Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Design, simulation and economic analysis of standalone roof top solar PV

system in India
Akash Kumar Shukla, K. Sudhakar , Prashant Baredar
Energy Centre, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal, M.P., India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 7 January 2016
Received in revised form 1 July 2016
Accepted 6 July 2016
Available online xxxx
Keywords:
Photovoltaic
Off grid solar
Inverter
Battery
BlueSol
Sunny Design

a b s t r a c t
The process of acquiring photovoltaic power involves designing, selecting and determining specifications
depending on a variety of factors, such as geographical location, weather condition, solar irradiance, and
load consumption. In this paper a detailed design of a standalone rooftop solar PV system to provide
uninterrupted power supply for a hostel building is presented. It outlines the detailed procedure for specifying each component of the stand-alone rooftop solar PV system and its performance analysis using
simulation software. Detailed cost analysis including installation and maintenance of a rooftop solar
PV system during its life span has also been carried out. The cost of PV generation and environmental
benefit are also highlighted.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Energy certainly plays a vital role in development of human
activity and electricity is one of the main concerns for the rising
future of any nation. There exists a direct correlation between
the development of a human activity and its consumption of
energy. Sustainable social and economic development depends
on adequate energy generation capacity of a country (Shukla
et al., 2015ad). There is no other way for accelerating advancement except to increase the power generation by fuel diversification. The solar energy reaching the earths surface can be utilized
in two forms as solar thermal or photovoltaic (PV). A solar thermal
system collects the thermal energy in solar radiation and uses it for
water and space heating or producing electricity through steamturbine-driven electrical generators (Patel, 1999; Yadav and
Sudhakar, 2015). Solar PV system is more widely used technology
all over the world. It is a method of generating electrical energy by
converting solar light into direct current (DC) electricity using the
photovoltaic (PV) effect (Kumar and Sudhakar, 2015). Solar PV
energy generation employs solar modules comprising a number
of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material. Solar PV applications are classified into two types; grid connected system and standalone (off-grid) system (Ma et al., 2013). Benefit of standalone
rooftop solar PV system has direct usefulness in reducing the peak
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sudhakar.i@manit.ac.in (K. Sudhakar).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.07.009
0038-092X/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

load, particularly the small and medium enterprise and factory.

Other advantages of rooftop solar PV system is lower loss in the
generation, transmission and distribution line as the electricity is
used in the place of production. Distributed energy generation
can potentially recover the losses as the voltage drops have been
compensated (Shukla et al., 2015ad). The present study focuses
on the design aspects of a standalone rooftop solar PV electrification system to fulfill the required load for a Hostel building in
MANIT, Bhopal, M.P, India.
The objectives of this study are as follows:

To describe and assess the solar resource potential at the given
site.

To perform simulation and determine energy yield of 110 kWp
standalone roof top solar PV system using three photovoltaic
software (Sunny Design, SAM and BlueSol).

To design 110 kWp standalone rooftop PV system for Hostel-1
Building, MANIT Bhopal.

To evaluate the economics of the proposed rooftop solar PV
system.

1.1. Factors influencing solar PV power production

In the tropical region, fixed PV systems consisting of flat type
modules are more widely accepted than tracking PV systems that
consist of flat type or concentration type modules due to high
beam radiation and low humidity (Cebecauer et al., 2007).

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Nomenclature
PV
BIPV
MANIT
STC
DC
AC
Ginput
TCF

gBIPV
gB
gINV

Nc
DOD
AhtotB
NBp
NMP
NMS
IM
DF
NS
VS
Vm
Pu
EPV
N
d

Photovoltaic
Building integrated photovoltaic
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology
Standard test condition
Direct current
Alternating current
Solar energy input per day on solar PV array
Temperature correction factor
BIPV module efficiency
Battery efficiency
Inverter efficiency
Largest number of continuous cloudy days of the site
Maximum permissible depth of discharge of the battery
Ampere-hours of the battery
Number of batteries in parallel
Number of rooftop PV modules in parallel
Number of rooftop PV modules in series
Module operating temperature
Module derate factor
Average number of solar hours
System nominal voltage
Maximum voltage
Average unitary price per kW h to be paid to owner
Annual PV electricity generated
Life of the PV system
Nominal discount rate

Electrical energy produced by a photovoltaic system depends on

several external factors (Rajput and Sudhakar, 2013). Foremost of
these is the amount of solar radiation impinging on the surface
of the PV modules, which in turn depends on the local climatic conditions as well as the mounting of the modules, e.g. fixed or tracking, inclination angle, etc. (Shukla et al., 2015ad). The term
irradiance is used to consider the solar power falling on unit area
per unit time (W/m2). Solar radiation, selectively attenuated by
the atmosphere, which is not reflected or scattered and reaches
the surface directly, is beam radiation. The scattered radiation that
reaches the ground is diffuse radiation (ri et al., 2007). The small
part of radiation that is reflected from the ground onto the inclined
receiver is reflected radiation. These three components of radiation
together create global radiation.
Factors affecting PV module performance are (Dunlop and
Halton, 2005):

Conversion efficiency depends on module temperature
(which in turn depends on ambient temperature, wind
velocity) and irradiance levels.

