The effect of snowfall and icing on the sustainability of the power output of a grid-connected photovoltaic system in Konya, Turkey

Abstract

When the module surface is covered with various factors such as snow and icing which prevent the solar irradiance from reaching the photovoltaic cells, the power production of the system and its performance decrease. The purpose of this study is to determine the energy production losses of a grid-connected photovoltaic plant due to snowfall and icing. The effect of snowfall and icing has been examined on a photovoltaic system consisting of a hybrid inverter with two separate maximum power point tracking inputs and 36 monocrystalline modules, which are mounted on the supporting system horizontally in the south direction and at a constant tilt angle of 30◦. The plant area is located in a priority and snowy region (Konya,Turkey) where large-scale photovoltaic system installations are carried out. In order to evaluate the effect of snowfall, the minute resolution data of the hybrid inverter which provides connection to the grid is used. The change over time of the power generated by the two arrays of the plant was examined comparatively. For comparison, one of the arrays was continuously cleared. The recorded data was used to determine the expected energy output of the array covered with snow. Besides, the solar irradiance and ambient temperature data obtained from the meteorological station were used to accurately identify and evaluate the effects of snowfall with digital images recorded in the site area. The results showed that surface clearing of modules had a significant positive effect on the power output of the system. In the array entirely covered with snow, the daily energy loss exceeds 93%. In months of heavy snowfall, the monthly energy loss is 18% depending on time of being covered with snow of the modules. When the production data of 2017 and 2018 is evaluated, it is seen that the total energy loss of the plant varies between 1% and 2%.