Power Quality in Flexible Photovoltaic System on Curved Surfaces

In this study a photo-voltaic system of Flexible Solar Panels was designed, manufactured and evaluated in a scale of one square meter equivalent to 56 Watt. Conventional photo-voltaic systems are not suitable for curved surfaces. Accordingly, a flexible system was developed on a flat, cylindrical and hemisphere surface. As regards environmental variables, a temperature sensing system was designed to receive data online and communicate with LabVIEW Software. Economic analysis of the system using the COMFAR software is reported. Meteorological station data have been used as part of the required environmental data. Using Taguchi Experimental Design, the merit of alternative photo-voltaic surfaces is identified to be hemisphere, cylindrical and flat surfaces.The Taguchi Experimental Design Model indicated that the optimum System Power for flat, cylindrical and hemisphere surface is 54.05, 53.30 and 55.70W respectively. Economic analysis indicates that The Internal Return Rate(IRR) for flat, cylindrical and hemisphere surface was 23.82 and 26.70 and 27.46 percent respectively. The Net Present Value(NPV) was 6.747 And 9.952 and 10.830 million Rials for hemisphere, cylindrical and flat surfaces, respectively