Techno-economic and environmental investigation on the implementation of small-scale grid connected photovoltaic system for a city in Oman

As part of Oman’s vision 2040, electricity from renewable energy should replace 30% of the country’s total power by 2030. Furthermore, the power for electric vehicles is expected from renewable power. Recently the Oman Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER) revised the tariff system and due to this generating of energy from solar energy is becoming popular. To implement the PV technology, many challenges including cost of electricity, technological growth and policy must be addressed. Grid Connected PV (GCPV) system may be one of the options to overcome the above issues. It could decrease peak load demands, besides contributing to eco-friendly power generation. This paper investigates the techno-economic and environmental aspects on implementing PV power for electrification of Suhar City which is situated in the northern part of Oman. Photovoltaic (PV) systems can be installed utilizing the available rooftop spaces in the premises and the empty land around the buildings. A 1400W PV system available in Sohar University (SU) was used to collect the required data. The system was simulated in HOMER Pro, and the major parameters needed for the proposed study were analysed. The results showed that the investment in PV system, in Sohar city can be promising. The system showed the yield factor as 1923.6 kW h/kWp/year. Moreover, the proposed system had a capacity factor of 21.7%. The cost of energy and payback period were 0.146 USD/kWh (0.056 OMR/kW h) and 4 years respectively. However, many other factors due to economic challenges, Government policies and social acceptance must be resolved to establish a viable market for PV technology in Oman.