S PA CE

R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E

Comparison of Photovoltaic Modeling Analysis

and Actual Performance Data of Lee County
Justice Center Solar Power Installation Project

Julie A. Rodiek and Steve R. Best

Space Research Institute, Auburn University

Henry W. Brandhorst, Jr.

Carbon-Free Energy, LLC

July 28, 2010

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Outline

 Project Overview
 Objectives
 Why Now
 Initial Modeling
 System Component Selection
 System Modeling
 Data Collection and Analysis
 Summary
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Project Overview

 Lee County’s TK Davis Justice Center (LCJC) awarded grant from

Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs
(ADECA) to install an expandable system of photovoltaic solar
panels
» Initial installation consists of a 16.6 kW grid-connected PV system
» Will offset some of the energy costs of electricity used by the LCJC

 Auburn University working with LCJC to determine the optimal

photovoltaic system
» Site and system limitations
» Installation planning/oversight
» Performance Analysis
» Monitoring and assessment
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Objectives of Project

 Compare actual power performance to modeled predictions

» Determine reasons behind variations between programs
 Monitor the performance of this system along with weather and
environmental factors
 Information gathered through the system’s design, installation, and
monitoring will provide valuable information concerning photovoltaic
alternative energy systems on public facilities
» Use as a prototype for other similar undertakings
» Used different mounting options and tilt angles
 Excellent teaching and demonstration tool
 Showcase for potential solar installations at other facilities
 Establish a message that local governments need to take an active role in
increasing energy-efficiency and environmental sensitive building designs
while reducing operational costs for its citizens over the long-term
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Why Now…

 Increasing energy costs

 Reduce the U.S. reliance on foreign oil and also the need for
new power plants fueled by coal or oil

 Upsurge has taken place in the use of cost-competitive

photovoltaic technologies for terrestrial applications

 Existing 30% U.S. Government tax credit for installing

photovoltaic (PV) and/or solar hot water systems coupled
with tax incentives in a few states

 Why NOT now….electricity is cheap in Alabama, lack of

certified in-state installers, no state incentives
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
What About Sunshine In AL?

 Al has ~20% less

sunlight than the
best in the SW
 Plenty of sunshine
» Power is produced on
rainy day too

 Al is better than
the NE, with major
new installations
now

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Solar Array System Analysis
Load Monitoring

 Electronic load monitoring and data logging

of some load center panels in the Central
Utility Plant of the LCJC were made
» Help determine the load placed on PV arrays
» Illustrates the hourly and daily variations in
the electrical load demands of this one circuit
» Continuous operation: 24hr / 7day
» Peaks nominally during daylight hours
matching the generation capability of the
photovoltaic array very well
 Used as input to a solar power modeling
program to project system performance, help
optimize design, and compare to predicted
performance
 Electrical inverter specifications determined
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Solar Array System Analysis
PV Module Comparison

 Study done of the types and performance of 7.00

photovoltaic modules that are currently 6.00

5.00
available in the market 4.00

» Comparison of PV modules ratio to highest

$/Watt
3.00

power 2.00 mc-Si Modules

» Cost to power ratio was also calculated 1.00 c-Si Modules

0.00

 When choosing the photovoltaic panels it is a 100 150 200 250 300 350

Watts
decision of efficiency versus cost 20.00
18.00
16.00
14.00
12.00

Watts/(Ft^2)
10.00
8.00
6.00 mc-Si Modules
4.00 C-Si Modules
2.00
0.00
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300
Dollars

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Solar Array System Analysis
CAD Model of LCJC Detention Center

 Google Earth & SketchUp used

» Aerial site photo imported into
Google SketchUp from Google Earth
» Geographical data conserved
» DoE EnergyPlus plugin: OpenStudio

 Photo used to generate CAD model

 Building outlines & elevations
added
 Roof equipment detail added as
needed
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Solar Array System Analysis
CAD Model of LCJC Detention Center

 Large, mostly unobstructed

north/south-aligned flat roof

 Room to install now

and/or expand in future
 Some public visibility
is important to this
installation
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Solar Array System Analysis
Shadow Study Analysis on Roof Mounts w/SketchUp

Winter Solstice

Summer Solsticeth
Space Research Institute 8 International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Solar Array System Analysis
PV Design Pro-G Modeling

 Selected Inputs
» 220 W SunPower Panels
» 480 V Solectria PVI-13kW Inverter
» 30-year weather profile database for
Montgomery, Ala.
» East – West tracking system
 Fixed tilt of 30 degrees

 35.5% of the annual load for specified circuit is produced by PV energy

 Annual total of energy provided to the load of 40,634 kWh
 All of the energy generated by the system cannot be used by this load
» Automatically shifts the excess power to another circuit so all the power
generated by the array will be used within the facility
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E Angle Study at Auburn University

 Test the accuracy of solar modeling programs

» Discrepancy may be due to the way each program applies the angle tilt of the array thereby
calculating solar irradiance to estimate the power production
 There are six test panels
» Five panels rotated in a single axis at the tilt angles of 20º, 25º, 32º (latitude), 40º, and 50º
» Another panel will be a control panel that is fixed facing south at latitude tilt
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E LCJC PV Array Project Layout

8th
Space Research Institute System completion and certification, June 29, 2009International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E Balance of the PV System

