Bornvince O. Odhiambo, Jobunga Eric, Sameer Bachani

Abstract

Abundance of irradiance favours the adoption of solar PV in Mombasa. The goal of this study was to conduct a Techno- economic analysis of rooftop solar PV in Mombasa. Specific objective was to determine the I-V characteristics of the array, to estimate the cost of producing electricity by PVsyst software and compare it with the empirical data from the system at the site. The experiment was conducted on a research facility at the rooftop of Renewable energy Laboratory at Technical University of Mombasa for a period of one year in 2023. Current and voltage data was retrieved from a charge controller unit embedded on the system capable of logging real time data. Result showed that the energy produced by the system per year was 5003 kWh, an efficiency of the array was 9.3% and the Fill Factor was found to be 0.72. The system also produced an energy of 6.7 kWh/kW against a reference of 7.15 kWh/kW. Analysis of the economics of the system found out that the payback time of the system was about 5.76 years, LCC was $ 3962, LCOE $ 0.067 and O&M per year was $ 26.4

Keywords: Solar Photovoltaic, LCOE, Mombasa, Efficiency, Fill Factor, Techno-economic analysis, PVsyst.