Power generation from solar photovoltaic panels in Mumbai India

The installed capacity, annual and daily generation profiles and capacity factor have been estimated for PV panels with different rated solar cell efficiency and power–temperature coefficient values. The results show a potential of 2190 MW for Mumbai city with median efficiency panels, at an annual average capacity factor of 14.8%.

Mumbai, India is a highly suitable location for generating solar power due to its consistent sunlight exposure throughout the year. The average daily energy production per kW of installed solar capacity in each season is as follows: 4.79 kWh/day in Summer, 4.99 kWh/day in Autumn, 5.09 kWh/day in Winter, and 7.00 kWh/day in Spring.

Distributed generation is a key aspect of Solar PV in India. Accordingly, high-rise buildings in urban areas which are major consumers of energy need to be utilised as sites for Solar PV. Though roof-top Solar PV has been getting due attention, facades of high-rise build-ings also offer a great opportunity for Solar PV.

Luckily we can use a simple heuristic for calculating the power output in India: 1 KWp of panel will generate about 1,400-1,600 KWh (units) per year i.e., about 4 KWh per day. This is broadly representative of output from rooftop PV plants in India. It is an average calculated over a year.

Has been illustrated for the Indian city of Mumbai. Rooftop solar PV potential of Mumbai estimated at 2190 MW at 14.8% capacity factor. Can meet 31–60% of the morning peak demand of Mumbai during different months. A methodology for estimating the rooftop solar photovoltaic potential for a region has been described.

The results have been appropriately scaled down to reflect the impact of external factors (through PTC and ambient temperatures) and internal heating and losses. The methodology has been demonstrated for the Indian city of Mumbai. The results show a rooftop solar photovoltaic potential of 2190 MW for the city, with median efficiency panels.