 Inverters are used to convert solar array DC to

utility-quality AC
» Roof Array: Solectria PVI-13kW 480 VAC, 3-
phase
 Inverter output from Solectria’s SolrenView site
» Pole Array: SunPower SPR3000m 3kW, 208
VAC
 Inverter output from SMA’s SunnyPortal site
» SMA’s WebBox and SensorBox collect both
roof and pole array environment data onto
SMA’s SunnyPortal :
 Solar irradiance
 Module temperature
 Ambient air temperature
 Wind speed
 Performance data are used to monitor system
and compare to model predictions
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
System Modeling

 PV Design Pro-G, PV Watts, and PVSYST used for analysis of system

» Each program different
» Some are more detailed on inputable parameters
 Highest power performance prediction
» PVSYST for pole array
» PV Design Pro G for roof array

Roof Array Pole Array

PVSYST Design Pro G PV Watts PVSYST Design Pro G PV Watts
Jan 1100 1203 1162 161 189 175
Feb 1156 1366 1288 163 201 182
Mar 1496 1805 1745 197 250 230
Apr 2132 2044 1982 265 263 243
May 2320 2160 1958 273 263 227
Jun 2264 2028 1887 261 240 213
Jul 2225 2063 1889 260 246 216
Aug 2245 2018 1797 273 252 216
Sep 1888 1817 1639 243 242 210
Oct 1803 1691 1615 252 245 224
Nov 1325 1290 1233 197 199 183
Dec 1220 1174 1082 188 190 165
Yearly
Production 21,174 20,659 19,277 2732 2777 2484

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E LCJC Performance Year 1
(June 29, 2009 – June 30, 2010)

LCJC Roof and Pole Solar Array Power in January

LCJC Actual Performace Data Compared to Modeling Predictions
90
Pole Array 3000
80 Roof Array

70 2500

60
AC Energy (kWh)

2000

AC Energy (kWh)
50

1500
40
Actual Array Performance
30 1000 PVSYST

Design Pro G
20
500
PV Watts
10

0
0
Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-10 Jun-10
10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0

1/ 0
0
1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1

/1
1/

2/

3/

4/

5/

6/

7/

8/

9/
10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20
1/

1/

1/

1/

1/

1/

1/

1/

1/

 Total AC Energy provided to LCJC since commissioning, June 29, 2009

» 25,373 kWh
 Has offset 18.2 metric tons (40,163 lbs) of CO2 emissions
» Equivalent to the amount produced by using 2,047 gallons of gasoline or 42.3
barrels of oil
» The CO2 emissions from 1.5 homes for a year, or the carbon sequestered by 467
seedlings grown for 10 years, or 3.9 acres of pine or fir forests
 Overall LCJC production tracks well with three solar modeling programs
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
AC Power Produced July 12-18th

 Week
demonstrates all
different types of
weather patterns

 Power profiles
vary due to cloud
cover and storm
fronts

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Solar Array Power vs. Insolation

 Linear relationship of
solar intensity and power
for pole and roof array
 Roof scatter due to
differences in how the
data is acquired and
averaged
» Not temp.corrected
 Efficiency of panels
» 18% from data

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Insolation Data

Insolation Data Pole Array Insolation Data Roof Array

250 300

250
200
Insolation (kWh/m 2 )

Insolation (kWh/m 2 )
200
150
150
100
LCJC Pole Actual 100 LCJC Roof Actual

PV Watts Pole PV Watts Roof

50
50
Design Pro G Pole Design Pro G Roof

0 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

 Actual insolation data obtained by our sensors on the roof and pole
arrays have been compared to the modeled insolation for both PV
Watts and Design Pro G
 The two modeling programs use different insolation estimations
 The roof insolation is greater than expected
» Currently looking into this
» The arrays may be tilted at a different angle than anticipated
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Future Expansion

 This initial system can serve as the backbone of an

expandable, renewable power system at this complex
 Evaluating future expansion
sites
» 35 kW on roof
» 150 kW using low-profile 150 kW
ground mounts
 Currently the facility is
installing a solar water 35 kW

heating system to further

their mission to become
more energy efficient

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Summary

 This paper has used the data collected at the Lee County’s T.K.
Davis Justice Center 16.6 kW grid-connected solar-powered system
and analyzed it to find trends and anomalies

 Compared the performance data to the results of photovoltaic

modeling programs that were used before and during installation of
the system
» The accuracy is quite good
» Currently the system is producing about 5-7% more power for two detailed
modeling programs and 15% more than the more basic modeling program
 Variations between program results appear to be based on how detailed the
program is and how many variables used to better represent the system

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

 S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Lee County’s Example

 Alabama’s first State Government sponsored PV energy project

» Successfully completed on schedule and is fully operational

 It can serve as a model of how local governments can:

» Be an example of how to increase energy-efficiency
» Be environmentally friendly and reduce operational costs over the long-term

 This project’s unique location, ease of replication and expansion

» Has the potential to be the prototype for other similar undertakings across the
State of Alabama
» Allows wide access to agencies, businesses, and individuals to inspire them
» Excellent teaching and demonstration tool for all sectors

 Please visit our website at http://sri.auburn.edu/leecounty.htm or Lee

County’s website at http://www.leeco.us/solar_project/index.html

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
Enthusiastic Press Coverage…

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Support by Lee County Commission LC001 ARA Grant

No. 1ARA09-02 from Alabama Department of Economic
and Community Affairs (ADECA) to Lee County is
gratefully acknowledged.

Cooperation and direct involvement

by Lee County personnel is also
acknowledged and appreciated
Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
S PA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N S T IT U T E
QUESTIONS …

SPA CE
R ES EA R C H
I N ST IT U T E Auburn University

Space Research Institute 8th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference