Simulation study of a 386.4 MW mountain photovoltaic power plant: a case study

In this study, a south-facing hill in Pu 'er City, China was taken as the object, and a mountain photovoltaic model was established based on the topography of the hill. Based on the climate and lighting conditions provided in Meteonorm 8.1 software for the Pu'er Region, PVsyst was used to model the mountain photovoltaic system and study the annual power generation, system losses, and energy efficiency of the photovoltaic system. The results show that the convex terrain in Region A is more conducive to the heat dissipation of the photovoltaic system than the concave terrain in Region B, and the annual loss of a single panel is reduced by 1.4 kWh. Under the same climatic conditions, photovoltaic panels with convex terrain have higher power generation efficiency, with an average annual increase of 13.54 kWh per panel. Convex terrain is significantly better than concave terrain in terms of power generation efficiency, system performance, and reducing shadow loss. The economic benefit analysis of the system indicates that it can yield a profit of approximately 2.57 million yuan over its entire life cycle, with a return on investment of 279.68%. Compared to coal-fired power generation, it can also reduce CO₂ emissions by 10,577,809 kg.