Design and Analysis of Stand-alone Agrivoltaic System. Case Study on Aysit Kebele, Afar Region

Abstract

This thesis illustrates a comprehensive study of using an agrivoltaic system in Aysit kebele, Afar Region, Ethiopia. This system is applied on an average wheat farm located in Aysit, whichcovers an area of 0.43ha. PV solar panels are implanted just above established farmland, with spaces beneath of PV solar panels in order to provide crops with the necessary solar radiation.Here, the profitability of a hypothetical Agrivoltaic system deployed on irrigated arable lands of northern Afar is analyzed. Solar panels plays a great contributions by providing shade in order to protect crop from the extreme heat conditions as well as providing energy to power farm systems such as pumping water for irrigation. The study provides detailed system sizing and dynamic modeling. System dynamic designing is done using MATLAB/Simulink which contains several models of subsystems such as PV arrays, DC-DC buck converter, DC-AC inverter, 3 phase AC motor, and centrifugal submersible pump. The dynamic modeling is developed based on the sizing of the system. This system can produce the required energy with relatively excellent controller dynamic performance, as per a MATLAB/Simulink simulation. To assess the system's economic viability HOMER software was used. The results were presented using a variety of economic measures, including internal rate of return (IRR), farm profit, levelized cost of energy (LCOE), and net present value (NPV). For the solar-powered irrigation system, all economic indications were positive.his thesis illustrates a comprehensive study of using an agrivoltaic system in Aysit kebele, Afar Region, Ethiopia. This system is applied on an average wheat farm located in Aysit, whichcovers an area of 0.43ha. PV solar panels are implanted just above established farmland, with spaces beneath of PV solar panels in order to provide crops with the necessary solar radiation.Here, the profitability of a hypothetical Agrivoltaic system deployed on irrigated arable lands of northern Afar is analyzed. Solar panels plays a great contributions by providing shade in order to protect crop from the extreme heat conditions as well as providing energy to power farm systems such as pumping water for irrigation. The study provides detailed system sizing and dynamic modeling. System dynamic designing is done using MATLAB/Simulink which contains several models of subsystems such as PV arrays, DC-DC buck converter, DC-AC inverter, 3 phase AC motor, and centrifugal submersible pump. The dynamic modeling is developed based on the sizing of the system. This system can produce the required energy with relatively excellent controller dynamic performance, as per a MATLAB/Simulink simulation. To assess the system's economic viability HOMER software was used. The results were presented using a variety of economic measures, including internal rate of return (IRR), farm profit, levelized cost of energy (LCOE), and net present value (NPV). For the solar-powered irrigation system, all economic indications were positive.