Case study: Example of PV Solar Field in NOVO PRO Expert Program This case study compares simulation results from NOVO PRO with the plant actual performance for five solar plants. These plants have their actual operating data available to the general public on-line, courtesy of the plant owners. Capacity (MWac) AC to DC Ratio Tracking Solar Panel Module Solar Plant Commissioning Northwest Hanwha Q.Plus L- Jacksonville Solar 2017 7.06 80.* North-South rows ++ G4.2 330 Old Plank Road Solar 2017 3 80.* Fixed tilt Hanwha Q.Plus L- G4.2 330** Mount Signal Solar 1 2014 206 77.5% North-South rows FS-6420*** Solar Star 1 2014 314 78.9% North-South rows LG360Q1C-A5*** Solar Star 2 2014 266 76. North-South rows LG360Q1C-A5*** * Assumed according to the common practice in the indusry ** Assumed to be same as Jacksonville Solar as both of them are belong to JEA ***Assumed based on the information available on the web ++ The tracking axis is aligned parallel to longitude lines.
Executive Summary Annual Power Production NVP vs. Actual 5% 3.8% -5% -3.3% -4.5% -1.6% -3.1% - Northwest Jacksonville Solar Old Plank Road Solar Mount Signal Solar 1 Solar Star 1 Solar Star 2 With maximum 6 inputs for each model, annual yields predicted by NOVO PRO match with the real plants average annual outputs within ±5% for all the five cases.
Inputs to NOVO PRO Models NOVO PRO Inputs Northwest Jacksonville Solar Old Plank Road Solar Mount Signal Solar 1 Solar Star 1 Solar Star 2 Select Irradiance Data from NVP database P P P P P Select Ambient Data from NVP database P P P P P Input Inverter rated AC power output P P P P P Input Desired Inverter AC rating / Nominal panels DC rating P P P P P Select Row Tilt / Tracking P P P P Select PV Panel Model from NVP Library / Set User-defined Panel P P P P P
Northwest Jacksonville Solar plant Yellow circle: JACKSONVILLE INTL ARPT, FL (# 722060) and the plant.
MWh 2000 1500 Monthly Power Production (MWh) Northwest Jacksonville 15% 2018 Power Production vs. Actual Northwest Jacksonville 12.3% 1000 5% 500 0 10 8 6 4 2-2 -4 1/6/2017 1/6/2017 1/8/2017 1/8/2017 Inverters Site Performance Estimate NVP 1/10/2017 1/10/2017 1/12/2017 1/12/2017 1/2/2018 1/2/2018 1/4/2018 1/4/2018 1/6/2018 1/6/2018 1/8/2018 1/8/2018 1/10/2018 1/10/2018 1/12/2018 Monthly Deviation of Predicted Power Northwest Jacksonville Site Performance Estimate NVP 1/12/2018 1/2/2019 1/2/2019-5% - Site Performance Estimate -3.3% NVP NOVO PRO is able to predict the plant annual yield nicely, better than the onsite prediction program which might have used the onsite weather data. Note Jun & Jul 2018 data are taken out due to the inverter outputs are abnormally small.
Old Plank Road Solar Plant Purple circle: the plant; yellow circle: JACKSONVILLE NAS, FL (# 722065)
MWh 650 550 Monthly Power Production (MWh) Old Plank Road 5% 2018 Power Production vs. Actual Old Plank Road 450 350 250 150 1/12/2017 1/1/2018 Inverter Predicted Onsite NVP 1/2/2018 1/3/2018 1/4/2018 1/5/2018 1/6/2018 1/7/2018 1/8/2018 1/9/2018 1/10/2018 1/11/2018 1/12/2018 1/1/2019 1/2/2019-5% - -15% NVP -4.5% Predicted Onsite -11.5% 3 2 - -2 Monthly Deviation of Predicted Power Old Plank Road Similar to Jacksonville plant, NOVO PRO is able to predict the plant annual yield nicely, better than the onsite prediction program which might have used the onsite weather data. -3-4 Predicted Onsite NVP 1/12/2017 1/1/2018 1/2/2018 1/3/2018 1/4/2018 1/5/2018 1/6/2018 1/7/2018 1/8/2018 1/9/2018 1/10/2018 1/11/2018 1/12/2018 1/1/2019 1/2/2019
Mount Signal Solar 1 Purple circle: the plant; yellow circle: yellow circle: IMPERIAL, CA (# 747185)
MWh 70,000 60,000 50,000 Monthly Power Production Mount Signal Solar 1 8% 6% 4% Yearly Power Production Deviation Mount Signal Solar 1 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 NVP 2014 2015 2016 2017 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2% -2% -4% -6% -8% - 2014 2015 2016 2017 6 5 4 3 2 - -2-3 Monthly Power Production Deviation Mount Signal Solar 1 2014 2015 2016 2017 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Results from NOVO PRO match with real plant outputs very well. The biggest deviation in 2014 could be due to plant instability at its commissioning stage.
Solar Star Plants Purple circle: the plants; yellow circle: LANCASTER GEN WM FOX FIELD, CA (# 723816)
MWh 120,000 100,000 Monthly Power Production Solar Star 1 8% 6% Yearly Power Production Deviation Solar Star 1 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 These three abnormal points are not included in the deviation trends. NVP 2015 2016 2017 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 4% 2% -2% -4% -6% -8% - 2015 2016 2017 2018 4 3 2 - -2-3 -4-5 Monthly Power Production Deviation Solar Star 1 2015 2016 2017 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Results from NOVO PRO match with real plant outputs very well.
MWh 120,000 Monthly Power Production Solar Star 2 8% Yearly Power Production Deviation Solar Star 2 100,000 6% 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 NVP 2015 2016 2017 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 4% 2% -2% -4% -6% -8% - 2015 2016 2017 2018 4 3 2 - -2-3 -4-5 Monthly Power Production Deviation Solar Star 2 2015 2016 2017 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Results from NOVO PRO match with real plant outputs very well.
Conclusions 1. PV Solar Field in NOVO PRO is very user-friendly. 2. Only six inputs by the users each of the five plants. 3. Built-in databases (weather database, irradiance database, PV panel library, etc.) are all available within the program. 4. Annual yields from NOVO PRO match with plant actual figures very well (within ±5%) for all the five plants. 5. NOVO PRO s results are even better than the onsite programs estimation for the first two plants, in which onsite prediction data are available.