Abstract
In order to address the environmental challenges we face, transitioning towards sustainable, low emission energy systems is of paramount importance. Solar photovoltaics (PV) is a technology that plays an important role in this transition. To support a successful transformation, PV systems should be designed to cover our energy demands at the smallest possible financial and environmental cost. One of the pieces we need in order to solve this puzzle is a reliable methodology to evaluate PV system performance, i.e. to identify and quantify the energy losses in PV systems accurately. In order to identify how energy output can be increased through system design adjustments or maintenance, robust evaluation methodologies are necessary. In this work, I assess PV system performance evaluation methodologies. I identify various effects impacting PV performance evaluations and discuss how the methodology can be improved. In particular, I assess how well these methods perform in the climates and irradiance conditions found in higher latitude locations. I also study the effect of snow cover on solar panels, and how the resulting energy losses can be predicted.
List of papers
Paper I. Methods for quality control of monitoring data from commercial PV systems. M.B. Øgaard, H. Haug, and J.H. Selj. In: Proceedings of the 35th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (2018), pp. 2083-2088. DOI: 10.4229/35thEUPVSEC20182018-6DV.1.53. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.4229/35thEUPVSEC20182018-6DV.1.53 |
Paper II. Performance evaluation of monitoring algorithms for photovoltaic systems. M.B. Øgaard, Å. Skomedal, and J.H. Selj. In: Proceedings of the 36th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (2019), pp. 1632-1636. DOI: 10.4229/EUPVSEC20192019-5CV.4.30. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.4229/EUPVSEC20192019-5CV.4.30 |
Paper III. Photovoltaic system monitoring for high latitude locations. M.B. Øgaard, H.N. Riise, H. Haug, S. Sartori, and J.H. Selj. In: Solar Energy, Vol. 207 (2020), pp. 1045-1054. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.07.043. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.07.043 |
Paper IV. Identifying snow in photovoltaic monitoring data for improved snow loss modeling and snow detection. M.B. Øgaard, B.L. Aarseth, Å.F. Skomedal, H.N. Riise, S. Sartori, and J.H. Selj. In: Solar Energy, Vol. 223 (2021), pp. 238-247. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2021.05.023. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.05.023 |
Paper V. Modeling snow losses in photovoltaic systems. M.B. Øgaard, H.N. Riise, and J.H. Selj. In: 2021 IEEE 48th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) (2021), pp. 517-521. DOI: 10.1109/PVSC43889.2021.9518886. The article is not available in DUO due to publisher restrictions. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC43889.2021.9518886 |
Paper VI. Snow loss modeling for roof mounted photovoltaic systems: Improving the Marion snow loss model. M.B. Øgaard, I. Frimannslund, H.N. Riise, and J.H. Selj. Early access in: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics (2022). DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2022.3166909. The article is not available in DUO due to publisher restrictions. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2022.3166909 |
Paper VII. Estimation of snow loss for photovoltaic plants in Norway. M.B. Øgaard, H.N. Riise, and J.H. Selj. In: Proceedings of the 38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (2021), pp. 1081-1087. DOI: 10.4229/EUPVSEC20212021-5DO.4.5. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.4229/EUPVSEC20212021-5DO.4.5 |