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I. INTRODUCTION
hese are prosperous times for the Middle East and the
Gulf region, as the demand for oil continues to rise. But
like the rest of the world, the region is not immune to
the negative impact of fluctuating oil prices, particularly as
it consumes the black gold for its own air-conditioning,
electricity and drinking water. There is an alternative
energy solution, however, and it is directly overheadthe
sun. We believe that in the coming years, both governments
and industries in the Middle East will face the pressure of
environmental worries and power shortages related to oilbased economic growth. As alternative energy projects
succeed, they will attract more investors and expand in size
and scope [1].
The environmental impact of this domestic dependence
on oil is large. According to the United Nations, Qatar,
Kuwait and the UAE have the three highest per-capita rates
of greenhouse gas emissions, roughly 15 tons higher than
that of the United States. Power and fuel shortages are
beginning to strain the regions economies. As
demonstrated in Bahrain, the consumption of fossil fuels
for domestic needs eats into potential revenues. The real
cost of producing electricity is nearly seven times higher
than the selling price of electricity, which is 3 cents per
Manuscript received May 31, 2009. This work was financially
supported by the UAE University under the contract no. 07-04-7-11/09.
A. Assi is associate professor with the Electrical Engineering
Department, UAE University, 71555 Al Ain, UAE, phone: 971-3-713
3609; fax: 971-3-762-3156; e-mail: ali.assi@uaeu.ac.ae.
M. Jama is a research assistant in the Electrical Engineering
Department, UAE University, 71555 Al Ain, UAE, e-mail:
200337930@uaeu.ac.ae.
K. Al Kathairi is a research assistant in the Electrical Engineering
Department, UAE University, 71555 Al Ain, UAE, e-mail:
200205666@uaeu.ac.ae.
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Fig 4: (a) Daily solar radiation in Al Ain (b) Daily solar hours in Al Ain.
Fig.6: load profile section
B. PV Array Installation
The software prompts the user to enter the dimensions of
the array installation area (width and height) as shown in
Fig.5.
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D. PV System Design
The next step is to design the grid connected PV system
starting with the DC circuitry of the system, which
concerns the PV array configuration. The software database
includes various types of modules each has different
electrical and mechanical characteristic. To make the
design procedure simpler and faster, the software has some
routines that sort out the most appropriate modules, in
terms of fitting the installation area, so instead of going
through all modules, only the modules that would fit the
suggested installation area will be displayed for the user as
shown in Fig.7.
After the installation area dimensions are confirmed, the
user will have the full chance to select between groups of
modules based on the required electrical behavior not the
modules installation issues, which has been already
resolved. Once the user selects one of the listed modules,
the software determines all possible PV array
configurations which are number of parallel strings (group
of modules in series) and number of modules per string.
The user will be free to select the suitable inverter for his
PV installation based on his budget and level of system
reliability he prefers. The software gives a nice clue for the
designer to select the best inverter, based on the inverter
sizing factor range. The higher the sizing factor range, the
better the design would become [5]. The tool offers the
opportunity of designing a partitioned grid tied PV system.
The partitioning feature is available in both DC and AC
circuits of the PV system. In the DC side of the system, if
the system is composed of several PV generators located at
different locations, while they all have the same design
parameters and specifications, the user could design one PV
generator and then specify number of identical PV
generators as shown in Fig.7. This feature is only to
duplicate the system, preventing the designer from going
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70
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
80
0
-0.1 0
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Months
Fig. 12: Monthly mean global irradiance for different inclination angles
Latitude:
24 12' North
Tilt angle
Installation area
Reflectivity factor
Module model
Array Configuration
Fig. 11: Average global irradiance in Al Ain at an inclination angle of 20
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Inverter model
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
V. CONCLUSION
The developed computer modeling tool has a strong
capability to predict PV systems power generation. The
strongest feature in this modeling tool is the use of daily
weather data and the utilization of simple irradiance models
that mainly are as accurate as some other complex models.
This tool is flexible enough to adapt quickly if some other
locations are investigated. Besides, the tool provides a
variety of PV products such as modules, inverter, etc. The
tool has been designed to help the user to easily build a grid
connected PV system and analyze the main electrical
parameters in a course of a year. To make the design
process simple and quick, some smart mechanisms have
been added to the tool to simplify components selection
procedure and continuously check that none of the design
constraints have been violated. All the procedures in this
tool are in compliance with the standard codes issued for
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[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]