PV Module Performance in the Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia

Amarbayar Adiyabat1, Kosuke Kurokawa1, Kenji Otani2, N.Enebish3, G.Batsukh3, M.Battushig3, D.Ochirvaani3, B.Ganbat3, D.Otgonbayar3 1. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Naka-cho 2-24-16, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan 2. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology, Tsukuba Central 2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8568, Japan 3. Inter-Univ. Solar Energy Research Net-Center, National Univ. of Mongolia, P.O.Box 46A/436, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Abstract: This paper presents the evaluation results of solar energy potential and photovoltaic module performance from real measured data in the Ulaanbaatar city of Mongolia. For the purpose of estimating solar energy potentials and durability of PV systems in the Khangai region, a data acquisition system, which includes p-Si, 55W modules and two sets of precision pyranometers, thermometer and anemometer, have been installed at the Ulaanbaatar city in May, 2004. This system has been measuring 15 parameters including solar irradiation and meteorological parameters in every 10 minutes. It has been observed that the high output gain due to the operating condition of low module temperature in spring and autumn. Key Words: Solar energy resource, PV Module performance, Outdoor exposure test irradiation received on the horizontal and 30 tilted surfaces, site meteorological data and measures PV module currentvoltage (I-V) curves. The management system software package is installed in the data acquisition system, which is supplied by a 12V battery at measurement time and data are loaded into the 4 MB storage module (SM4M).
PV module Pyranometer horizontal Pyranometer tilted Vane anenometer
12V

1 Introduction
In designing a photovoltaic system, there is a basic requirement to accurately estimate the output from the proposed PV array under operating conditions. PV modules are given a power rating at standard test conditions (STC) [3]. But these conditions rarely appear under outdoor operation. It is considered that the meteorological environment characteristic of Khangai region might affect to the PV system performance and design specifications. Therefore, need to clarify unknown factors for designing, system operation and maintain. In the Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, we set up p-Si PV module and the checking devices (e.g. I-V Curve Tracer, etc.) as well as the meteorological devices to study the characteristics of the photovoltaic system operation in the severe natural environment. The purpose of this study is to verify the output simulation technique for the PV and also to clarify the specification requirement for the system design. In order to clarify the actual environmental capabilities (loss analysis) in Khangai region, we will measure the meteorological data such as the amount of solar irradiation and temperature, and the I-V characteristics of the photovoltaic modules.

Data Logger

Wind speed

Storage Module 4M
Relay controller
12V

Thermometer Hydrometer

Power supply 220V Charge controller I-V CURVE TRACER

5V 12V

Thermo couple

Thermometer PV module Thermometer Room Temp.

Thermo couple

Battery 12V

Fig.2: Schema of the data acquisition system

3 Analysis Method
The field data analysis is divided into 3 parts regarding environmental conditions, solar energy resource evaluation, and PV module performance. The environmental condition indices include ambient and module temperatures, average wind speed, and humidity. For evaluation of the solar energy resource, we use sunshine duration time, monthly average irradiation, and irradiation variable ratio. The PV Module performance indices include reference yield, array (module) yield, module performance ratio, temperature modification factor, and other loss factors of the PV module [1, 2]. In this analysis, we used 1 year of data collected from July 2004 to June 2005. First, raw data obtained from the test site were checked and correctable noise was filtered. All system performance data have been evaluated in terms of operational performance and reliability based on the IEC Standard 61724. Yr = HA / GS (2) YA = EA,d / Pmax (3) Kmodule = YA / Yr (4) The reference yield, Yr, is based on the in-plane irradiation, HA, and represents the theoretically available energy, GS, per day and kWp. The array yield, YA, is the daily array energy output, EA,d, per kW and represents the number of hours per day that the array would need to operate at its rated output

2 Experimental setup
In order to determine the potential of VLS-PV in Central Khangai region it has been installed poly-crystalline silicon PV modules and checking devices in the Ulaanbaatar (4755'N and 10653'E) - the field site (Fig.1)

