Analysis of the tilt and azimuth angles of photovoltaic systems in non-ideal positions for urban applications

A. Barbón, C. Bayón-Cueli, L. Bayón and C. Rodríguez-Suanzes

Applied Energy, 2022, vol. 305, issue C, No S0306261921011351

Abstract: A professional point of view suggests that photovoltaic systems should be installed at the optimum tilt angle and orientation. However, in photovoltaic systems integrated in buildings the flexibility of installation is common. This paper is organized in two different parts. In the first one, the energy losses caused by deviations from the tilt angle (β) and the orientation (γ) of the installation in relation to the ideal position are evaluated. This work considers the cloudy-sky conditions in each locality and theoretically calculates by applying the Cavaleri’s principle, the energy losses. Ten cities around the world, in the northern hemisphere, have been studied with a MATLAB code and the findings demonstrate that non-ideal tilt and azimuth angles can also lead to acceptable levels of electric energy generation. A photovoltaic system installed in South orientation (γ=0°) and β deviations of up to 10 (°) in relation to the optimum tilt angle has a very small influence on the energy losses. The energy losses are: 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% when β deviations are respectively: 21–23 (°), 31–33 (°), 37–40 (°) and 43–47 (°). Then, in the second part, an important application of this previous outcome comes out: the best distribution of the photovoltaic modules on a flat roof of irregular shape of an urban building is achieved.The aim of this work is to maximize the amount of energy get by a photovoltaic system. This engineering problem is highly complex as it involves 10 variables: the available flat roof area, the shape and the orientation of the available flat roof area, the dimensions (length and width) of the commercial photovoltaic modules, the orientation and the position of the photovoltaic modules, the number of the photovoltaic modules, the minimum distances (maintenance operations, to avoid shadowing effects) between rows of photovoltaic modules, and the minimum distance to the terrace boundary. In this context, this work aims to present a study to assist the decision-making.

Keywords: Photovoltaic systems; Tilt angle; Non-ideal position; Urban applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117802

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