ANALYSIS PERFORMANCE OF LARGE SCALE GRID CONNECTED PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANTS IN THE TROPICAL REGION

The main objective of this research is analysed and compared the performance of two solar power plants to identify the possible operational problems in the tropical region. The grid connected PV power plants considered in the present study, Ten Merina and Senergy, were installed in the region of Thies (Senegal). Solar power plants have the same installed capacity 29.491 MWp. A period of one operation year of the solar power plants is considered, starting from January 2018 to December 2018. The performance parameters developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) are used to analyse the performances of solar power plants. The results show that the plane of array irradiance at the sites is identical with an annual average of 6.2 kWh/m2 /d. The annual average performance ratio and final yield of solar power plants are respectively 74.3 %; 4.61 kWh/kWp to Ten Merina and 75.9 %; 4.66 kWh/kWp to Senergy. These results are compared to other solar power plants installed in different locations around the world