IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i2p624-d726153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimum Solar Panel Orientation and Performance: A Climatic Data-Driven Metaheuristic Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad H. Naraghi

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY 10471, USA)

  • Ehsan Atefi

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY 10471, USA)

Abstract

This study presents an optimization platform based on the climatic data provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to determine the optimum solar panel orientation. Our optimization model is simpler to use than the clearness index model since there is no need to calculate the extraterrestrial insolation on a horizontal flat plate and the shape factor. This optimization approach is based on the hourly climatic data. It determines the optimum tilt angle and azimuth angle of a solar panel for the maximum power generation, considering the diurnal variation of climatic conditions. The hourly evaluation of insolation allows setting up a solar panel azimuth angle that responds to the peak power demand. The main data that impacts the solar panel performance consists of the solar direct normal incident (DNI), direct horizontal incident (DHI), global horizontal incident (GHI), ambient temperature, wind speed, and ground albedo, all of which were obtained from the NREL database for over twenty years. The accuracy of the optimization platform introduced in this study is scrutinized by investigating the three locations in the United States with different climatic conditions. The results based on the present optimization model show higher PV power than the general rule of thumb for south-facing panels with title angles the same as the latitude of the location. Moreover, the effect of deviations from optimum panel orientation is discussed to show the versatility of our technique. Our optimization model is easy-to-use, computationally efficient, and capable of being applied to other locations worldwide.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad H. Naraghi & Ehsan Atefi, 2022. "Optimum Solar Panel Orientation and Performance: A Climatic Data-Driven Metaheuristic Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:2:p:624-:d:726153
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/2/624/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/2/624/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hartner, Michael & Ortner, André & Hiesl, Albert & Haas, Reinhard, 2015. "East to west – The optimal tilt angle and orientation of photovoltaic panels from an electricity system perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 94-107.
    2. Tang, Runsheng & Wu, Tong, 2004. "Optimal tilt-angles for solar collectors used in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 239-248, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sai Nikhil Vodapally & Mohd Hasan Ali, 2022. "A Comprehensive Review of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Technologies, Architecture, and Its Applications to Improved Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chinchilla, Monica & Santos-Martín, David & Carpintero-Rentería, Miguel & Lemon, Scott, 2021. "Worldwide annual optimum tilt angle model for solar collectors and photovoltaic systems in the absence of site meteorological data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    2. Kaddoura, Tarek O. & Ramli, Makbul A.M. & Al-Turki, Yusuf A., 2016. "On the estimation of the optimum tilt angle of PV panel in Saudi Arabia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 626-634.
    3. Hafez, A.Z. & Soliman, A. & El-Metwally, K.A. & Ismail, I.M., 2017. "Tilt and azimuth angles in solar energy applications – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 147-168.
    4. Ramez Abdallah & Adel Juaidi & Salameh Abdel-Fattah & Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro, 2020. "Estimating the Optimum Tilt Angles for South-Facing Surfaces in Palestine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-29, February.
    5. Ramez Abdallah & Emad Natsheh & Adel Juaidi & Sufyan Samara & Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro, 2020. "A Multi-Level World Comprehensive Neural Network Model for Maximum Annual Solar Irradiation on a Flat Surface," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-31, December.
    6. Riyad Mubarak & Eduardo Weide Luiz & Gunther Seckmeyer, 2019. "Why PV Modules Should Preferably No Longer Be Oriented to the South in the Near Future," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-16, November.
    7. Ryszard Myhan & Karolina Szturo & Monika Panfil & Zbigniew Szwejkowski, 2020. "The Influence of Weather Conditions on the Optimal Setting of Photovoltaic Thermal Hybrid Solar Collectors—A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-13, September.
    8. Chang, Tian Pau, 2009. "The gain of single-axis tracked panel according to extraterrestrial radiation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(7-8), pages 1074-1079, July.
    9. Zhong, Qing & Tong, Daoqin, 2020. "Spatial layout optimization for solar photovoltaic (PV) panel installation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Benghanem, M., 2011. "Optimization of tilt angle for solar panel: Case study for Madinah, Saudi Arabia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1427-1433, April.
    11. Guglielmina Mutani & Valeria Todeschi, 2021. "Optimization of Costs and Self-Sufficiency for Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Technologies on Residential Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-25, July.
    12. Mohammadi, Kasra & Khorasanizadeh, Hossein, 2015. "A review of solar radiation on vertically mounted solar surfaces and proper azimuth angles in six Iranian major cities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 504-518.
    13. Dujardin, Jérôme & Schillinger, Moritz & Kahl, Annelen & Savelsberg, Jonas & Schlecht, Ingmar & Lordan-Perret, Rebecca, 2022. "Optimized market value of alpine solar photovoltaic installations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 878-888.
    14. Philip Tafarte & Marcus Eichhorn & Daniela Thrän, 2019. "Capacity Expansion Pathways for a Wind and Solar Based Power Supply and the Impact of Advanced Technology—A Case Study for Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    15. Agrawal, Monika & Chhajed, Priyank & Chowdhury, Amartya, 2022. "Performance analysis of photovoltaic module with reflector: Optimizing orientation with different tilt scenarios," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 10-25.
    16. Chang, Ying-Pin, 2010. "Optimal the tilt angles for photovoltaic modules using PSO method with nonlinear time-varying evolution," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1954-1963.
    17. Li, Zhimin & Zhong, Hao & Tang, Runsheng & Liu, Tao & Gao, Wenfeng & Zhang, Yue, 2006. "Experimental investigation on solar drying of salted greengages," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 837-847.
    18. Hu, Jing & Harmsen, Robert & Crijns-Graus, Wina & Worrell, Ernst & van den Broek, Machteld, 2018. "Identifying barriers to large-scale integration of variable renewable electricity into the electricity market: A literature review of market design," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2181-2195.
    19. Hirth, Lion & Müller, Simon, 2016. "System-friendly wind power," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 51-63.
    20. Ren, Xiao & Li, Jing & Hu, Mingke & Pei, Gang & Jiao, Dongsheng & Zhao, Xudong & Ji, Jie, 2019. "Feasibility of an innovative amorphous silicon photovoltaic/thermal system for medium temperature applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:2:p:624-:d:726153. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.