Changes of PV module efficiency is due to the variable
spectrum of the sunlight, which in turn depends on sun
height and meteorological conditions.

The ideal angle from horizontal is between 30 and 45.
Other angles may also be suitable but are slightly less efficient. To capture the maximum amount of solar radiation
over a year, the solar module should be tilted at an angle
approximately equal to a sites latitude, and facing within
15 of due south. To optimize winter performance, the
solar module can be tilted 15 more than the latitude
angle, and to optimize summer performance, 15 less than
the latitude angle (Shukla et al., 2015ad). At any given
instant, the array will give maximum output when pointed
directly at the sun.

ePV
POut

gINV

Pin,INV
Vin,DC
Iin,DC
Pt,INV
PkVA
Edaily,INV
Einv
MBackup
BAAh
BOAh
EBat
Vout,PV
CCvolt
Iout,PV
Y array
Earray
EP
YF
Y Ref
CL
SL

Annual increase rate of the PV electricity unitary price

paid to owner
Total power output (load)
Inverter efficiency
Input power to inverter
Input DC voltage
Input DC current
Total inverter power
kVA rating of inverter
Energy from inverter
Energy input to inverter
Number of days for backup power in battery
Required capacity of battery bank
Battery capacity
Energy require to charge battery
Module voltage output
Charge controller voltage
Module current output
Array yield
Array power
Energy contributed to the load by PV plant
Final yield
Reference yield
Capture loss
System loss

Changes of modules performance with long-term exposure to outdoor conditions (normally degrades), which in
turn affects the overall lifetime energy output (ageing
effects).

Shading of a module can dramatically reduce the output
from the whole array. Shading should therefore always
be avoided, especially from any trees or buildings to the
South of the array. PV modules are very sensitive to shading. Unlike a solar thermal panel which can tolerate some
shading, many brands of PV modules cannot even be
shaded by the branch of a leafless tree.
The strength of these effects varies between PV technologies
and even between modules using the same class of PV material.
At the PV system level there are other factors determining PV
power production (Huld et al., 2010a,b):

PV system downtime due to component failures or
maintenance.

Losses in cables and interconnections.

Efficiency of inverters, transformers and other power
electronics.
1.2. Simulation of solar PV system
Modeling of a yield simulation requires a large quantity of input
data like solar irradiation, local weather conditions and other technical parameters of the planned PV systems. The level of accuracy
needed for the energy yield prediction depends on the stage of project development. The details of some PV design and simulation
software is given in Table 1. A preliminary indication of the energy
yield can be carried out using solar resource data and estimates of
plant losses based on nominal values seen in existing projects
(Huld et al., 2010a,b).

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Table 1
Solar PV design and simulation software.
PV design and
simulation software

Purpose

Developer

PV F-chart
PV Sol

It provides analysis and rough sizing of both grid-connected and stand-alone PV systems
It is used for simulation of grid-connected and stand-alone systems, including economic analysis

PV Planer

It is used for analysis and sizing for grid-connected PV system

SAM

It performs predictions and cost of energy estimates for grid-connected and standalone power
projects based on installation and operating costs and system design parameters
It is used for energetic evaluation of an operational year forecast and simulation of solar PV system
It calculates the irradiation on the plane of the panels and the producibility of the photovoltaic
system

Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, NM

Valentin Software company Berlin,
Germany
Center for Energy and Environmental
Policy, University of Deleware
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL)
Niestetal, Germany
Regen Power Pty. Ltd.Western Australia

Sunny Design
Blue Sol

2. Methodology
2.1. Site information and system description
Site information:
The site selected for the case study is based on academic institution campus located in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh India. Maulana
Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) is one of the largest
academic institutes located in central region of India. About more
than 300 students are living in Hostel Number 1. So the power consumption of Hostel is very high. Hostel building has an enormous
space available on rooftop. The site location is illustrated in Fig. 1.
System description:
Standalone Rooftop solar PV systems have very less critical
components. It is majorly made up of solar PV panels, supporting
structures, inverter, battery, charge controller, switches and cables.
A schematic diagram of the standalone rooftop solar PV system is
given in Fig. 2. The 110 kWp solar PV array consists of 350 solar
modules from ReneSola. All the solar PV modules are positioned
in a fixed direction facing south at an inclined angle of 23.12.
Unlike typical standalone (off-grid), this system uses the DC cable
to couple solar charge controller, battery and inverter (Ma et al.,

