Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society ISSN:1598-6411(Print) 2508-3562(Online) 한국태양에너지학회 논문집

The amount of solar irradiation obtained by a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel is the major factor determining the power generated by a PV system, and the array tilt angle is critical for maximizing panel radiation acquisition. There are three types of PV systems based on the manner of setting the array tilt angle: fixed, semi-fixed, and tracking systems. A fixed system cannot respond to seasonal solar altitude angle changes, and therefore cannot absorb the maximum available solar radiation. The tracking system continually adjusts the tilt angle to absorb the maximum available radiation, but requires additional cost for equipment, installation, operation, and maintenance. The semi-fixed system is only adjusted periodically (usually seasonally) to obtain more energy than a fixed system at an overall cost that is less than a tracking system. To maximize semi-fixed system efficiency, determining the optimal tilt angle adjustment schedule are required. In this research, we conducted a simulation to derive an optimal operation schedule for a semi-fixed system in Seoul, Korea (latitude 37.5˚). We implemented a solar radiation acquisition model and PV genereation model on MATLAB. The optimal operation schedule was derived by changing the number of tilt angle adjustments throughout a year using a Dynamic Algorithm. The results show that adjusting the tilt angle 4 times a year was the most appropriate. and then, generation amount of PV system increased 2.80% compared with the fixed system. This corresponds to 99% compared to daily adjustment model. This increase would be quite valid as the PV system installation area increased.