Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Estimation and experimental evaluation of the shortfall of photovoltaic plants in Tunisia: case study of the use of titled surfaces

  • Published:
Applied Physics A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To maximize the production of electrical energy in photovoltaic plants, the best solution is to use sun tracking systems whose panels are permanently exposed to solar radiation to ensure the best angle of inclination. These systems are expensive, their implementation is difficult, and their maintenance is complicated. The fixed inclination of the solar panels is easy to implement but its profitability is minimal. To solve this dilemma, the researchers propose to shift the panel’s angle of inclination over predetermined periods. In many countries, weather data measurements are either unavailable or lacking. So to fill this gap, we propose in this paper the development of mathematical models to calculate the best angle of inclination and the period of poise of this angle (month, season or other duration). The theoretical results obtained are validated by experimental tests and are conducted in three regions of Tunisia (North, Center and South). The objective is to determine, for each region, the optimal angle and the duration needed before switching to the next angle depending on the installation of fixed PV panels shortfalls.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Basharat Jamil, AbidT Siddiqui, Naiem Akthar, Estimation of solar radiation and optimum tilt angles for south facing surfaces in Humid Subtropical Climatic Region of India. Eng. Sci. Technol. Int. J. 19, 1826–1835 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. S.F. Farhan-Tabassum, K. Talpur, S. Alvi, B.M. Liao, X. Dong, Electrical power and energy systems evaluation of solar energy resources by establishing empirical model for diffuse solar radiation on tilted surface and analysis for optimum tilt angle for a prospective location in southern region of Sindh, Pakistan. Int. J Elect. Power Energy Syst. 64, 1073–1080 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. D.H.W. Li, T.N.T. Lam, V.W.C. Chu, Relationship between the total solar radiation on tilted surfaces and the sunshine hours in Hong kong. Sol. Energy 82(12), 122–128 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. A. EL-Sebaii, F.S. Al- Hazoni, A. Al-Ghamdi, S.J. Yaghmour, Global direct and diffuse solar radiation on horizontal and tilted surfaces in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Appl. Energy 87, 568–576 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. C.K. Pandey, A.K. Katyar, A note on diffuse solar radiation on a tilted surface. Sol. Energy 34, 1764–1769 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  6. D. Miguel, J. Bilbao, R. Aguiar, H. Kambezidis, E. Negro, Diffuse solar irradiation model evaluation in the north Mediterranean belt area. Sol. Energy 70(2), 143–153 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. N. Gilles, P. Christophe, D. Said, Estimation of tilted solar irradiation using artificial neural networks. Energy Procedia 42, 33–42 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. N. Gilles, P. Christophe, Vc Siyana, LNb Marie, Ca Jean-Louis, C. Christian, Estimation of hourly global solar irradiation on tilted planes from horizontal one using artificial neural networks. Energy 39, 166–179 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. E.G. Evseev, A.I. Kudish, The assessment of different models to predict the global solar radiation on a surface tilted to the south. Sol. Energy83, 377–388 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. M. Ashraful Islam, M. SaifulAlam, K.K. Sharker, S.K. Nandi, Estimation of solar radiation on horizontal and tilted surface over Bangladesh. Comput. Water Energy Environ. Eng. 5, 54–69 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. A. EL-Sebaii, F.S. Al-Hazoni, A. Al-Ghamdi, S.J. Yaghmour, Global, direct and diffuse solar radiation on horizontal and tilted surfaces in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Appl. Energy 87, 568–576 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. W. Yao, Z. Li, T. Xiu, Y. Lu, X. Li, New decomposition model to estimate hourly global solar radiation from the daily value. Sol. Energy120, 87–99 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. S.A.M. Maleki, H. Hizam, C. Gomes, Estimation of hourly, daily and monthly global solar radiation on inclined surface. Energies 10, 134 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. P.I. Cooper, The absorption of radiation in solar stills. Sol. Energy 12(3), 333346 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  15. M. Nia, M. Chegaar, M.F. Benatallah, M. Aillerie, Contribution to the quantification of solar radiation in Algeria. Energy Procedia 36, 730737 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. J.A. Duffies, W. ABechman, Solar engeneering of thermal processes, 3rd edn. (Wiley, Chichester, 2006), pp. 46–48

