Abstract:
This thesis work is a study about solar energy and photovoltaic technology option potential of
SNNPR Region. The first task of the study is assessing the availability of solar energy
resource in the region. A new topology dependent model of estimating global solar radiation from
relative sunshine hour records is developed and applied to estimate the resource potential
in the region.
As basic technological variations of PV systems, grid connected PV system potentials is
anticipated for the region too. The possibly generated solar energy from roof top solar systems
installed on hospital buildings in Arbaminch is used to show the photovoltaics potential in
term of grid connected systems.
The grid connected alternative is more emphasized by a case study on hospital buildings
in Arbaminch town. The study shows that the ratio of monthly average daily global solar
radiation on a horizontal surface H to the monthly average clear sky daily radiation on a
horizontal plane H
O (H/H
O
) decreases as the altitude and latitude of the site increases and
increases as the ratio of monthly average daily number of hours of bright sunshine S to the
monthly average daily maximum number of hours of possible sunshine(day length) S
O (S/S
O
)
increases. The study showed that the global radiation in the region is on average
5.433kWh/m2/day.
The lowest value is registered at Imdibir during July month which is 3.7kWh/m2/day while the
maximum is at Mirababaya during March month and itis 6.9kWh/m2/day. The monthly variation
of average radiation of the region is limited between a highest value of6.2kWh/m2/day during
March and lowest 4.4kWh/m2/day during July. This small monthly variation allows a good
applicability of fixed plane PV systems without anycomplicated tracking system. The estimated
annual average solar radiation values for the 10 stations are imported and interpolated to draw a
solar map showing distribution of solar radiation in the region using ArcGIS. Finally, the
preliminary design result of grid connected PV system of Arbaminch hospital was feasible.
The study utilized different meteorological and statistical data and software like MS-Excel,
PVSyst, Software.
