Proceedings of the 18th World Congress

The International Federation of Automatic Control

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

Optimal Arrangement and Operation of PV Generation System

for Regional Smart Grid
Yuki Ito. Noriko Okutaki, Yusuke Hida, Kaoru Koyanagi, Ryuichi Yokoyama,
Environment and Energy Engineering, Waseda University,
Tokyo, Japan, (e-mail: yuki.ito@akane.waseda.jp)
Abstract: The authors have investigated to optimize arrangement and operation of PV generation system
to serve as an essential part of regional smart grids. The PV generation is expected mostly to bring about
the reduction of CO2 emission all over the world in order to solve problems of global warming and
exhaustion of fossil fuel. However, The PV power output decreases due to the change of solar radiation
and the influence of shadow. Therefore, the authors have analyzed the optimal install parameters such as
direction and tilt angle of PV panels considering the influence of shadow. The authors have aimed at
optimizing operation of PV generation for building smart grids in Japan.
Keywords: Smart grid, Sustainable energy, PV generation, Solar radiation, Tilt angle, Distribution system
PV generation system to serve as an essential part of
regional smart grids.
2. THE OUTPUT CHARACTERISTIC OF PV
GENERATION
2.1 Monthly solar radiation in relation to tilt angle

978-3-902661-93-7/11/$20.00 2011 IFAC

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In this study, we have analyzed the optimal arrangement of

PV panels in Tokyo (NL: 35.5) considering the influence of
shadow. The optimal tilt angle and direction of PV panels is
analyzed the characteristic of solar radiation by using
METPV-3 disclosed to public by New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan.
Moreover, the shadow length by solar altitude and direction
is calculated because the influence of shadow has to be taken
into consideration when we set up these inclined PV panels.
We have aimed at optimizing arrangement and operation of

Monthly solar radiation [MJ/m2]

Recently, a smart grid is in the spotlight all over the world for
stable and environmentally friendly power supply. The smart
grid in Japan is expected to cope with mass installation of
renewable energies such as solar energy and wind energy;
however, the concept and the objective vary among countries
and regions. International Energy Agency (IEA) expects that
the world total installed capacity of PV generation would be
3,155GW by 2050 and renewable energy would be utilized as
the primary energy in the future. Amid mounting
international concern over the problem of global warming,
the more installation of PV generation is indispensable in
Japan too. The optimal operation and design of PV
generation systems are necessary because the PV generation
has been installed to houses, buildings and factories for postcarbon society proposed by the Cabinet meeting in 2008.
Therefore, it is necessary for us to determine the optimal
operation of PV generation systems and appropriate
arrangement of PV panels for building smart grids where
mass renewable energy such as PV generation would be
installed. However, the PV power output decreases to 1030% due to the influence of shadow. Therefore, we should
avoid the decrease of PV power output as much as possible
due to the influence of shadow when we set up these inclined
PV panels in the limited spaces.

Monthly solar radiation [MJ/m2]

1. INTRODUCTION

(b) at the direction of East and West

Fig. 1 Monthly solar radiation in relation to tilt angle in
Tokyo (NL: 35.5)
10.3182/20110828-6-IT-1002.03327

18th IFAC World Congress (IFAC'11)

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

Fig. 1 shows the characteristic of monthly solar radiation at

the direction of south, east and west in relation to tilt angle in
Tokyo. The characteristic of solar radiation at the direction of
southeast and southwest is the same with that of south, and
that of north is the same with that of east and west. So, these
directions are not taken into account.
From the characteristic at the direction of south, we can
obtain the most solar radiation when we set up PV panels
with tilt angle of 30 annually. However, the tilt angle where
most amount of solar radiation varies every month. This is
because the solar elevation changes at each season and the
amount of solar radiation that PV panels receive changes.
From the characteristic at the direction of east and west, we
can obtain the largest solar radiation by installed PV panels
with small tilt angle annually.
From the characteristic of solar radiation at all directions and
tilt angles, we find that the output in the month of June shows
a huge drop because of the rainy season in Japan.

