Evaluation of a grid-connected PV power plant: performance and agrivoltaic aspects

Abstract The performance ratio, a globally recognized metric that correlates with reported global solar radiation values, serves as a crucial indicator for evaluating the efficiency of grid-connected PV plants. Also, a large scale PV power plant alone can afford some agricultural irrigation energy requirement of a region. In this study, the actual generation data from a power plant located in Bursa province in northwestern Türkiye, during its initial six years of operation have been analyzed. The analysis reveals that the annual electricity production of the power station reaches approximately 10 GWh. Notably, the time period between April and September witnesses a monthly electricity generation exceeding 1 GWh, with September emerging as the most productive month, characterized by an average performance ratio of 94.5% during this six-year period. However, over the span of six years, the highest average electricity generation occurs in July, peaking at 1.34 GWh. Also, the power plant alone can meet the agricultural irrigation energy requirement of the region in the range of 6.7–2.3%. From an environmental impact and global warming perspective, it is noteworthy that during the 36-month period in the summer season, the performance ratio exceeded 100% only three times. However, within the 32-month period in the winter season, the performance ratio exceeded 100% 19 times. This situation indicates that while the reported radiation rates by the managements are consistent with the actual values for the summer months, they need to be revised, especially for the winter months.