Determining the Optimal Area to Install the Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant for a Building Using Simulated Annealing Optimization Algorithm

Regarding to the significant potential of solar energy in Iran، implementation of optimally designed photovoltaic (PV) systems can be efficient. Therefore، this study proposes the objective function to optimize of area receiving a given yearly energy from PV fixed collectors in solar field. Shading and masking effects are considered in the calculations. The simulated annealing algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem. The data of a building in Tehran-Iran (latitude 35. 7oN) used for the case study، which are 4 MWh/yr as the minimum energy required. To evaluate yearly energy، the calculated hourly radiation is used to evaluate the existent yearly energy. The results show that to provide the minimum demand، 22 m2 area of roof is needed.