PV system energy test

The performance of a photovoltaic (PV) system depends on the weather, seasonal effects, and other intermittent issues. Demonstrating that a PV system is performing as predicted requires verifying that the system functions correctly under the full range of conditions relevant to the deployment site. This paper discusses a proposed energy test that applies to any model and explores the effects of the differences between historical and measured weather data and how the weather and system performance are intertwined in subtle ways. Implementation of the Energy Test in a case study concludes that test uncertainty could be reduced by separating the energy production model from the model used to transpose historical horizontal irradiance data to the relevant plane.