Optimizing photovoltaic power plant forecasting with dynamic neural network structure refinement

Reliable prediction of photovoltaic power generation is key to the efficient management of energy systems in response to the inherent uncertainty of renewable energy sources. Despite advances in weather forecasting, photovoltaic power prediction accuracy remains a challenge. This study presents a novel approach that combines genetic algorithms and dynamic neural network structure refinement to optimize photovoltaic prediction. This methodology dynamically adjusts the neural network parameters during training, including the number of neurons, transfer functions, weights, and biases, to minimize the root mean square error. Evaluation was performed on twelve representative days using annual, monthly, and seasonal data, and a comparison was made with multiple linear regression and nonlinear autoregressive neural network models, demonstrating the approach's effectiveness. Evaluation metrics such as mean square error, R-value, and mean percentage error reveal promising prediction accuracy. MATLAB is used for modeling, training, and testing, and a real 4.2 kW PV plant is used for validation. The results indicate significant improvements, with mean square errors as low as 20 W on cloudy days and 175 W on sunny days. The proposed methodology achieves prediction versus target regressions consistency, with R values ranging from 0.95824 to 0.99980, highlighting its efficiency in providing reliable predictions of PV power generation.