Exergoeconomic analysis of solar photovoltaic power plants: Case study in differents tropicals zone (Maroua and Douala) in Cameroon

Abstract

The present work highlights the exergoeconomic analysis of photovoltaic (PV) systems. It consists in carrying out an exergy and economic balance of these systems to evaluate the energy losses at all levels of the production chain. For this purpose, a 11,52 kWp power plant with storage installed at Maroua Airport (tropical dry region) and a 1,25 MWp grid connect plant at Douala Airport (tropical humid region) are considered. The meteorological data and the cells' temperature which highly affect the PV performances are directly measured on site. The estimated useful exergy production of electricity is about 1585.68 kWh/kWp/yr in Maroua PV plant and 1452.75 kWh/yr in Douala PV plant. The losses are respectively evaluated to be 142.76 kWh/kWp/yr in Maroua and 37.6 kWh/kWp/yr in Douala. The performance of each plan is evaluated using the exergy matrix concept. The results obtained give an exergy payback time value of 6.19 years for the Maroua plant, which is higher than the exergy return time of the Douala plant, which is 5.25 years due to losses related to storage system, the cost per kilowatt-hour of useful electrical energy produced is 0.130 UDS for the Maroua plant and 0.002 USD for the Douala plant. The cost of exergy losses per kWp/yr is estimated at 19.163 USD for the Maroua plant, and 0.065 USD for the Douala plant. Thus, the exergy losses are higher for solar PV systems installed in the Sahelian regions of the country, and even higher for systems with storage. Based on this analysis, it appears that the PV plant installed in the dry tropical zone is more efficient, while the one installed in the humid tropical zone has a better production cost. Fortunately, these climatic regions are favorable for the implementation of PV plants.