ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND DEGRADATION ASSESSMENT FOR A 2.88 KW GRIDCONNECTED PV SYSTEM UNDER SHARJAH WEATHER CONDITIONS

Photovoltaic (PV) systems have been at the forefront of renewable energy technologies due to their ease of deployment and zero fuel cost, leading to widespread in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other regions around the world. Although PV systems have proven effective, the durability of such systems needs to be investigated to assess their rate of degradation over their period of installation, as well as their economic payback time that indicates their energy efficiency. This work conducts an environmental, degradation, and economic assessment on a 2.88 kW on-grid PV system under the weather conditions of Sharjah, UAE. A complete experimental state-of-the-art is established at the University of Sharjah main campus, where the annual measured data from August 2021 to July 2022 is extracted and analyzed. The annual mean degradation rate computed was 2.4 % of the maximum power after one year and about 0.568 % on average over the system lifespan, which is consistent with PVsyst simulation. Furthermore, the economic assessment was conducted and evaluated based on the Energy Payback Time (EPBT) metric. The PV has the shortest EPBT, about 4.6 years. In addition, the on-grid PV system was evaluated for its contribution to carbon emissions reduction, where the system exhibits a gradual decline in annual CO2 emissions, starting from 4080.40 kg/year in the first year and reaching 163 kg/year in the 25^thyear.