An Evaluation of Overcast Weather on Generation of a Grid Connected PV Power Plant

Photovoltaic power plants are environment friendly and renewable energy powered systems. They can be sustainable energy systems in almost everywhere in Turkey. Global solar radiation values are lower in the northwest regions of Turkey than the south regions. Bursa is one of the northwestern provinces Turkey. The Soğuksu photovoltaic solar power plant which was established in Soğuksu village of Bursa is the first large-scale solar power plant with a capacity of 7 MW. The plant is grid-connected and has started to generate power in March, 2017. Cloudy weathers have negative impact on reducing the electricity generation of solar power plants. In this study, electricity generations of the Soğuksu photovoltaic power plant were analyzed using the daily and monthly recorded data. This data was used to determine the number of cloudy days for the time period from April, 2017 to March, 2018. According to results, the most number of cloudy days was observed in December and only 3.5% of annual generation was realized in December.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Solar energy, photovoltaic power plant, electricity generation, northwestern region, Bursa

Photovoltaic power plants are environment friendly and renewable energy powered systems. They can be sustainable energy systems in almost everywhere in Turkey. Global solar radiation values are lower in the northwest regions of Turkey than the south regions. Bursa is one of the northwestern provinces Turkey. The Soğuksu photovoltaic solar power plant which was established in Soğuksu village of Bursa is the first large-scale solar power plant with a capacity of 7 MW. The plant is grid-connected and has started to generate power in March, 2017. Cloudy weathers have negative impact on reducing the electricity generation of solar power plants. In this study, electricity generations of the Soğuksu photovoltaic power plant were analyzed using the daily and monthly recorded data. This data was used to determine the number of cloudy days for the time period from April, 2017 to March, 2018. According to results, the most number of cloudy days was observed in December and only 3.5% of annual generation was realized in December.

Keywords: Solar energy, photovoltaic power plant, electricity generation, northwestern region, Bursa

Saka, K. (2019). An Evaluation of Overcast Weather on Generation of a Grid Connected PV Power Plant. Journal of Current Research on Engineering, Science and Technology, 5 (1), 19-28.