Design Simulation and Performance Evaluation of a Standalone Photovoltaic System for a Health Care Facility in Malaysia

Amaal Habeeb (), Hashim Hizam (), Mohammad Lutfi Othman, Noor Izzri Abdul Wahab and Wesam Rohouma
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Amaal Habeeb: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Hashim Hizam: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Mohammad Lutfi Othman: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Noor Izzri Abdul Wahab: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Wesam Rohouma: College of Engineering Technology, University of Doha for Science and Technology, Doha 24449, Qatar

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-21

Abstract: Standalone photovoltaic (PV) systems are crucial for providing reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable energy to remote or off-grid locations with limited or no access to the traditional electrical grid. In this context, the sizing of a standalone PV system for a remote health clinic involves determining the clinic’s power requirements and matching them with an appropriate PV system’s capacity. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is a critical aspect of standalone PV systems, as it optimizes the PV system’s power output by adjusting the PV array’s operating point to the maximum power point ( MPP ) of the PV module. However, the non-linear behavior of PV systems due to exposure to changing climate conditions and partial shading can hide some faults, making traditional protection devices incapable of detecting them. Therefore, the design of an optimal simulation model of a properly sized standalone PV system is important for simulating and collecting the necessary data to diagnose faults. In this study, a standalone PV system for a hypothetical clinic in Malaysia is proposed, and it is sized based on peak sun hours. Its simulation model is built using MATLAB/Simulink (R2018b). The proposed simulation system’s performance was evaluated considering the proper design of the PV system’s boost converter within the changing conditions, and its ability to harvest maximum power points is considered a criterion for evaluating the performance. Various scenarios of uniform irradiance, uniform temperatures, shading effects, and sequential partial shading scenarios were implemented to evaluate the proposed simulation model. Results show that the proposed simulation model is suited to simulating different tests as it can harvest maximum power in all test scenarios.

Keywords: photovoltaic system sizing; DC-DC boost converter; maximum power point tracker (MPPT); partial shading (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: 2023
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