    Google Scholar 

  17. R.J. Stone, Improved statical procedure for the evaluation of solar radiation estimation models. Sol. Energy 51(4), 289–291 (1993)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. L.T. Wong, W.K. Chow, Solar radiation model. Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Appl. Energy 69, 191224 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. B.Y.H. Liu, R.C. Jordan, The interrelationship and characteristic distribution of direct diffuse, and total solar radiation. Sol. Energy 4(3), 1–19 (1960)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. J.A. Duffie, W.A. Bechman, Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, 2nd edn. (Wiley, New York, 1991)

    Google Scholar 

  21. V. Badescu, Disotropic approximation for solar diffuse irradiance on tilted surfaces. Renew. Energy 26, 221–233 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Y. ElMghouchi, A. ElBouardi, Z. Choulli, T. Ajzoul, New model to estimate and evaluate the solar radiation. Int. J. Sustain. Built Environ.3, 225–233 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. A.A. Hameed, N.M. Al-Fatlawy, A.M. Al-Salehi, Estimation of hourly global solar radiation incident of inclined surface in Iraq at different sky condition. Int. J. Res. Appl. Nat. Soc. Sci. 5, 13–28 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  24. P.G. Loutzenhizer, H. Maz, C. Felsmann, P.A. Strachan, T. Frank, G.M. Maxwell, Empirical validation of models to compute solar irradiance on inclined surfaces for building energy Simulaton. Sol. Energy 81, 254–267 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. M. Noorian, I. Moradi, G.A. Kamali, Evaluation of 12 models to estimate hourly diffuse irradiation on inclined surfaces. Renew. Energy33, 1406–1412 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. G. Notton, C. Cristofani, M. Muselli, P. Poggi, N. Heraud, Hourly solar irradiations estimation from horizontal measurements to inclined data. First International Symposium on Environment Identities and Mediterranean Area, I SEIMA IEEE Transactions, pp. 234–239 (2006)

  27. R. Perez, R. Stewart, C. Arbogast, R. Seals, J. Scott, An anisotropic hourly diffuse radiation model for sloping surfaces: description, performance, validation, site dependency evaluation. Sol. Energy 36(6), 481–497 (1986)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. L. Robeldo, A. Soler, A simple clear skies model for the luminous efficacy of diffuse solar radiation on inclined surfaces. Renew. Energy26, 169–176 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. J. Duffie, W. Beckman, Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes (Wiley, New York, 2006), pp. 50–58

    Google Scholar 

  30. M.T.Y. Tadros, Use of sunshine duration to estimate the global solar radiation over eight meteorological stations in Egypt. Renew. Energy21, 231–246 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. G. Codato, A.P. Oliveira, J. Soares, J.F. Escobedo, E.N. Comes, A.D. Pair, Global and diffuse solar irradiances in Urbain and Rural area in Southern Brazil. Theor. Appl. Climatol. 93, 57–73 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. M.K. Deshmukh, Modeling of hybrid renewable energy systems. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 12(1), 235–249 (2008)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  33. M. Despotovic, V. Nedic, Comparison of optimum tilt angles of solar collectors determined at yearly seasonal and monthly levels. Energy Conver Monag97, 121–131 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Robotics, Informatics and Complex Systems, University of Tunis El Manar, Rue Bechir Salem Belkhiria Campus universitaire, Le Belvedere, BP 37, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia

    Kaouther Belkilani, Afef Ben Othman & Mongi Besbes

  2. National School of Engineers of Carthage, University of Carthage, 45, Rue des entrepreneurs Charguia II, Carthage, Tunisia

    Afef Ben Othman

  3. Higher Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, University of Carthage, Technopole, Road of Solomon, Nabeul, Tunisia

    Kaouther Belkilani & Mongi Besbes

Authors
  1. Kaouther Belkilani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Afef Ben Othman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mongi Besbes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kaouther Belkilani.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Belkilani, K., Ben Othman, A. & Besbes, M. Estimation and experimental evaluation of the shortfall of photovoltaic plants in Tunisia: case study of the use of titled surfaces. Appl. Phys. A 124, 179 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-018-1581-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-018-1581-x

Search

Navigation