The Feasibility of Photovoltaics in Shadow Intensive Areas

Abstract: The  shift  towards  renewable  energy  sources  is  ongoing,  and  with  scientific  advances  constantly being  made  within  the  area,  solar  panels  are  becoming  cheaper  and  more  efficient  by  the  day. Thus far, solar panels are almost exclusively being installed in areas where little to no shading is present since the shadows are a detriment to their performance.  The northern European climate also  presents  a  problem  in  tending  to  be  very  cloudy.   This  study  investigates  the  impacts  of shadows on the overall performance of a photo-voltaic system situated within an area surrounded by trees and containing a wind power.  This is done to investigate the feasibility of converting the wind  power  farm  to  a  wind/solar  hybrid  farm.   A  time  based  method  for  modeling  shadows  on a  two-dimensional  surface  is  developed  and  combined  with  a  method  for  investigating  irradiance data in order to find the irradiance of an area subject to shadowing.  A temperature and irradiance dependent model for calculating the power output of solar panels is studied and implemented in order  to  find  the  energy  output  potential  of  each  coordinate  in  the  two  dimensional  area  over  a year.  A basic economic analysis is performed to give grounds for justifying the implementation of solar  panels  in  the  area.  The  influence  of  solar  panels  shading  each  other  is  investigated  to  find the optimal spacing between them.  The results are then used to find at what coordinates the solar panels should optimally be placed.  Their power output is investigated and matched with electricity price data and an economic argument is made for installing the solar panels.  The area in question is subject to use by heavy duty vehicles for maintenance of the wind power turbines, therefore a few solutions for having the solar panels removable are discussed.