Vol.27, N°1 (2025) - Article 4
Longitudinal analysis of the performance of photovoltaic systems in northern Côte d'Ivoire : geospatial optimisation of solar power plants
This research work investigates the functioning of photovoltaic solar panel systems in six cities in northern Côte d'Ivoire (Odienné, Boundiali, Korhogo, Ferkessédougou, Téhini, and Bouna), all located above the 9th parallel. The methodological approach uses the PVSyst simulation technique with three photovoltaic technologies (monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous) compared. The results show that monocrystalline technology is the most efficient, followed by polycrystalline and amorphous technologies. Next, amorphous technology demonstrates a better performance ratio (PR) in humid conditions. A negative correlation exists between longitude and energy production, with a decrease of 5.2 % for amorphous technology and 5.3 % for crystalline technology between Odienné (West) and Bouna (East). The energy yields of monocrystalline technology range from 4.59 to 4.35 kWh/kWp/year, while amorphous technology exhibits better resilience to longitudinal variations due to a low temperature coefficient (-0.2 %/°C). Finally, the performance ratios are higher for amorphous (81.84 %) than for crystalline (80.63 %). Ultimately, this work determines the best location for a high-performance solar power plant in Côte d'Ivoire for clean and affordable energy.