Effects of photovoltaic power plants connected to the grid from 2016 to 2022 in Senegal on carbon dioxide emissions

The use of fossil fuels for energy production has caused global warming, the main environmental concern of our society. Today, renewable energy sources offer a solution to this problem, and the government of Senegal is working to promote the renewable energy sector in order to combat global warming and produce reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy. The current work seeks to study the contribution of photovoltaic power plants to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. Photovoltaic system operation, depending on atmospheric parameters, utilizes the RETScreen software to collect weather data such as ambient temperature, irradiation, and wind velocity for each location. Mathematical equations modeling the temperature, efficiency, and power of a photovoltaic module are used in this work to determine the influence of atmospheric conditions on solar power plants. The results showed that weather parameters have a significant influence on energy production. The results also demonstrated Senegal’s contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases with 194.228 MegaWatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic plants. This contribution consisted of injecting 364.746 GigaWatt-hours (GWh) of clean energy per year, i.e., 7294.920 GWh over 20 years, and in reducing 314,411.1 tons of carbon dioxide per year, i.e., 62,288,222 tons over 20 years.