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Tucson Solar Test Yard

Tucson Solar Test Yard. Nicholas Davidson And Ryan Price Under the Supervision of Dr. Alex Cronin With help from Daniel Cormode And Vincent Lonji University of Arizona Department of Physics. Project Background Information. Facility is property of Tucson Electric Power

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Tucson Solar Test Yard

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  1. Tucson Solar Test Yard Nicholas Davidson And Ryan Price Under the Supervision of Dr. Alex Cronin With help from Daniel Cormode And Vincent Lonji University of Arizona Department of Physics

  2. Project Background Information • Facility is property of Tucson Electric Power • Most Equipment Approximately 5 years old • Dr. Cronin took over the research at the yard Fall 08 • First data collected November 13, 2008 • Financial support provided by TEP, the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

  3. Project Goals • Short Term: • Install equipment to monitor: • DC Voltage and Current • AC Power • Temperature • Long Term: • PV performance (efficiency) in Tucson • Effect of variables such as temperature and fill factor • Test new PV technologies

  4. Equipment / PV Panel Types • 22 PV (Photo Voltaic) Strings • Approximately 600 panels • 10 Manufacturers (BP, Sanyo, Shell, Global Solar) • Approximately 90 kWpeak power to grid • Total cost • 9 Inverter Types • Xantrex, Fronius, Beacon Power • Each String has a DC sensors box and AC power meter

  5. Sample PV String PV Panels AC Meter Inverter To Grid

  6. 4 Primary PV Technologies Material: Polycrystalline Silicon Efficiency: 14.1% Cost: ~ $4 / Watt Material: Thin Film Silicon Efficiency: 11.1% Cost: ~ $ 3 / Watt Material: CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide) Efficiency: 5.8% Cost: ~ $ 3 / Watt Made in Tucson, Arizona Material: Monocrystalline Silicon Efficiency: 15.6% Cost: ~ $ 5 / Watt

  7. Sample PV String PV Panels DC Sensors Box AC Meter Inverter To Grid

  8. DC Sensors Box Voltage Divider Hall Probe Output to Inverter and Data Logger Input from Panels

  9. Sample PV String PV Panels Data Acquisition System DC Sensors Box AC Meter Inverter To Grid

  10. Data Acquisition • AC Power Meter • Special cards installed in each AC meter • Record 60 “clicks” for each kW AC to grid • Temperature • Thermocouple for each string • Data Loggers • Continuously monitor each of the sensor devices • Local Network • Web Interface

  11. Calibration and Data Analysis • Each string calibrated separately • Data collected every second • Averaged every minute • Eliminates system noise • Makes data files more manageable

  12. DC Voltage April 26, 2009

  13. DC Current April 26, 2009

  14. DC Power April 26, 2009

  15. AC and DC Power Comparison

  16. Inverter Efficiencies April 26, 2009

  17. Acknowledgments • UA Physics • Dr. Alex Cronin • Daniel Cormode • Vincent Lonji • Ryan Price • UA Optics • Ray Kostuk • Brian Myer • UA Atmospheric Science • Bill Conant • AzRISE • TEP • Bill Henry

  18. Thank You!

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