Assessing the performance of the Utrecht Science Park PV system

Abstract

In this research, the performance of and the correlation between the PV systems on Utrecht Science park were analysed. To assess performance, key performance indicators such as specific yield, performance ratio and self-consumption were calculated and compared to similar research and benchmarks. It was found that with a specific yield of 855 kWh/kWp, the systems performs slightly below average for The Netherlands. However, for the Utrecht area, the specific yield is as expected. An average performance ratio of 0.86 ± 0.07 was found, which corresponds well with the benchmark of 0.85 for well-performing systems. Some systems displayed lower performance, part of which can be attributed to inverter clipping and inverter malfunction. The high uncertainty could be greatly reduced by installing pyranometers at every system. 100% self-consumption was found for all except one system, which was expected due to the buildings being office buildings thus having high electricity demand during peak solar hours. One system does not reach 100% self-consumption, however it is not possible to produce a quantitative result for this this system, since no data on electricity delivered back to the grid is available. Strong correlation between the systems was found. All inter-system distances are lower than the decorrelation length of 2.19±0.31 km. When comparing correlation coefficients of the systems with coefficients of inverters of one system, it was found that the total system behaves as one large system. Therefore, in future modelling and forecasting studies, the system can be considered as one large 1.2 MWp system.