A photovoltaic inverter weighted efficiency model for Izmir climate conditions

Yield of a photovoltaic power system (PVPS) is dependent not only on the electrical conversion efficiency of the inverter used, but also to the geographical location and local climatic conditions of where the system is installed. Within this study, a weighted efficiency model to use in estimating annual yield of PVPSs installed in İzmir or locations with similar climatic conditions. Development of the model primarily requires a high resolution and uninterrupted climatic measurement data set. Since there is no access to a local measurement data meeting those requirements in Turkey, the available data was processed to produce a data set that meets the requirements. The resulting data set was used to calculate the energy production of c-Si PV cells at their maximum power point and the annual distribution of that production. Individual contributions of the power ranges to the annual yield were used to determine the weights of the respective ranges. Calculated values were compared with the other weighted efficiency models through the tests made in AIT – Austrian Institute of Technology PV Inverter Test Laboratories. The result is a new weighted efficiency model developed for İzmir climatic conditions that can represent the irradiation of Turkey for being in the median latitude of the country. Keywords: Photovoltaic inverter, weighted efficiency, yield, solar irradiation, regional climate.