An Optimal Design of a Small Photovoltaic Plant with Cost Minimization based on a Real Database of PV Panels and Inverters

Abstract

The penetration of renewable energy sources and the development of autonomous power systems for the supply of isolated consumers find applications such as covering energy needs in lighthouses, small islands, monasteries, and even isolated special industrial facilities. Power plant cost is a major limitation in the development of these systems. For example, although the electromechanical cost of photovoltaic plants has been significantly reduced in recent years, however the land cost is not considered, which is a significant expenditure. In this paper, the real problem of an autonomous power station design for the supply of the shoreline electrode substation on the Stachtorroi islet of Attica, is taken as the starting point. The electrode substation is part of the Attica-Crete high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical interconnection project. For the above problem, an overall evaluation algorithm for a photovoltaic (PV) plant is proposed that considers the technical characteristics of the plant, the installation and operating costs (including land costs in addition to electromechanical costs and efficiency of each of the plants components), as well as the actual commercial data of the individual key elements (PV panels, inverters) of various companies, choosing the optimal system through exhaustive search depending on the required power and the deflated capital reduction interest rate