2014a,b). A charge controller controls the charge and discharge

process in order to ensure a long battery lifetime like in the grid
connected systems, an inverter, when transform DC to AC
electricity.
In standalone rooftop PV system, a storage battery is needed.
Excess energy produced during times with low loads charge the
battery, while at times with low solar radiation the load are met
by discharging it. In this standalone solar PV system employs
two inverters (55 kVA) connected to AC load side (Ma et al.,
2014a,b). Solar PV inverters and battery bank (400 A h) have two
functional modes i.e. charging mode and discharging mode. In
charging mode, the inverter converts AC to DC and then charges
the battery bank using the excess energy provided on AC side
(Ma et al., 2013). During the discharging mode the inverter provides AC 220V output using the energy stored in the batteries.
The load consumption in Hostel building (Shukla et al., 2016)
and system information is given in Tables 2 and 3.
2.2. Simulation using SAM, Sunny Design, Blue Sol
SAM makes performance predictions of energy estimates for
solar PV energy projects based on installation and system design

Fig. 1. Site location Hostel No.1, MANIT Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Source: https://earth.google.com.

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the standalone rooftop solar PV system.

Table 2
Load consumption in Hostel building.
Electrical load and capacity (W)

Quantity

Total capacity in watt (kW)

Hours of operation per day (h)

Energy consumptions in kW h

Tube light: 40 W
Fan: 40 W
Water pump:746 W
Water geyser: 1500 W
Refrigerator: 1000 W
Water cooler: 700 W

200
180
3
6
1
6

8
7.2
2.24
9
1
4.2

10
10
5
5
22
20

80
72
11.2
45
22
84

Total energy consumption per day

314.2 kW h

Table 3
Site information and system description.
Site information
Site name
Coordinates
Elevation
Slope inclination
Slope azimuth
Annual air temperature at 2 m

System description
Hostel Number 1, MANIT Bhopal, India
23120 45.2900 N, 77240 32.6200 E
532 m
1
340 north
24.8 C

parameters that specify as given inputs to the model. SAM is an

electric energy generation model and assumes that the solar PV
energy system delivers energy either to a standalone solar PV system, or to a grid-connected solar PV system or facility to meet electric load. SAM performs a time-step simulation of a solar PV system
performance, and calculates energy generation.
Sunny design is one of the simulation software developed to
estimate the performance of the standalone solar PV system. It is
capable of evaluating the performance of on grid stand-alone and
off grid (standalone) solar PV systems based on the specified site
location and module selection. The program accurately predicts
the system energy yields computed using detailed hourly simulation data.
Blue Sol is solar PV design and simulation software that
design solar PV systems and calculate energy production of

Installed power
Type of modules
Mounting system
Azimuth/inclination
DC/AC losses
Availability

110.0 kWp
Crystalline silicon
Fixed mounting, free standing
180 (south)/23
5.0%/2.0%
95.0%

documentation. This software is capable of evaluating the performance of grid-connected, stand-alone (off-grid) solar PV system
based on the specified module, inverter and battery selection. Blue
Sol is able to import meteo data from many different sources data.
In this study Sunny design, SAM and Blue Sol simulation software are used to predict the monthly and annual energy output
of 110 kWp standalone rooftop solar PV plant for Hostel building
of MANIT Bhopal.
Normalized performance parameter:
The system performance parameters like solar irradiation, PV
system final yield, PV reference yield, and performance ratio and
capacity factor are evaluated based on IEC standards 61724.
Array yield: The array yield is defined as the direct current
energy output from the PV array over a given period of time normalized by the PV rated power

A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Y array

Earray
P0

kW h=d=kWp

EL
1

Ebackup
Earray

kW h

Final yield: The final yield is defined as the energy output from
the inverter (AC energy) normalized by the PV system rated capacity. It is the ratio of AC energy output to the rated DC power output.

YF

EP
P0

kW h=d=kWp

Reference yield: The reference yield is the ratio of the total inplane solar radiation to the array reference irradiance (usually
taken as 1 kW/m2). It is a measure of the theoretical energy available at a specific location over a specified time period.

Y Ref

Step 1: Sizing of the inverter

The selected inverter must be able to handle the maximum
expected power of AC loads. The output capacity of inverter must
be more than the total AC loads wattage. The DC input voltage of
the inverter shall be compatible to the output of battery bank voltage and should operate within the range of charge controller voltage. The output will be either single phase or three phase
230 V/440 V and 50 Hz compatible to the AC loads. The conversion
efficiency at a minimum load should be at least 80%.
Detail information about inverter is given in Table 4.
The total power output of all loads in Hostel

POut Inductive load Resistive load

The power delivered by inverter (Guda and Aliya, 2015)

Gi dt

GSTC

2.3. Design of 110 kW standalone rooftop solar PV system

The following steps are considered to design a stand-alone rooftop solar PV system for the

Load consumption:

EP

441

kW h=d=kWp

Capture loss: An array capture loss is the difference between

the reference yield and the array yield.

