Performance Evaluation of a Grid-tied PV System in the East Coast of South Africa

The performance of an experimental grid-tied 8-kW photovoltaic (PV) system installed at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa, was studied between January 2018 to December 2018 for evaluation in terms of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard. The annual yielded energy was 16.178 MWh. The annual average final yield and reference yield were 4.93 kWh/kWp/day and 5.59 kWh/kWp/day, respectively. The performance ratio obtained was 87.1%, which is quite above 80 percent, the acceptable industry ratio. The study reveals that Durban is a good location for PV generation. Results obtained were compared to similar studies conducted in Dublin, Morocco, India, and Spain; it shows that this study's final yield and performance ratio is better than what is reported in extant literature.