Comparison of Solar Tracking and Fixed-Tilt Photovoltaic Modules in Lodz

Abstract

The world energy consumption has exhibited high growth over the last several decades. Alternative energy sources like photovoltaic (PV) systems generate electricity, reduce pollution air, and have little environmental impact. The commonly used fixed-tilt solar panels, however, have low efficiency and high production cost. Thus, it takes a long time to obtain a return on the investment. Solar trackers increase the efficiency of PV systems and are therefore more attractive from a financial point of view. In order to design tracking systems that will be efficient, it is necessary to analyze the results during various periods during the year and over their lifespan. Thus, we performed a comparative study between fixed-tilt panels and the tracking system installed in Lodz, Poland. Fixed-tilt panels are at normal to the Earth's surface (90 deg from horizontal plane) and are attached to a building façade, azimuth 180 deg (S direction) with 15 cm ventilation gap so slight efficiency drop may be presumed. We performed short- and long-term analyses of the solar tracking and fixed-tilt systems, which allowed us to conclude that the panels tracking the sun had an additional gain of energy during the year as compared to the fixed-tilt panels. During some months, however, the solar tracking system did not produce as much energy as the fixed-tilt, vertically positioned panels. These results might be useful in designing and constructing solar tracking PV systems.

Novel Approach to Investigate the Influence of Optimum Tilt Angle on Minimum Cost of Energy-Based Maximum Power Generation and Sizing of PV Systems: A Case Study of Diverse Climatic Zones in India

“…The design process necessitates the estimation of SR on a tilted surface. The tilt angle (TA) has an impact on dust deposition on PVs, and the TA and tracking system work together to maximize incidence SR on PV surfaces [7,8]. In the literature, incident SR on a horizontal surface for Indian cities is presented [9,10] however, it is restricted to inclined surfaces [11][12][13][14].…”

“…The monthly OPTA is calculated using Eqs. (1) -(8). The annual OPTA is derived by averaging the results of monthly OPTA.…”

Local Tilt Optimization of Photovoltaic Solar Panels for Maximum Radiation Absorption

“…There are various experimental and theoretical studies in the literature that determine ideal tilt angles of PV panels based on many assumptions to account for characteristics of the installation site [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. An extensive literature review on the optimization of the tilt angle to maximize incident solar radiation has been provided elsewhere by Yadav and Chandel [13].…”

Analysis of possibilities and demand for energy in a public building using a tracking photovoltaic installation

“…A high energy yield after sunrise and before sunset is characteristic for tracking photovoltaic systems, which is due to the module surface being exposed to the perpendicular direction of solar radiation (Fig. 4, left) [8,11]. Differences in power generated in July and November are a result of different weather conditions.…”

“…The installation is part of the DER Lab complex. The DER Lab is an association of leading laboratories and research institutes in the field of distributed energy resources equipment and systems [8,11]. Figure 1 presents a schematic diagram of the installation and tracking system panels.…”