Investigation of factors affecting electricity generation and performance from solar energy by using photovoltaic (PV) cells

In this study, it was aimed to generate electricity from solar energy with the via photovoltaic panels. For this purpose, an on-grid solar power plant with a capacity of 8.6 kW was installed in the Space Sciences and Solar Energy Research and Application Center (UZAYMER) building on the campus of Adana Çukurova University. In addition, factors affecting the electricity production of photovoltaic panels were investigated. For this, production data of photovoltaic panels, solar radiation, wind speed, temperature values were measured. The effects of panel temperature, wind speed, top surface dust, shading and converter losses were determined. As a result, it was observed that electricity production increased with the increase in wind speed, but electricity production decreased due to converter loss, dusting and shading of the panel.