C L Y Ref  Y array

kW h=d=kWp

System loss: The system losses is due to losses in converting the

DC power output from PV to AC power by the inverter

SL Y array  Y final

kW h=d=kWp

The correlation between these normalized parameters is briefly

shown in Fig. 3. In this study, historic climate data of the site is
employed to predict the energy yield.

Pt;INV POut 3:5  Inductive load

The power rating of inverter

PkVA

Deliv erable real power

Power factor

From Eq. (8), the value of power factor is generally taken as 0.8 for
most of the inverters therefore

Iin;DC

Pin;INV
V in;DC

10

The continuous load to the inverter are given by GSES (2014)

Pin;INV

POut

11

gINV

Fig. 3. Correlation between these normalized performance parameters (Ma et al., 2013).

Table 4
Specification of inverter.
Parameter

Value

Remark

Inductive load
Resistive load
Total power output, POut
Inverter efficiency, gINV
Input power to inverter, Pin,INV
Input DC voltage, Vin,DC
Input DC current, Iin,DC
Total inverter power, Pt,INV
Power factor
kVA rating, PkVA
Energy from inverter, Edaily,INV
Energy input to inverter, Einv

7 kW
12 kW
19 kW
90%
22.11 kW
360 V
59 A
43.5 kW
0.8
54.39 kVA
35 kW h
38.88 kW h

Data from Hostel building

Data from Hostel building
From Eq. (7)
http://www.excide4u.com/solar
From Eq. (11)
http://renesolar.com/renesolar360V-30kVA
From Eq. (12)
From Eq. (8)
http://www.renesolar.com/renesola-315W
From Eq. (10)

From Eq. (14)

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Now continuous input direct current to an inverter from PV

modules can be determined.
Input DC current,

Iin;DC

Pin;INV

V in;DC

12

EINV

i:e: EINV

EDaily

13

N C  EL
DOD  gout

gout gB  gINV

15
16

The life of battery is a function of maximum depth of discharge.

The maximum depth of discharge for the battery is taken to be 0.8.
The sizing method for battery storage is based on the concept of
power supply during a number of autonomous days; during these
days the load demand is met solely by the energy storage system.
Specification of battery is shown in Table 5. If the largest number of
autonomous days is NC, then the minimum required ampere-hours
of the battery (AhtotB) is:

AhtotB

Storage capacity
DC nominal v oltage

17

Energy storage capacity of the battery bank is determined

by the daily energy requirement and number of days for backup
power using the following equation (Batainesh and Dalalah,
2012)

BAAh

Einv  MBackup
V in;DC  DOD

18

Optimum battery bank should be chosen using following

equation

BOAh

Pout  c  rating
V in;DC  gINV

19

The number of batteries connected in series and parallel can be

obtained from the following equation

battery in Series

V in;DC
Voltage of single battery

PV Peak power
Peak power of a PV module

PVpeak power Area of a PV array  PSI  gPV

Step 2: Sizing of the battery

The storage capacity of the battery can be calculated according
to the following relation (Alamsyah et al., 2003; Wenham et al.,
1994):

Storage capacity

21

Step 3: Sizing of rooftop solar PV modules

The numbers of rooftop solar PV modules are determined by the
following expressions:

14

gINV

BAAh
Capacity of single battery

Number of rooftop solar PV module

This value is needed for sizing of battery and design.

Daily input energy to the inverter

Daily maximum energy requirement

Inv erter efficiency

and battery in parallel

20

22
23

where PSI is the maximum radiation intensity taken to be

1000 W/m2.
The number of rooftop solar PV modules in parallel

NMP

AhtotB
I M  DF  N S

24

and number of rooftop solar PV modules in series

NMS

VS
Vm

25

The size of the solar PV array and battery bank capacity should be
determined. The size of the solar PV array used in this study can
be calculated by the following equation (Kolhe, 2009). Detail specifications of rooftop solar PV Module is given in Table 6.

Area of solar PV array

EL
Ginput  gBIPV  gout  TCF

26

Output voltage of solar PV array

V ouy;PV

CC Volt

gcable

27

Current requirement from solar PV array

IoutPV

V out;PV
V in;DC  Daily sundhine hour

28

Step 4: Design of the battery charge controller

The primary function of a charge controller in a standalone rooftop solar PV system is to maintain the battery at highest possible
state of charge while protecting it from over-charge by the array
and from over discharge by the loads (Messenger and Ventre,
2000). Wu et al., 2011 developed a new fast charging method that
is applied to micro-grid photovoltaic systems to eliminate batteries
charge or discharge due to change of solar intensity. Some rooftop
solar PV systems can be effectively designed without the use of
charge control. The control strategy of a battery charge controller
determines the effectiveness of battery charging and solar PV array
utilization, the ability of the system to meet the load demands and
extend the life of a battery. When the irradiation is high, energy
generated by the solar PV array often exceeds the electrical load
demand. A charge controller is used to protect the battery when

