Solar potential for electric power generation
Energy generation assessment is performed in the Energy Model sheet of RETScreen which requires input of project location, photovoltaic module type, solar tracking mode, miscellaneous losses of array and inverter loss. Based on the yearly solar radiation map [6], solar energy potential in Thailand was investigated. Geographical distribution of solar radiation was studied as shown in Fig.1. It was found that 45% of the total areas of the country receives annual solar radiation in the range of 17-18 MJ/m2.day, while there are only a few percentages of the area with low solar radiation (less than 15 MJ/m2.day), as in Fig.2. This indicated that most parts of Thailand have a relatively high solar radiation. For sunny regions like Thailand, crystalline PV modules are more suitable while thin film photovoltaic modules work better under diffused radiation conditions. PV module based on crystalline silicon also have low age derating value of power as compared to thin film module which means that the decline in PV power plant electricity generation capacity being relatively small over its lifetime. Commercial crystalline photovoltaic modules are more efficient as compared to amorphous or thin film modules.