Investigation of the Kırklareli Kemalpaşa (Üsküp) solar power plant: A case study

The growing impacts of global warming, the risk of fossil fuel reserves running out, and environmental pollution reaching critical levels have significantly increased interest in clean and sustainable energy sources. In this context, the production data of ground-mounted and rooftop solar power plants installed at an industrial facility in the town of Üsküp, Kırklareli Province, were analyzed. According to the findings, the ground-mounted solar energy system has an installed capacity of 715 kWp and generated a total of 1,183,829.00 kWh of energy over an 18-month period. The initial installation cost of this system was $560,000. The total revenue generated from the system during this period was $112,700.60, which corresponds to 20.13% of the investment cost. The economic analysis determined that the payback period for the ground-mounted system is approximately 89 months. The 497 kWp rooftop solar energy system generated a total of 1,600,499.00 kWh of energy over a 33-month operating period. From an economic perspective, the total revenue generated by this system after 33 months is $182,326.56. This revenue corresponds to 62.87% of the initial investment cost of $290,000, and the system’s payback period has been calculated to be approximately 52.5 months. In general, rooftop solar power systems offer advantages such as higher efficiency, lower transmission losses, and a shorter payback period. Conversely, factors such as shading effects, transmission distance, and higher installation costs for ground-mounted systems can lead to a longer payback period.