the indusry

** Assumed to be same as Jacksonville Solar as both of them are belong to JEA

***Assumed based on the information available on the web++The tracking axis is aligned parallel to longitude lines.

Case study: Example of PV Solar Field

in NOVO PRO®

Expert Program

© Thermoflow Inc 2019

This case study compares simulation results from NOVO PRO®

with the

plant actual performance for five solar plants. These plants have their

actual operating data available to the general public on-line, courtesy of

the plant owners.

Executive Summary

With maximum 6 inputs for each model, annual yields predicted by NOVO

PRO®

match with the real plants average annual outputs within ±5% for all

the five cases.

-3.3%-4.5%

3.8%

-1.6%-3.1%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

Northwest Jacksonville

Solar

Old Plank Road Solar

Mount Signal Solar 1

Solar Star 1 Solar Star 2

Annual Power Production NVP vs. Actual


Inputs to NOVO PRO®

Models


NOVO PRO® Inputs

Northwest

Jacksonville Solar

Old Plank

Road Solar

Mount Signal

Solar 1 Solar Star 1 Solar Star 2

Select Irradiance Data from

NVP database P P P P P

Select Ambient Data from NVP

database P P P P P

Input Inverter rated AC power

output P P P P P

Input Desired Inverter AC rating

/ Nominal panels DC rating P P P P P

Select Row Tilt / Tracking P P P P

Select PV Panel Model from

NVP Library / Set User-defined

Panel P P P P P

Northwest Jacksonville Solar plant


Yellow circle: JACKSONVILLE INTL ARPT, FL (# 722060) and the plant.

NOVO PRO®

is able to predict the plant

annual yield nicely, better than the onsite

prediction program which might have used

the onsite weather data.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

1/6

/20

17

1/8

/20

17

1/1

0/2

017

1/1

2/2

017

1/2

/20

18

1/4

/20

18

1/6

/20

18

1/8

/20

18

1/1

0/2

018

1/1

2/2

018

1/2

/20

19

MW

h

Monthly Power Production (MWh) Northwest Jacksonville

Inverters Site Performance Estimate NVP

-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1/6

/20

17

1/8

/20

17

1/1

0/2

017

1/1

2/2

017

1/2

/20

18

1/4

/20

18

1/6

/20

18

1/8

/20

18

1/1

0/2

018

1/1

2/2

018

1/2

/20

19

Monthly Deviation of Predicted PowerNorthwest Jacksonville

Site Performance Estimate NVP

12.3%

-3.3%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

2018 Power Production vs. ActualNorthwest Jacksonville

Site Performance Estimate NVP

Note Jun & Jul 2018 data are taken out due to the inverter outputs are abnormally small .


Old Plank Road Solar Plant


Purple circle: the plant; yellow circle: JACKSONVILLE NAS, FL (# 722065)

Similar to Jacksonville plant, NOVO PRO®

is able to predict the plant annual yield nicely,

better than the onsite prediction program

which might have used the onsite weather

data.

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

1/1

2/2

017

1/1

/20

18

1/2

/20

18

1/3

/20

18

1/4

/20

18

1/5

/20

18

1/6

/20

18

1/7

/20

18

1/8

/20

18

1/9

/20

18

1/1

0/2

018

1/1

1/2

018

1/1

2/2

018

1/1

/20

19

1/2

/20

19

Monthly Deviation of Predicted Power

Old Plank Road

Predicted Onsite NVP

-4.5%

-11.5%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%2018 Power Production vs. Actual

Old Plank Road

NVP Predicted Onsite

150

250

350

450

550

650

1/1

2/2

017

1/1

/20

18

1/2

/20

18

1/3

/20

18

1/4

/20

18

1/5

/20

18

1/6

/20

18

1/7

/20

18

1/8

/20

18

1/9

/20

18

1/1

0/2

018

1/1

1/2

018

1/1

2/2

018

1/1

/20

19

1/2

/20

19

MW

h

Monthly Power Production (MWh)

Old Plank Road

Inverter Predicted Onsite NVP




Purple circle: the plant; yellow circle: yellow circle: IMPERIAL, CA (# 747185)

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MW

h

Monthly Power Production


NVP 2014 2015 2016 2017

-10%

-8%

-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

2014 2015 2016 2017

Yearly Power Production Deviation



Results from NOVO PRO®

match with real

plant outputs very well.

The biggest deviation in 2014 could be due

to plant instability at its commissioning stage.

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Monthly Power Production Deviation


2014 2015 2016 2017

Solar Star Plants


Purple circle: the plants; yellow circle: LANCASTER GEN WM FOX FIELD, CA (# 723816)

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MW

h


Solar Star 1

NVP 2015 2016 2017 2018

These three abnormal points are not included in

the deviation trends.

-10%

-8%

-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

2015 2016 2017 2018


Solar Star 1



match with real


-50%

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


Solar Star 1

2015 2016 2017 2018

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MW

h


Solar Star 2

NVP 2015 2016 2017 2018

-10%

-8%

-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

2015 2016 2017 2018


Solar Star 2



match with real


-50%

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


Solar Star 2

2015 2016 2017 2018

Conclusions


1. PV Solar Field in NOVO PRO®

is very user-friendly.

2. Only six inputs by the users each of the five plants.

3. Built-in databases (weather database, irradiance database, PV

panel library, etc.) are all available within the program.

4. Annual yields from NOVO PRO®

match with plant actual figures very

well (within ±5%) for all the five plants.

5. NOVO PRO’s results are even better than the onsite programs’

estimation for the first two plants, in which onsite prediction data are

available.

case study: example of pv solar field in novo pro solar ... study of pv solar field in novo...

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