Performance of grid-connected photovoltaic systems in Northern and Southern Hemispheres under equatorial climate

This work studied the actual and simulated technical performance between two grid-connected photovoltaic (GCPV) systems representing opposite latitudes. The system with a capacity of 5. 4 kWp installed in Kelantan, Malaysia represents the northern equator, and the 183. 6 kWp system installed in Cikarang, Indonesia, denotes the southern equator. The performance was simulated using PVsyst software, which included the energy output (Eₒutt), reference yield (Yᵣ), final yield 〖 (Y〗f), performance ratio (PR), and capacity factor (CF). The mean bias error (MBE) between the actual and simulated technical performance were as follows; for system A, the yearly MBE for the Eₒut, Yᵣ, Yf, PR, and CF were -0. 4%, 17. 1%, -1. 4%, -15. 8%, and 1. 4%, respectively, and for system B, the Eₒut, Yᵣ, 〖 Y〗f, PR, and CF values were 9. 80%, 18. 3%, 10. 0%, -7. 2%, and 10. 0% respectively. The results have proven that PVsyst has successfully simulated the yearly Eₒut, 〖 Y〗f and CF for both systems including PR, for system B, with MBE less than 10%. However, it is noteworthy to highlight that PVsyst significantly overestimated the Yᵣ of both systems up to 18. 3% and conversely underestimated the PR for system A by 15. 8%, which highly likely caused by the Meteonorm imported weather data.