3. ARRANGEMENT OF PV PANELS CONSIDERING

THE INFULENCE OF SHADOW
3.1 PV panels installation space at each tilt angle
When we set up these inclined PV panels, we need to
consider the influence of shadow occurring on the back of the
panel. In this section, we have investigated the installation
spaces of PV panels that are not affected by the shadow
annually, because we avoid the decrease of PV power output
by the influence of shadow. PV panels are mostly influenced
by shadows in midwinter from 9:00 to 15:00 due to the
lowest solar altitude a year. Therefore, we analyzed the
installation spaces at each tilt angle of PV panel in this time.
Fig. 3 shows the example of the PV panel installation and we
assume PV panels which 1[m] in length and width are
extended south and north. The shadow length we obtained by
the solar altitude and azimuth angle is shown in Table 1. The
shadow length is 2.36 times longer than the height H [m]
which is not affected by shadow annually.

Relative annual solar radiation [%]

2.2 Annual solar radiation at each direction and tilt angle

Sun
magnification: J N
H [m] J T [m]

120

100
Solar altitude

80

Shadow length

60
40
20

magnification: R
H [m] R S [m]
N
E
S
W

NE
SE
SW
NW

H [m]
Azimuth angle

(a)Imaginary solar altitude and shadow

W =1[m]

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

L=
1[m]

Tilt angle

Midwinter : 9:00 am (or 3:00 pm)

PV

Sun

Fig. 2 The annual solar radiation at the direction and the tilt
angle in Tokyo (NL: 35.5)

shine
L [m]

Annual solar radiation at the direction and tilt angle in Tokyo

are shown in Fig. 2 where the amount of annual solar
radiation at the direction of south and the tilt angle of 30 are
normalized. From Fig.2, we can obtain the most amount of
solar radiation when we set up PV panel with the direction of
south and tilt angle of 30 in Tokyo. Moreover, the other
directions such as east, west and northward, tilt angle of 0 is
efficient to receive more solar radiation annually.

H [m]
North

Tilt
angle

South

B [m]

S [m]

(b)The installation space of PV panels

Fig. 3 Example of the PV panel installation 1
Table 1 Solar altitude and shadow in midwinter (Tokyo)
Time[h] Solar altitude Azimuth angle Shadow length X magnification J Y magnification R

In general, we can obtain the most amount of the annual solar

radiation when PV panels are set up at the above conditions
in Tokyo. However, it does not discuss that the optimal
installation conditions is the conditions in Tokyo, if we
consider that the installation spaces of PV panels are not
affected by the influence of shadow in the limited space.
Therefore, we have analyzed the arrangement of PV panels
considering the influence of shadow, in the next session.

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18th IFAC World Congress (IFAC'11)

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

B = Cos L

(1)

H = Sin L

(2)

S = H R

(3)

A = BWa + S (a - 1)

(4)

4.1 Arrangement with the installation space of PV panels

In this section, we have analyzed the following two cases that
the arrangement with the installation of PV panels.
Case (1): Two panels are installed as a pair at south-north
direction at each tilt angle with shadow Y magnification
(S[m]) and without Shadow X magnification (T=0[m]).

Where; : Amount of PV panels, A : Installation area

Table 2 Shadow length at each tilt angle

Annual solar radiation [10 2 MJ]

1500

80

1200

#7

900
600
300

#4
#2

#3

#5
0

Case (2): Two panels are installed as a pair at east-west

direction at each tilt angle with shadow X magnification
(T[m]) and without shadow Y magnification (S=0[m]).

