Application of Artificial Neural Network in Forecasting Solar Irradiance and Sizing of Photovoltaic Cell for Standalone Systems in Bangladesh

Generation of electricity from solar energy is gaining popularity as a solution to the growing energy demands. The most important parameter in renewable energy applications is solar radiation. Due to intense power crisis, more and more solar energy based solutions are being purchased. Drawbacks of these solutions are long payback period and comparatively less efficiency. To improve this scenario, the sizing of the PV arrays can be optimized to enhance the overall efficiency. This paper presents an application of artificial neural network to predict solar radiation from a dataset collected over a span of nine years. Then these forecasted values are used to size standalone PV systems for different locations. General Terms Artificial Intelligence, Renewable Energy, Neural Networks.