Title :
Results from Arizona Public Service Company´s Star Center
Author_Institution :
Arizona Public Service Co., Phoenix, AZ, USA
Abstract :
In 1988 Arizona Public Service Company (APS) completed construction of the STAR (Solar Test and Research) Center. The objective of the project is to evaluate PV (photovoltaic) technologies and system design options in a southwestern US environment from a utility perspective. The author gives an overview of the project and presents the results to date. Conclusions based on isolation data from the site are presented. Five 2 kW grid connected systems are in operation: however, it was necessary to install external filtering in order to keep all five inverters online at the same time. The monthly capacity factor of tracking flat plate systems during APS´s peak load hours has been lower than comparable values reported by California utilities. Performance data on a variety of flat plate and concentrator modules are summarized
Keywords :
photovoltaic power systems; 2 kW; Arizona Public Service Company; California; Solar Test and Research; Star Center; concentrator modules; flat plate modules; inverters; monthly capacity factor; southwestern US environment; tracking; Costs; Filtering; Hardware; Industrial economics; Inverters; Photovoltaic systems; Power generation economics; Power system economics; Solar power generation; System testing;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1990., Conference Record of the Twenty First IEEE
Conference_Location :
Kissimmee, FL
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1990.111751
