PV Sizing of a Grid Connected Solar Carport System Linked to Charging Stations and its Economic Analysis (A Case Study)

Abstract

Solar energy is a clean energy source for electricity production that can help in supplying the population increasing electricity demand. The goal of this paper is to design a grid- connected photovoltaic (PV) solar carport system able to supply electricity to electric cars. Sizing the grid-tied PV solar carport system is to decide the number and type of solar panels, the inverter size, in addition to the AC control panels and the electricity meters. For a car parking area of 165 m2, 102 solar panels are installed with first-year energy production of 42150 KWh which declines yearly by a rate of 0.5%. This is analyzed using the software System Advisor Model (SAM). The daily energy demand is 65 KWh, for which a central inverter of 83KW, a bidirectional power meter, and an AC control panel operating on 120V/240V are installed. In addition to that, the copper wires linking the equipment of the PV system are sized. The capital investment cost of the system is 518962.22 MAD, the life cycle cost (LCC) is 902470.07 MAD, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is 1.23 MAD/KWh and the estimated payback period is 7.5 years. This solar carport PV system mitigates CO2 emissions by an amount of 657347 Kg during the lifetime of the PV array. The results of the developed design can further be used in other applications for solar PV system sizing.