Capacity Factor Of Solar Pv Panels

Energy information administration form eia 923 power plant operations report.

Capacity factor of solar pv panels.

Generally it is in the range of 10 25. Recently however the us energy information agency published a table showing an average capacity factor of around 28 for utility sized pv plants in the us in 2015. Capacity factors are a comparison of net generation with available capacity. Other than stc the solar cell has p m at different values of radiance and cell operating temperature.

Panel prices have dropped by the factor of 10. Pv has become the cheapest source of electrical power in regions with a high solar potential with price bids as low as 0 01567 us kwh in 2020. As we have seen the capacity factor varies quite a bit for solar photovoltaic systems depending on the location. Energy information administration form eia 860 annual electric generator report and.

Solar radiance of 1000 w m 2 and cell operating temperature of 25 o c. See the technical note for an explanation of how capacity factors are calculated. In practical terms a solar panel system with a total rated capacity of 5kw kilowatts could be made up of either 20 250 watt panels or 16 300 watt panels. Both systems will generate the same amount of power in the same geographic location.

At the low range of capacity factors is the photovoltaic power station which supplies power to the electricity grid from a large scale photovoltaic system pv system. This means that if a solar panel has a capacity factor of 25 it s average energy output will be 25 of what it was designed to achieve e g a 100 watt solar panel with a capacity factor of 25 has an average energy output of 25 watts. Maximum power point p m. An inherent limit to its capacity factor comes from its requirement of daylight preferably with a sun unobstructed by clouds smoke or smog shade from trees and building structures.

It is measured in w peak or simply w p. Maximum power point represents the maximum power that a solar cell can produce at the stc i e. Photovoltaics pv is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect a phenomenon studied in physics photochemistry and electrochemistry. Since the amount of sunlight varies both with the time of the day and the seasons of the year the capacity factor is typically computed on an.

After all when it comes to solar wind and hydro we are at the mercy of the nature. In the real world most solar panels tend to have efficiencies in the 16 19 range though some manufacturers like mission and sunpower have higher end panels that have efficiencies exceeding 20. A post i wrote a little over two years ago concluded that solar pv capacity factors in the us ranged between 13 and 19 with an average of around 16. Recently however the us energy information agency published a table showing an average capacity factor of around 28 for utility sized pv plants in the us in 2015.

The capacity factor for solar panels varies between 15 and 40.