Performance monitoring of a northern 3.2 kWp grid-connected photovoltaic system

Abstract

This paper summarizes five years of monitoring of a facade-mounted grid-connected system in Canada's far North. The system has been in operation since July 1995 and has delivered around 2 MWh of electrical power on an annual basis since then. Climatic and solar radiation conditions at the site are reviewed, and the performance of the system is assessed from a component perspective (PV array, power conditioning unit) and from a global perspective (AC power delivered to the grid, system efficiency, system reliability).