Comparative analysis of photovoltaic energy production in the dry and rainy seasons: High altitude case study

The production of photovoltaic energy is currently of great importance; however, its use can be affected by seasonality due to the varied climatic conditions of the area. The objective of this research was to determine the comparative analysis of photovoltaic energy production in the dry and rainy seasons in the Peruvian Altiplano at high altitude. For the development of this research, a photovoltaic system was implemented to capture solar irradiation, a solar irradiation sensor connected to a programmable logic controller (PLC) for data acquisition, installed in varied climatic conditions in this area, and a principal component analysis (PCA) method was used to determine the differences in seasonal electricity production. The results of the dry season in peak sunshine hours (PSH) were 7.46 kWh/m2/d and in the rainy season 6.05 kWh/m2/d, being 18.86 % more in electricity production, due to climatic variability, presence of rain and days with partial cloud cover. Therefore, in the Peruvian Altiplano at high altitude in the months between July to October there is a higher energy production than in the months between November to February.