Performance Ratio Analysis Using Experimental Combining Historical Weather Data for Grid-Connected PV Systems

Along with the development of new technology, photovoltaic (PV) systems are increasingly used widely. To assess the quality of PV systems using the performance ratio (PR), to calculate this index, we need to use pyranometers with high accuracy, and of course, its price is also expensive. This article presents an alternative method for calculating the PR of a grid-connected PV system (GCPVS) based on the amount of measurement by the experiment electricity and weather history data. In addition, the article analyzes the PR for GCPVS with and without a single-axis solar tracker. The results show that the PR for GCPVS with a single-axis solar tracker is larger than the none-system. On a sunny day, the GCPVS with a single-axis tracker obtained a total in-plane solar irradiance and generated more power into the grid than the GCPVS without a single-axis tracker in the morning until early noon, and almost noon to late afternoon. The largest PR received 79.8%, an average of 66.0% and 69.2% for the GCPVS without and with a single-axis solar tracker, respectively. The analysis also shows that the PR of the GCPVS is much influenced by the temperature of the environment, which will be the premise for further studies.