Energy and economic analysis of a 5 MW photovoltaic system in northern Jordan

The study focuses on the monitoring of the performance of a photovoltaic system, influenced by the climatic characteristics of a particular geographical area, in which the photovoltaic system is installed. This paper presents the results obtained by monitoring, from February 2017 to January 2018, the 5 MWp photovoltaic system that was installed on the campus of Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Jordan. The tilt angle is 15 degrees, and the azimuth angle is 0 degrees. The values of energy and power generated, final yield, reference yield, photovoltaic system efficiency, performance ratio, and cell temperature losses were analyzed and correlated to the climatic characteristics of the site, such as insolation, ambient temperature, and wind speed. System Advisor Model was employed to give model simulation results. A comparison of the actual performance and the simulated one was given. An economic analysis was also carried out and showed that the annual internal rate of return was 30.11%, and the payback period was 4.32 years.