Table 5
Specification of battery.
Parameter

Value

Remark/reference

Usage per day

Number of days for backup power, MBackup
Battery type
Depth of discharge, DOD
Required capacity of battery bank, BAAh
Battery voltage
C-rating
Battery capacity, BOAh
Total number of string in parallel, BP
Number of batteries in each string connected in series, BS
Energy require to charge battery, EBat

8h
3
Lead acid type
80%
400 A h
2 V per battery
C-10
586 A h per battery
1
180
180 kW h

Data from Hostel building

Data from Hostel building
(http://renesolar.com/renesolar360V-30kVA)
(http://renesolar.com/renesolar360V-30kVA)
From Eq. (18)
(http://renesolar.com/renesolar360V-30kVA)
(http://renesolar.com/renesolar360V-30kVA)
From Eq. (19)
From Eq. (21)
From Eq. (20)
From Eq. (22)

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Table 6
Specifications of rooftop solar PV module.
Parameter

Value

Remark/reference

Module voltage output, Vout,PV

Charge controller voltage, CCvolt
Module current output, Iout,PV
Number of module in series, Mseries
Number of modules in parallel connected in string, MParallel
Module capacity (ReneSola)

577 V
560 V
40 A
18
3
315 W

From Eq. (27)

From Eq. (28)

From Eq. (24)
From Eq. (25)
(http://www.renesolar.com/renesola-315W)

battery damage from overcharge. A charge controller should prevent overcharge of a battery regardless of the system design and
seasonal changes in the load profile, operating temperatures and
solar irradiation. It has to be capable of carrying the short circuit
current of the solar PV array.
The charge controller is generally sized in a way that it will perform its function of current control. A good charge controller must
be able to withstand the array current as well as the total load current and must be designed to match the voltage of the solar PV
module as well as that of the battery bank. MPPT charge controller
is specified based on solar PV module voltage handling capacity.
Now-a-days, charge controller usually comes with inverter. There
is a recommended voltage range, within which one have to choose
the solar PV module DC voltage.

the unit of measurement is the number of years to pay back the

investment cost. Projects with short payback periods are perceived
to have lower risks. Simple payback analysis takes into account
only first costs and energy savings at present cost.
Net Present Value (NPV) (IEA PVPS, 2002; Talavera et al.,
2011):
Net benefit analysis can be used to express the net difference
between the benefits and costs of one rooftop solar PV system relative to an alternative in present or annual value in money. Net
benefits, also called net present values (NPV), represent the difference between the present value of benefits and the present value of
costs of the alternative. A system is cost-effective if the net present
value is positive.
The net present value NPV Present worth of the cash inflow  LCC

Step 5: Sizing of the DC cable

32

The design of a standalone rooftop PV system incomplete until

the correct size and type of cable is selected for wiring the components together. The DC cables are two types; one is battery DC
cable to inverter and second is standalone PV system to inverter
DC cable. The maximum continuous input current (Iinv) that should
be used as the basis for inverter cable wiring (Pal et al., 2015)

Iinv

Max:Power

ginv  V battery

29

The current rating of the DC cable is (Pal et al., 2015)

IDC IPV  1:25

30

and voltage drop in the DC cable (Vdrop,DC) is (Pal et al., 2015)

V drop;DC

2  LDC;cable  IDC  q
ADC;cable

31

Here q is the resistivity of the DC cable material, LDC,cable is the

length of the DC cable and ADC,cable is the area of the DC cable.
In a building integrated photovoltaic system choosing proper
cable is a very important part in designing. The design of a building
integrated photovoltaic power system is incomplete until the correct size and type of cable is selected for wiring the components
together. As per Eq. (29) the maximum continuous input current
that should be used as the basis for inverter cable wiring = 54.38 kVA/0.9/360 V = 167 A. So, current capacity of inverter wire is
167 A  1.25 = 209 A. DC Wire should be chosen as per cable
ampere rating. As per Eq. (31), the area of the cable is
3323  108 m square. So diameter of the wire is 8.8 mm.
2.4. Economic analysis
Five economic indicators of financial analysis that are often
used for making rooftop solar PV plant are payback analysis, net
benefit analysis, saving-to-investment ratio, adjusted internal rate
of return, and life-cycle cost analysis.
Payback period (IEA PVPS, 2002):
The payback period for a rooftop solar PV system is calculated
as the total investment cost divided by the first years revenues
from energy saved, displaced, or produced. In payback analysis,

Present worth of the cash inflow



K PU 1  K NPU
Pu  EPV 
1  K PU

33

Savings-to-Investment Ratio (SIR) (IEA PVPS, 2002):

