Predicting the performance of PV systems

With the help of $1.3 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), CSIRO has established unique indoor and outdoor testing capabilities to predict how different solar photovoltaic (PV) systems will perform on Australian shores.

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the new facilities will allow different solar panels and cells to be scrutinised, assessing how they respond to Australian conditions and predicting their output over time. He explained, “Accurately predicting the energy output of a solar PV power plant is critical throughout its life cycle, from forecasting future revenue and determining commercial viability to day-to-day operation on the electricity grid.

“A manufacturer’s solar panel power rating comes from a standardised laboratory measurement that doesn’t represent how well it will perform under Australian conditions,” Frischknecht continued.

“Knowing how the panels should perform allows solar PV system design to be assessed, and the quality, health and degradation of systems to be tracked over time.”

Frischknecht said researchers and industry will be able to access CSIRO’s accredited indoor laboratory to independently measure solar cell efficiency against international standards. He noted that this capability was “previously only available at selected PV laboratories in the Northern Hemisphere”.

“To complement this, the outdoor section of the facility includes the most advanced solar ground measurement station of its type in Australia to measure the impact of different weather conditions and solar radiation levels,” Frischknecht said.

“These notable achievements will further Australia’s enviable position in solar PV research and strengthen the case for utility-scale solar PV plants and rooftop installations.”

More information on the $3.2 million project is available on the project page on ARENA’s website.

Image caption: The photovoltaic outdoor research facility, located at the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle.