Most of the photovoltaic (PV) solar systems track none or only basic monitoring data, thus the investor has no or limited information about the performance, quality, and reliability of a PV system. In this paper, we report on a methodology to evaluate a large number of PV systems on a regional or even countrywide level. The methodology is based on an apparent performance ratio, a factor close to the temperature compensated performance ratio, although based on solar irradiation data from the closest meteorological station. The methodology is compared to a more detailed evaluation procedure and a comprehensive evaluation of a PV system where all the required—both electrical and meteorological—data are monitored. The results confirm that the apparent performance ratio is very similar to the temperature compensated performance ratio of a PV system.
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