Regular Article

Energy, exergy, sustainability, and economic analyses of a grid-connected solar power plant consisting of bifacial PV modules with solar tracking system on a single axis

¹ Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Gazi University, 06560 Ankara, Türkiye
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering-Architecture, Yozgat Bozok University, 66200 Yozgat, Türkiye

^* Corresponding author: kadir.yesilyurt@bozok.edu.tr

Received: 20 April 2023
Accepted: 10 July 2023

Abstract

This study presents the energy, exergy, sustainability and exergoeconomic analysis of a grid-connected solar power plant with a power capacity of 226.4 MWe with a single axis solar tracking system consisting of monocrystalline and bifacial solar panels manufactured with half-cut technology. This solar power plant is located in Karapınar district of Konya province in Türkiye, between 37°45 and 37°47 north latitudes and 33°33 and 33°35 east longitudes. Based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics, the 6-month average values of the energy efficiency, maximum electrical efficiency, power conversion efficiency, exergy efficiency, sustainability index, thermoeconomic, and exergoeconomic parameters of the power plant were evaluated in detail. As a result of the energy and exergy analyses, the energy efficiency, maximum electricity efficiency, power conversion efficiency, and exergy efficiency of the plant were found to be 75.50%, 36.42%, 22.34%, and 21.98%, respectively. The sustainability index of the power plant is 1.29. Thermoeconomic and exergoeconomic parameter values were calculated as 2.43 W/$ and 2.32 W/$, respectively, using EXCEM method.