Investigation of the life of the photovoltaic systems in medium and high mountain region conditions

Energy demand increases dramatically with the rapidly increasing population of the world. It strives to make renewable and manageable energy needs in search of new resources. Instead of producing energy from fossil fuels, photovoltaic systems developed for solar energy in nature have started to be used. However, these systems have a life span like every system. This life-benefit analysis should be positive. Systems are exposed to all kind of weather conditions in outdoor and especially due to the outdoor conditions, efficiency and system life of panels and cables decrease in time. Therefore, their efficiency and lifetime should be determined according to the geographical conditions where photovoltaic panels and solar cables are used. In this study, considering the total effect of UV rays, humidity and thermal cycles affecting the life of photovoltaic modules, it was concluded that the life of the modules which installed at 835 m above sea level is 25 years, the life of the modules which installed at sea level is 24.5 years and the life of the modules which installed at 2000 m above sea level is 22.5 years. According to this result, the life of the solar power plant will be installed in Siril Village of Orhaneli District of Bursa Province will be 25 years. It has been found that the current carrying capacity of single core copper cables in the system decreases inversely proportional to the temperature increase rate when applied current time increases. There are high currents (35 A and 1265 A) was applied to different diameter cables such as 1,5 mm2, 2,5 mm2, 4 mm2 ve 6 mm2 which effects life span of system. The temperature of the joint points of large cross-section cables is up to 13%, on the other side temperature difference of small cross-section cables is reduced to 9%, when 10-25 seconds short circuit currents carried out to system.