Analysis of PV system in Sweden

Sweden requires to accelerate the solar power capacity in order to fulfill the goals that 100% renewable in power sector by 2040. However, there are still many challenges for PV installation in Sweden. This project explores the potential and feasibility of decentralized PV system in a Swedish context, including consideration of space, climate, infrastructure, and economics. A new model is developed and simulated based on a real Swedish case. The main aim is to design and improve PV systems with better compatibility with grid and consumer behaviors.

Background:

Sweden set goals for the power sector that electricity should come from 100% renewable energy source by 2040. However, the current actions could not lead to achievement according to the report from Swedish Policy Council. More actions are required to accelerate the transition. While Swedish Energy Agency predicted that solar power generation would take up 5% to 10% of total electricity demands, the current data is 0.4%, much far from the goals. The huge gap generates great opportunity for solar technologies. PV technologies, as the most mature ones of solar power generation, attract more attention. However, the PV system relies on local weather conditions. Although the studies on other countries could provide some insights, the real capacity and potential under Swedish contexts remain unknown. It is important to study local cases to fully understand how the PV systems would add value to achieve the goals. Most electricity consumers gather in urban areas. There is not much land for large-scale power generation plants and “wasted areas” such as rooftops should be utilized to fulfill the increasing demands. Therefore, the study will focus on decentralized PV systems with integration of grid.

Aim and Objectives:

The aim of the research is to better design the PV systems to help with sustainable transitions in Sweden. The new models are developed according to the main targets, for example, increasing total capacity and improving self-sufficiency. To be more specific:

The potential and feasibility of grid-connected PV system are measured within Swedish conditions regarding technical and economic aspects.
A new weather model for high-latitude areas is developed. The impacts of climate change are evaluated based on historical and predicted big data.
Economic analysis regarding consumer behaviors are analyzed.
Some application issues and improvement options are considered and analyzed. For example, feasibility of bifacial PV, PV-load mismatching.

Funding is provided by KTH and CSC.

Timeframe: 2020 - 2024