Electrical Revolution: Comparative analysis of fixed axis, single axis and dual axis solar tracking system

Estimate AC energy output of small solar farm considering fixed array, one axis tracking and dual axis tracking.

In this post, unit generation and comparative analysis of fixed axis solar, single axis solar tracking and dual axis solar tracking system is given. The Tehri hydro development corporation limited (THDC)’s maiden 50 MW solar power project is situated at Kasaragod district of Kerala.

It is situated 50 km from Mangalore international airport. The power purchase agreement between Kerala state electricity board and THDCIL on 11.8.2022, in which tariff has been approved of Rs. 3.10/ unit for 25 years from the date of commissioning of the project. In this report, comparison of unit generation by the solar array in the fixed position, single axis tracking, two axis tracking and bifacial solar array is given.

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Kasargod solar park, Kerala, India

Kasargod district Latitude & Longitude: 12.73 N, 74.9 E

Capacity: 50 MW

System losses: 14%

Tilt angle: 13

Azimuth angle: 180

Fixed Position

Inverter efficiency: 96%

Bifacial: No

Solar Array: Fixed Position

The solar irradiance and ac energy output for mono facial and bifacial solar panel is given here for fixed position of solar panel.

Month	Solar Irradiance (kWh/m²/month)	AC energy output (kWh)	Solar Irradiance (kWh/m²/month)	AC energy output (kWh)
Month	Mono-facial Solar Array		Bifacial Solar Array
January	6.3	7202840	6.581	7512818
February	6.7	6938273	7.023	7226752
March	6.8	7728918	7.074	8064160
April	5.4	5867036	5.636	6165138
May	4.3	4880390	4.531	5158378
June	3.1	3446330	3.28	3661978
July	3.5	4025736	3.653	4269578
August	5.0	5883999	5.295	6196440
September	5.0	5595725	5.2	5863973
October	4.6	5248656	4.812	5496827
November	6.0	6636561	6.251	6929803
December	5.2	5927481	5.468	6221320
Total	61.913	69381946	64.804	72767166

(Data source: NREL)

Solar Array: Single Axis Tracking

The solar irradiance and ac energy output for mono facial and bifacial solar panel is given here for single axis tracking of solar panel.

Month	Solar Irradiance (kWh/m²/month)	AC energy output (kWh)	Solar Irradiance (kWh/m²/month)	AC energy output (kWh)
Month	Mono-facial Solar Array		Bifacial Solar Array
January	7.721	8834686	8.014	9169150
February	8.272	8530654	8.585	8853068
March	8.194	9371241	8.538	9766790
April	6.173	6770669	6.496	7133743
May	4.861	5548189	5.139	5878844
June	3.259	3648202	3.492	3926140
July	4.243	5026653	4.452	5285331
August	5.924	6985962	6.227	7354720
September	5.934	6746567	6.212	7071253
October	5.248	6026766	5.515	6342753
November	7.197	8001243	7.494	8334213
December	5.991	6852934	6.291	7205580
Total	73.017	82343765	76.455	86321586

(Data source: NREL)

Solar Array: Two Axis Tracking

The solar irradiance and ac energy output for mono facial and bifacial solar panel is given here for two axis tracking of solar panel.

Month	Solar Irradiance (kWh/m²/month)	AC energy output (kWh)	Solar Irradiance (kWh/m²/month)	AC energy output (kWh)
Month	Mono-facial Solar Array		Bifacial Solar Array
January	8.584	9733544	8.886	10076803
February	8.884	9124148	9.213	9462375
March	8.616	9839089	8.979	10258128
April	6.532	7150861	6.861	7522579
May	5.292	6025260	5.572	6357699
June	3.545	3968232	3.79	4260946
July	4.846	5750325	5.052	6004635
August	6.412	7556472	6.719	7931180
September	6.334	7198190	6.622	7535907
October	5.562	6377385	5.86	6731533
November	7.884	8712879	8.207	9074130
December	6.541	7437846	6.91	7869984
Total	79.032	88874229	82.671	93085898

(Data source: NREL)

Solar Power Project Unit generation Summary

Solar Array Position	Fixed Position	Fixed Position (Bifacial)	1 Axis Tracking	1 Axis Tracking (Bifacial)	2 Axis Tracking	2 Axis Tracking (Bifacial)
Unit Generation	69381946	72767166	82343765	86321586	88874229	93085898
Unit Generation (MU)	69.38 MU	72.76 MU	82.34 MU	86.32 MU	88.87 MU	93.08 MU
% Increase in Unit	Reference	4.88%	18.68%	24.42%	28.09%	34.16%

Bifacial solar panel generates more unit than mono-facial solar array.
If we assume fixed position of solar cell as reference, one axis tracking system generates 18.68% more unit and 2 axis tracking system generates 28.09% more units.
Actual unit generation from this 50 MW solar plant April 2022 to August 2023 (6 Months) during was 44.76 MU as per Kerala State Electricity Board report.