The savings-to-investment ratio (SIR) can be used to compare
savings to costs of one energy system relative to an alternative
energy system. For positive net savings, the savings-toinvestment ratio must be greater than one. The higher the SIR,
the greater the savings realized relative to the investment.
Adjusted Internal Rate of Return (AIRR) (IEA PVPS, 2002):
The AIRR is a discounted cash flow technique that measures the
annual yield from a project, taking into account reinvestment of
interim receipts at a specified rate. With this methodology, estimating the cost-effectiveness of a project involves comparisons
of the calculated adjusted internal rate of return of a project to
the investors minimum acceptable rate of return. The project is
cost-effective if the adjusted internal rate of return is greater than
the minimum acceptable rate of return.
Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) Analysis (IEA PVPS, 2002; Talavera et al.,
2011):
In life-cycle cost analysis, all relevant present and future costs
associated with a PV system are summed in present or annual
value during the life of the system. These costs include, but are
not limited to, energy, installation, operations and maintenance,
repair, less salvage value, inflation, and discount rate for the life
of the investment. A comparison between the life cycle costs of
the rooftop solar PV system to an alternative determines if the system in question is cost-effective. If the life cycle cost is lower than
that for the base case and in other aspects is equal, it is considered
cost effective and the preferred investment. Minimum economic
evaluation criteria are given in Table 7.

Life cycle costLCC

Present worth of initial user investment of the PV system
Present worth of the operation and maintenance cost
34

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Table 7
Minimum economic evaluation criteria (IEA PVPS, 2002).
Economic evaluation criteria

Economic measure

Payback period
Saving to Investment Ratio (SIR)
Adjusted Internal Rate of Return (AIRR)
Net Present Value (NPV)
Life-Cycle Costs (LCC)

Payback period < Life of building

SIR > 1
AIR > Discount rate
Net present value > 0
Lower than LCC for alternative

Cost of PV array Number of BIPV module oPrice of each module

35
Cost of battery bank Number of battery  Price of each battery
36

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Solar resource assessment
MANIT Bhopal lies between 23.21N longitudes and 77.40E latitude and receive good amount of solar radiation round the year.
The average daily irradiance varies from 3.7 kW h/m2/day to
6.5 kW h/m2/day with annual average sun shine hours of 5.5 h.
The monthly variation of solar fraction at MANIT Bhopal illustrated
in Fig. 7. The performance of solar PV system is significantly

affected by the local climatic conditions (ambient temperature,

humidity, precipitation, etc.), availability of solar radiations and
micro climatic parameters such as wind speed, dust concentrations, etc. The minimum and maximum ambient temperature
greatly influence the power output of solar photovoltaic system.
Similarly humidity should be given special consideration while
determining the power output of the PV plant. High humidity in
the atmosphere adversely affects the performance of the PV module as it condenses and forms a deposit on the module during night
time. The Variation of irradiance and ambient temperature is given
in Fig. 4 and the monthly average of daily direct and diffused irradiance at MANIT Bhopal is shown in Fig. 5. The sun path diagram
over a year and variation of day length is illustrated in Fig. 6.
Fig. 4 shows the variation of annual average of GHI, diffuse and
beam radiation with the annual ambient temperature. The average
annual ambient temperature varies between 20 C and 35 C which
is very suitable for PV module but surface temperature of PV module sometimes may reach beyond ambient temperature. The PV
module gives better performance at their standard test condition
and increase in surface temperature of module affects the efficiency. Beam radiation are major contributor to increase the temperature of PV module, however normal wind speed may be
helpful to keep module at the standard temperature i.e. 25 C.
Bhopal is situated in mid part of India, where humidity doesnt
reach too high and has variation between 10% to 40%; for that
reason beam radiation is always very much higher than diffuse

Fig. 4. Variation of irradiance and ambient temperature at MANIT Bhopal.

A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Fig. 5. Variation of direct and diffuse radiation at MANIT Bhopal.

Fig. 6. Sun path at Hostel Number 1, MANIT Bhopal using SunCalc.

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Fig. 7. Monthly variation of solar fraction at MANIT Bhopal.

7.00

Array yield

6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00

Array Yield (h/d) Sunny design

2.00
1.00

Array Yield (h/d) SAM

0.00

Array Yield (h/d) Blue Sol

Month

Energy producon

Fig. 8. Variation of monthly array yield.

