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1. Introduction
In the recent times, due to global warming and projected fossil fuel depletion in reserves the utilization of renewable energy got more attention. In this regard, solar energy is projected one of the most reliable alternative energy sources due to its abandon availability and environment friendliness. In order to utilize solar energy in a most efficient way, several possible technologies have been explored over last three decades. 1
The solar regime in Libya is excellent; the daily solar radiation on the horizontal plane goes up to 7.5 KWh/ m2 with 3000-3500 hours of sunshine a year, so, in order to make optimum use of energy sources available and to reduce environmental pollution.2
The world’s energy demands to power society keep on increasing with the evolution of human civilization. Global electricity consumption reached 21,190 TWh in 2016, which was a significant portion of the world’s total energy comsumption. 3 Photovoltaics (PV) provide electricity in a clean and renewable manner, and the PV market has grown dramatically in the past decades. In 2017, newly installed PV capacity increased by more than 75 GW, while the cumulatively installed capacity exceeded 300 GW worldwide. 4,5With the fast development of PV technology, the final price of electricity generated by PV has exhibited competitiveness among the whole energy sector. For example, Abu Dhabi Water and Electric Authority (ADWEA) reported price bidding for PV as low as 2.42 US cents/kWh, 6 even lower than that of fossil energy.
2. Problem Statement
In 2016 the lowest price of electricity from PV was registered in Dubai and it was around 0.03$ per kWh. We suppose this low cost is not real, as there are many factors not taken in consideration.
in this research we will focus on the financial aspects of the photovoltaic systems. The main concepts that we are going to go through are levelized cost of electricity from PV.
3. Objectives
The main objective of this research is to come up to have a low and real value of LCOE. The LCOE describes the effects of investment costs, operating and maintenance costs, interest and inflation rates in the electricity price.
Such an analysis will help us get some insights into the economic viability of photovoltaic power plants as a private investment in Libya.
4. Research Methodology
The following methodologies will be used for the accomplishment of this research:
? Different kinds of literature review will are studied which are related to this research work.
? Site analysis, The main aspects that need to be assessed include:
• Analysis of solar irradiation at the selected site..
• Available area.
• Local climate.
• Topography.
• Geotechnical conditions.
• Accessibility.
• Grid connection.
• Module soiling.
• Water availability.
? Plant desgin, There are several solar PV modelling software packages available on the market, which are useful to design and analysis for different phases of a project’s life. These packages include SAM, Helioscope, PVSyst, PV*SOL, RETScreen, HOMER, INSEL, Archelios and Polysun, among others. We will choose one of these software in this research.
? Performance evaluation of optimal photovoltaic system
? Economic analysis
? Finally, after results we will find Sensitivity analysis
