Performance of Household Grid-Connected PV System in Thailand

Abstract

This paper presents the performance of a 2·88 kWp household grid-connected PV system installed in a house at Bangkok. This was one of the 10 houses identified for a household rooftop PV grid-connected demonstration project by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand in 1997. Data measured over 12 months was used to estimate the PV array output, inverter output, inverter efficiency, system efficiency, yields (reference yield, array yield, final yield) performance ratio (PR) and the losses. The variations of these parameters over time indicate that the yields are high during June and July in Bangkok. The annual final yield and the average performance ratio were found to be 1166kWh/kWp and 0·73 respectively. The monthly highest final yield was 129kWh/kWp during June and July. The inverter efficiency was greater than 80% throughout the study period and the maximum system efficiency was 5·4%. The result of the study indicates that the system installed in Bangkok worked satisfactorily. Following the success of the demonstration project, a second phase of 50 households has recently been initiated. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.