Potential and performance assessment of solar photovoltaic systems across diverse climatic conditions: A comprehensive analysis

The installation of photovoltaic systems for power generation is rapidly expanding worldwide in the renewable energy market. However, the varying climate and geographical conditions have a significant impact on the performance of these systems which requires to be critically analyzed. Therefore, this work focuses on the investigation of PV performance under diverse topographical variations ranging from tropical to temperate climates across India. The analysis is based on the key performance parameters, including energy generation, specific energy yield, capacity factor, PV losses along with the calculation of frequency distribution of operating conditions, energy generation, and Climate-Specific Energy Rating (CSER) as per IEC 61853 standards. Additionally, mapping and clustering based on major environmental stressors are also done. The results present a more comprehensive understanding of PV system efficiency under real outdoor conditions for various locations in India. The PV energy generation is found to vary from 1250 to 1891 kWh/kWp/year, showing a 34 % variation between the highest and lowest generation locations. Most locations generate average daily energy between 4.25 and 4.50 kWh/kWp/day. The temperature losses vary from 5.30 % to 14.10 %, with over 80 % of locations experiencing temperature losses above 10 %. The energy generation analysis revealed that the most frequent operating conditions are not always the same as those where highest generation occurs. Clustering based on environmental stressors reveals regional efficiency disparities, with the highest in the northeast and the lowest in the northern and western parts of India. This research provides valuable insights for researchers, solar developers, consumers, investors, and policymakers, promoting region-specific solar energy strategies aligned with SDG 7 and SDG 13.