Investigation of PV Power Plant Structures Based on Monte Carlo Reliability and Economic Analysis

With the increasing deployment of photovoltaic (PV) sources in the power grid and their contribution to power generation, it is imperative to obtain accurate models for the reliability and stability of these plants. In this paper, a novel method is proposed for reliability assessment for the different structures involved in the implementation of PV plants, in which the failure rate of system components is calculated using the FIDES Guide standard, taking into account environmental conditions such as radiation curves, temperature, and humidity. Failure rates of the insulated gate bipolar transistor and converter capacitor were found to be greater than other components. After precise calculation of failure and repair rates, the probability of functioning in three states of full generation, partial failure, and down was obtained through Monte Carlo simulations. Considering the effect of the system's structure on its stability, the reliability of the system can be increased by adding inverter paths to its structure. Several such structures are proposed, and the most economical design is identified by analyzing load duration curves to obtain the energy loss in each configuration. The proposed algorithm was implemented in Isfahan University's 20 kW PV power plant. Simulations demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in design and evaluation of economic system structures.