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Energy producon in kWh/d

Sunny Design
Energy producon in kWh/d
SAM
Energy producon in kWh/d Blue
Sol

Month

Fig. 9. Variation of energy production per day.

radiation. During rainy season (July, August and September) diffuse

radiation may increase due to scattering of radiation from
clouds and humid environment. The diffuse irradiation and beam
radiation varies from 0.97 to 2.46 kW h/m2 day and 1.47 to
4.73 kW h/m2 day respectively (Fig. 5). The site receives maximum
solar radiation during the month of April (6.59 kW h/m2 day) and
minimum during August (3.70 kW h/m2 day).
Solar fraction is defined as the portion of sun energy utilized or
sun energy used to convert in the utility in any energy forms. The
main factors that affects the solar fraction is climate condition,

operation, storage and load of the system. In Bhopal solar fraction

varies between 35% to 45% means average utilization of solar
energy throught the year may be around 40%.
3.2. Normalized performance parameter
The maximum array yield of 5.1 h/d, 5.5 h/d and 5.5 h/d are
obtained for the simulation software SAM, SunnyDesign, BlueSol
respectively (Fig. 8). The minimum array yields for the simulated
result vary between 3.0 h/d and 3.1 h/d which is very close to each

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

other. The maximum Array yield is found in the month of March

and minimum in the month of August for all the simulation software. Final yield and reference yield of the system is estimated
to be 2.86 h/d and 5.85 h/d respectively. Daily energy contributed
to load by PV plant is 314.2 kW h/d which is equal to daily energy
consumed by the load where it is assumed that daily energy consumption from the backup system is zero. The maximum energy
production varies from 590 to 610 kW h/d in month of March
and minimum energy production in month of August which is
between 300 to 350 kW h/d (Fig. 9).
Variation of system loss including maximum and minimum
value throughout the year is shown in Fig. 10. System loss is the
normalized performance parameter in the PV plant system design.
It is the energy consumed by the system with reference to array
loss and system loss. It also refers to the power loss due to converting DC supply to AC supply. System loss varies between 0.22 to
2.8 h/d.
Fig. 11 illustrates the variation of difference between the reference yield and the array yield during the whole year. SAM and
Sunny Design shows lower value of capture losses, whereas Sunny
design predicts higher capture losses. The capture losses vary from
0.2 to 5.5 h/d.
3.3. PV power output prediction

System Loss

A PV system, designed for MANIT Hostel-I Building has been

studied for its performance. The energy yield of the 110 kWp Solar
PV system was simulated using Sunny design, SAM and BlueSol
Software. All the electricity generated was assumed to be utilized

for meeting the building energy requirements. The monthly average energy output of the solar PV system throughout the year is
presented in Table 8. It was observed that the energy generation
fluctuates depending on the insolation. Based on the simulation
results; the accumulative energy output delivered for hostel building grid was approximately 190 MW h, with system yield of
1731 kW h/kWp. Due to various factors such as site location, local
weather condition, solar irradiance, performance of PV modules,
inverters, battery and system losses, the power capacity of the system is significantly reduced. The annual energy and specific production using BLUESOL software is nearly same as the simulation
results of Sunny design. However SAM predicts lesser energy output than the other two software.
Table 8
Monthly energy production.
Month

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00

Energy production in kW h
Sunny Design

SAM

Blue Sol

16,470
16,673
19,399
17,852
17,530
13,894
11,253
11,068
13,523
17,167
15,947
15,810

15262.3
16038.1
18121
16184.9
15949.9
13486.7
10349.4
9753.88
14173.7
16875.3
15635.2
15697.2

16437.1
16328.2
19443.5
19095.7
18602.5
14838.2
11668.6
10742.6
14137.9
17144.5
16102.5
15596.6

System Loss (h/d) Sunny Design

System Loss (h/d) SAM
System Loss (h/d) BlueSol

Month

Fig. 10. Variation of system loss.

Capture Loss (h/d)

6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00

Capture loss (h/d) Sunny Design

1.00

Capture loss (h/d) SAM

0.00

Capture loss (h/d) BlueSol

Month
Fig. 11. Variation of capture loss.

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A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

3.4. System performance comparison

Table 12
Economic indicators.

The simulation results of 110 kWp obtained by using various

software like BlueSol,SAM, Sunny Design and their comparison is
illustrated in Tables 9 and 10. Annual energy production estimated
by the software varies between 177 MW h and 190 MW h and
showed very small differences. The simulation results obtained
for the PV system is based on optimal panel-size, optimal inclination angle and appropriate selection of the inverter based on operating power and highest efficiency possible. The simulation results
and the annual energy yield obtained using Blue Sol, SAM, Sunny
Design are similar and comparable. Therefore, software simulation
results prove to be accurate and reliable to be used in such study.
The specific energy production found to vary between
1731 kW h/kW and 1651.76 kW h/kW (Table 10). Considering the
whole year the specific energy production differences is about 3%
between Sunny Design and SAM and 5% between Blue Sol and
SAM. However, if we consider the SAM result as a benchmark, both
Sunny design and Blue Sol model seems to over predict the energy
production. Thus, it is important for any PV designer to select
appropriate software database to avoid significant differences in
the predicted energy output.
4. Economics of standalone rooftop solar PV system and
environmental benefits
Solar energy is gaining popularity across the globe for household electrification due to the increasing population, industrialization and further aggravated by the depleting resources of fossil
fuels. At this juncture, it is important to increase the acceptance
rate of standalone rooftop solar PV electrification system technology. Therefore, it is worth full to determine the proper design,
finance options, feasibility, viability, and risk factors involved in

