Economic Analysis and Comparison of Stand alone and Grid Connected Roof Top Photovoltaic Systems

Generation of electrical power from renewable energy resources is highly encouraged through different policies established by governmental authorities in Oman. This paper deals with the analysis of the cost of stand-alone and grid connected roof top photovoltaic systems in the south of Oman. This region is characterized by its high solar energy potential. It is well known that the prices of PV panels and batteries have decrease during the last 10 years. The cost of renewable energy projects is remarkably affected by this break down of PV panel's prices. An optimization is performed using the software Homer to analyze the cost of the optimal PV system required to generate the energy consumed by the load. The sizes of the required PV panels, inverters and batteries are calculated based on the load profile variation and solar irradiations at the site. The optimization results show that the size of the required PV panels is 13 kWp. The total cost of the project is about 16 650 €. The PV system allows producing 25053 kWh per year. The grid connected PV panels system represents the optimum solution. It has the lowest initial cost and the lowest cost of energy.