Abstract
The efficiency of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules has significantly grown over the past several years. As a result, these modules are getting cheaper. Not all solar PV modules have, but some have achieved laboratory efficiencies above 40%. Furthermore, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are regarded as major energy consumers, accounting for approximately 3 to 4% of total energy consumption in the United States. The reason is that the aeration tanks in WWTPs are the parts of the plant that use the most energy, accounting for 45% to 75% of the energy footprint. This paper presents a novel approach to integrating PV technology with WWTPs infrastructure. In this research, a model simulation and validation of the integration of the PV system with WWTP using real data. Toward improving system efficiency and reducing operating costs. The study methodology includes DIgSILENT power software to evaluate the impact of the PV system on the power system level at the WWTP. The proposed model will be simulated in DIgSILENT to check if it maintains synchronism at different load demands in WWTP. However, the proposed model will simulate and analyze various scenarios, such as sudden loss of generation and frequency mismatch. Simulating sudden loss of generation in two grid load cases (peak and low load) of a high-PV system integration condition is used to test system synchronism. The results showed that the WWTPs system efficiency improved after integrating the PV system.
