Effects of wind speed and temperature on economics and environmental impact assessment of different solar PV systems in Malaysia

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the effect of temperature and wind speed on the performance of different types of photovoltaic (PV) systems at a different state in Malaysia and how it affects the economics and environmental impact assessment in the present year of 2018 as well as future years in 2030 and 2040.  Three types of grid-connected solar PV modules namely Mono-Crystalline, Poly-crystalline, and Thin Film were selected to be implemented in different cities of Shah Alam, Chuping, Alor Setar, Ipoh and Kota Kinabalu. A mathematical model was adopted to estimate the performance characteristics of the solar PV modules. Based on the data in the present year, the highest power output produced by the Mc-Si module for Alor Setar city is given by 33.40 MWh/year while the lowest amount of power output provided by this PV panel is about 28.18 MWh/year in Shah Alam. Furthermore, an area of 144 m2 for the Mono-Crystalline PV module can satisfy the total energy requirement by the resident as it was the most profitable to be implemented compared to Poly-crystalline and Thin Film. The findings of this study can serve as important information on the economic viability of installing PV systems in the selected cities in Malaysia.