Fig.1: Overview of the experimental set-up and horizontal pyranometer The data acquisition system (Fig.2) automatically will be switched on at every 10 min and records the total solar

power, Pmax, to contribute the same daily array energy to the system as it was monitored. The array performance ratio, PR, is the ratio of actual array output energy to the energy available theoretically (i.e., YA/ Yr). PR is independent of location and array size, and indicates the overall losses on the arrays rated output due to module temperature and incomplete utilization of irradiation. In this paper, array means module

Whereas snow might quickly melt completely off of the sensor, the module could remain partially or completely covered for a prolonged period. Under such conditions, the solar sensor does not provide an accurate indication of sunlight on the module and the PR is, therefore, inaccurately low.
Performance Ratio PV Module Performance Ratio, Temp. & Other Modification Factors 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 2004 2005 Kpt Koth

4 Results and Discussion

The monthly amount of duration time in winter and summer season are indicated respectively 150 and 290 hour range in a normal year. The fraction of duration indicated 0.5 in summer, due to rainy season, in the cold season it goes up to 0.75 or more. Between the duration time value of normal year and measurement period, mean error of -0.95h, RMSE of 4.3h [4]. The annual mean horizontal irradiation indicated 3.95 [kW/m2/day], which was 1.2 fold more than in Sapporo. The annual average in-plane irradiation was 4.73 [kW/m2/day]. The Fig.3 shows the monthly average output of PV module with comparison to the rated output. The annual energy output of module indicated 193.4Wh/day verse 259.9Wh/day in rated power.
400 Monthly Average Output Energy 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 2004 2005 [Wh/day] Measured Energy Output Rated Energy Output

Fig.5: Module performance ratio and Temperature & Other Modification Parameters

5 Conclusions
The accurate determination of the performance of PV modules is crucial for the design of PV systems and its economic evaluation. In order to develop conceptual design and calculation of the power generation and construction cost for PV system for the Khangai region, it has been developed autonomous PV module performance monitoring devices and data acquisition system. The outdoor performance tests of polycrystalline silicon PV modules have been conducted in the Ulaanbaatar. It has been observed that the high output gain due to the operating condition of low module temperature in spring and autumn. The monthly amount variation of 30 degree inclined in-plane irradiation and module output shows over 60% range in a year. We will continue our field study to further evaluate the long-term performance of PV modules exposed to the severe environmental conditions in the Khangai region.

Fig. 3: The Average Outputs of PV Module with comparison to the rated output.
Reference Yield, Array (Module) Yield [h/day] Reference Yield_Tilt 30 Reference Yield_Horizon Module1 Yield

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 8

6 Acknowledgments
The study was carried out by the Japanese-Mongolian Research team within the cooperative framework between the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology, Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology and Inter-Univ. Solar Research Net-Center of the NUM

7 References
9 10 11 12 1 2004 2 3 4 5 6 2005

Fig. 4: The Reference Yield and Array Yield The module performance ratio is indicated around 0.8 in warm-season, but in winter it down to 0.34. The dramatic decrease in winter months is due to fully or partial snow coverage of the module. It is important to note that shading and snow cover have a much more pronounced effect on a PV module's output than they do on the pyranometer measuring sunlight on the module.

[1] Namjil Enebish, M. Battushig, K. Otani, K. Sakuta, A. Adiyabat, K. Kurokawa, Performance monitoring of PV modules for VLS-PV systems in Gobi desert of Mongolia, WCPEC-3, Osaka, May 11-18, 2003, 7P-B3-51 [2] A.Amarbayar, K.Kurokawa, K.Otani, N.Enebish etc, Evaluation of Solar Energy Potential and PV Module Performance in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, WREC-8, Denver, Colorado, Aug.2004 [3] IEC Standards 891 and 1215, Bureau Central de la Commission Electrotechnique International, Geneve [4] Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology of Mongolia, www.env.pmis.gov.mn/Meteoins/