Performance analysis of mega-scale grid-connected solar power plant in Azerbaijan/Baku using PVSYST software

Solar energy is a sustainable and readily available power source utilised by photovoltaic systems to convert sunlight into electrical energy. This research aims to evaluate the performance analysis of a mega-scale grid-connected solar power plant in Azerbaijan/Baku conditions using PVSYST software. The design process involves careful consideration and evaluation of various factors including the geographical location of the installation site, insolation values and the characteristics of the photovoltaic panels and inverters. In this study, PVsyst 7.4 simulation tool was selected for comprehensive evaluations. The program is integrated into the simulation tool, which combines the geographical coordinates of the selected region and synthetic meteorological data obtained from the Meteonorm 8.1 database to analyse the performance of the proposed photovoltaic system. The analyses include a comparative analysis of 3 MW capacity Solar Power Plants with fixed tilt angle, single axis solar radiation tracking system and dual axis solar radiation tracking system in terms of Technical, Economic and Environmental aspects. When the results obtained are evaluated, the highest annual energy production is 5371 MWh in the SPP with dual axis tracking system and the highest performance ratio is 88.6% in the SPP with single axis solar radiation tracking system. Economically, the longest payback period was found to be 11.4 years in the SPP with dual axis tracking system and the shortest payback period was found to be 5.6 years in the fixed axis SPP. When analysed in terms of carbon emissions, the highest carbon emission reduction was prevented in the dual axis tracking system with 52733.9 tCO2