Table 9
Annual energy production.
Software

Annual energy production in MW h

SAM
Sunny Design
Blue Sol

177.52
186.58
190.1

Software

Specific energy production in kW h/kW

SAM
Sunny Design
Blue Sol

1651.76
1699
1731

Table 11
Initial investment for the standalone rooftop solar PV system.
Price per quantity
in rupee

Economic measure

Remarks/reference

Payback period
Saving to Investment Ratio (SIR)
Net Present Value (NPV)
Life-Cycle Costs (LCC)

8.2 years
1.53
1.12
Rs. 82,02,500

From Eq. (32)

From Eq. (34)

its implementation. The initial investment for the standalone rooftop solar PV system along with cost of basic components are listed
in Table 11. Photovoltaic modules cost per watt peak is taken 50
rupee and battery cost per watt peak is taken 25 rupee per A h. Life
of the photovoltaic module is typically 23 years and batteries have
to be replaced after 4 years period. So by considering this assumption the battery bank has to be replaced five times.
Detail economic analysis of 110 kWp Solar PV systems is given
in Table 12.
The payback period is the time required to cover-up the initial
investment including the installation cost. Solar photovoltaic modules and related components are costly. Therefore the generated
electricity cost will be high. However; the recent descent in prices
of solar PV system has made this technology to be cost-competitive
in comparison to conventional energy resources. The high capital
cost involved with the purchase of solar PV systems has been the
major deterrent to its widespread dissemination. The economic
assessment of the proposed system is useful in understanding
the potential energy cost, Initial investment, subsidies and supports that can make off grid PV installations more attractive option
in India.
In remote areas, the construction of large grid infrastructure is
often uneconomical and bears environmental consequence when
total power delivered is considered. Solar PV systems for standalone applications can have additional energy and environmental
advantages over conventional grid connected solar PV systems. The
standalone solar PV system provides greatest air pollution prevention benefits in cities with conventional electricity and greatest
solar potential. Environmental benefits of the solar roof top include
displacement of conventional grid electricity.
5. Conclusion

Table 10
Specific energy production.

Name of the rooftop PV system

component

Economic evaluation criteria

Total price in
rupee

Photovoltaic panel (Rene Sola)

15,750/Battery (Exide LMXT)
6500/Inverter (Rene Sola)
8,10,000/Total cost of the rooftop PV system component
Cost of cable, labor, metering, control device,
junction box, etc.

55,12,500/11,70,000/8,10,000/7,492,500/7,10,000/-

Total initial investment

Total kW h generated over 25 years
Cost per kW h

82,02,500/4,077,500 kW h
Rs. 6.06

This paper has examined the technical performance of a

110 kWp standalone rooftop solar PV system based on energy simulation model. The design and cost estimation of the whole system
including cabling, labor, maintenance and control devices has also
been estimated.The following conclusions can be drawn from the
present study:

The total annual energy output delivered to grid was found to
be 1927.7 kW h, the annual specific yield of 931.6 kW h and
an average energy output of 160.64 kW h/month.

The energy production obtained from BlueSol software was
found to be comparable with other software results.

The annual final yield value of 2.86 kW h/kWp determined for
the system is a good indicator that standalone system installations in central region of India is technically viable energy solution even for urban areas, government buildings and Hostels.

The initial installation cost of the standalone solar PV system is
high, about Rs.82.025 lakh. However, it is beneficial and suitable
for long term investment as the system life expectancy period is
about 25 years.

If the initial prices of the rooftop solar PV systems are
decreased, which is expected with the advent of technological
uplift and the increase in production volume, and then the economic returns will further be enhanced.

A.K. Shukla et al. / Solar Energy 136 (2016) 437449

Governments should get involved in providing financial support

in terms of subsidy above 25% for procurement and installation
of standalone rooftop solar PV system, make it a popular choice
and propagate this energy solution.

Installation of PV modules on rooftop of the buildings generates
electricity for self-consumption and power distribution. By
proper designing and matching of the electrical loads, it is possible to become self-sufficient in meeting electricity demand of
the building by Installation of Solar PV rooftop systems.

The solar resource and rooftop potential assessment of this
study was limited to MANIT Hostel-I building while there is a
chance to extend the study to the other areas of the campus
and Bhopal city.

Solar map illustrating the technical potential of off grid solar
system of various cities of the country can be developed.

Furthermore the analysis of standalone rooftop solar PV applications with electricity storage should account for the difficulties related to batteries or other storage devices.

This study provides useful reference information for future off
grid solar PV system design and operation.

Acknowledgment
We are very thankful to the Honorable Ex-Director, Dr. K.K.
Appukuttan, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal, India providing us all support to complete this research work.
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