Comparative Performance Analysis of Different Silicon-based Photovoltaic Technologies in Nigeria

© 2018 IEEE. The adverse effects of energy production and utilization on the climate has triggered the search for alternative sources of energy. The Nigerian government has expressed its interest in the large-scale deployment of solar PV in the country. Hence, a detailed performance evaluation of different solar PV technologies under various climatic conditions in the country is needed. PVsyst software package is used to model the performance of a 10 MW grid-connected solar PV plant using three different silicon-based PV technologies, namely: polycrystalline (pc-Si), monocrystalline (mc-Si), and amorphous crystalline (a-Si) in the six different geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Comparative analyses are done for the three different PV technologies with respect to annual energy yield, performance ratio, capacity utilization factor, energy density, and system efficiency. Levelized cost of electricity from the three different technologies is also analysed. Results of our analyses are expressed by these performance indicators. It is observed that a-Si and pc-Si PV plants have the highest and lowest energy yield; performance ratio; and capacity utilization factor respectively, while mc-Si plant has the maximum overall system efficiency as well as annual energy density in all selected cities in this study. The findings of this paper will provide useful information for different actors in the solar PV setting of Nigeria.