Estimating the Optimum Tilt Angles for South-Facing Surfaces in Palestine

Ramez Abdallah, Adel Juaidi, Salameh Abdel-Fattah and Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro
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Ramez Abdallah: Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology, An-Najah National University, P.O. Box 7, 00970 Nablus, Palestine
Adel Juaidi: Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology, An-Najah National University, P.O. Box 7, 00970 Nablus, Palestine
Salameh Abdel-Fattah: Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology, An-Najah National University, P.O. Box 7, 00970 Nablus, Palestine
Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro: Department of Engineering, CEIA3, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-29

Abstract: The optimum tilt angle of solar panels or collectors is crucial when determining parameters that affect the performance of those panels. A mathematical model is used for determining the optimum tilt angle and for calculating the solar radiation on a south-facing surface on a daily, monthly, seasonal, semi-annual, and annual basis. Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) and Photovoltaic Software (PVWatts) is developed by the NREL (US National Renewable Energy Laboratory) are also used to calculate the optimum monthly, seasonal, semi-annual, and annual tilt angles and to compare these results with the results obtained from the mathematical model. The results are very similar. PVGIS and PVWatts are used to estimate the solar radiation on south-facing surfaces with different tilt angles. A case study of a mono-crystalline module with 5 kWP of peak power is used to find out the amount of increased energy (gains) obtained by adjusting the Photovoltaic (PV) tilt angles based on yearly, semi-annual, seasonal, and monthly tilt angles. The results show that monthly adjustments of the solar panels in the main Palestinian cities can generate about 17% more solar energy than the case of solar panels fixed on a horizontal surface. Seasonal and semi-annual adjustments can generate about 15% more energy (i.e., it is worth changing the solar panels 12 times a year (monthly) or at least 2 times a year (semi-annually). The yearly optimum tilt angle for most Palestinian cities is about 29°, which yields an increase of about 10% energy gain compared to a solar panel fixed on a horizontal surface.

Keywords: optimal tilt angle; PV system; solar photovoltaic; solar radiation; PVGIS; PVWatts; Palestine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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