Failure Rate Calculation and Reliability Assessment of a PV System based on Monte-Carlo Simulation Considering Environmental Conditions

In this paper, regarding to the growing utilization of photovoltaic (PV) systems in power grid, reliability of a PV system is calculated. In this regard, using FIDES Guide and considering environmental conditions, i.e., irradiation, temperature and humidity, failure rate of each component is calculated. According to the failure/repair rates and also sub-system operations, the reliability of PV system is evaluated based on Monte-carlo simulation. The results show that the temperature has the greatest effect on failure rate of each component. The most failures are related to the IGBT and capacitor. The proposed algorithm is implemented on a 20-KW PV power plant of university of Isfahan. The results show the ability of suggested algorithm to determine the reliability of PV power plant with high accuracy.