Length S[m]
0.00
0.41
0.81
1.18
1.52
1.81
2.04
2.22
2.32
2.36

North
1 [m2]

#10
70
#9

#8

1 [m2]

T [m]

West

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#6
20
10

Fig. 5 shows the example of the installation of PV panels and

we assume that panels at the direction of south-north and
east-west are installed. Table 3 shows the installation spaces
S[m] at the direction of south-north and T[m] at the direction
of east-west with each tilt angle.

panels in north-south direction

Tilt Angle
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90

S [m]

30

East

panels in east-west direction

#1

South

(a)Top view
0

10

20

Installation area [m 2 ]

30

North

Fig. 4 Annual solar radiation in relation to installation area in

Tokyo (NL: 35.5)
Table 2 shows the shadow length at each tilt angle of PV
panel by using Equation (3), and the installation area A [m2]
is calculated using the above Equation (4). As a result, we
have obtained the annual solar radiation in relation to
installation area, which is shown in Fig. 4. When we compare
with solar radiations at each tilt angle of PV panels, small tilt
angles are more amount of annual solar radiation from Fig.4.
This is because we can install a lot of panels. However, when
we compare with solar radiations at the number of PV panels,
panels with tilt angle of 0 is most amount of solar radiation
per unit area in the limited space, if we consider that the PV
power output is not affected by the influence of the shadow
annually.
4. THE INSTALLATION OF PAIRS OF PV PANELS
We have investigated the optimal installation when we
installed pairs of panels considering the influence of shadow.
Therefore, in this study, we have analyzed two conditions
that the arrangement with the installation space of PV panels
and without the installation space of panels.

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West
East

Case (1)

Case (2)
South

(b)Side view
Fig. 5 The PV panels installation of Case (1) and Case (2)
Table 3 Shadow length in relation to tilt angle
Tilt Angle Length S[m] Length T[m]
0
0.00
0.00
10
0.41
0.00
20
0.81
0.00
30
1.18
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40
1.52
0.64
50
1.81
1.03
60
2.04
1.39
70
2.22
1.71
80
2.32
1.97
90
2.36
2.18

18th IFAC World Congress (IFAC'11)

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

Annual solar radiation [GJ]

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3050
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40

#10

West

20 3040
50
60
70
#18

North

#14
South

(a)Top view of Case (3) and Case (4)

#6

20

W =1[m]

#2

0
0

East

Case(1)

15
30
Installation area[m2]

L=
1[m]

45

Sun

PV

L [m]

Fig. 6 The annual solar radiation and installation area in

relation to the number of PV panels in Tokyo (NL: 35.5)

H [m]

North

In the section 4.1, we have investigated the arrangement of

PV panels that are completely unaffected by the influence of
shadow annually. Moreover, we calculated the installation
space of PV panels. In this section, we analyzed the
following two cases of the PV panel installation which
arrangement without the X magnification (T[m]) and Y
magnification (S[m]) of shadow. Fig. 7 shows the PV panel
installation of Case (3) and Case (4).
Case (3): Two panels are installed as a pair at south-north
direction at each tilt angle shadow without X magnification
(T=0[m]) and Y magnification (S=0[m]).
Case (4): Two panels are installed as a pair at east-west
direction at each tilt angle without shadow X magnification
(T=0[m]) and Y magnification (S=0[m]).
If there are the slightest influences of shadow with Case (3)
and Case (4), we assume that the solar radiation is 0 [MJ/m2]
and tilt angle of 80-90 is not taken into account. This is
because solar altitude in Tokyo is less than 80. Fig. 8 shows
the characteristic of monthly solar radiation of Case (3) and
Case (4) at each tilt angle of PV panels.

(b)Side view of Case (3)

Fig. 7 The PV panels installation of Case (3) and Case (4)

Annual solar radiation[MJ//m2 ]

4.2 Arrangement without the installation space of PV panels

South

B [m]

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200-400

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400

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Sep.
Jul.
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Mar.

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0
60
30
Tilt angle

Jan.
0

(a)The monthly solar radiation of Case (3)

Annual solar radiation [MJ//m2]

The annual solar radiation and installation area in relation to

the number of PV panels are shown in Fig. 6. As a result,
even if numbers of PV panels are same, the characteristics of
annual solar radiation vary from the setup of PV panels.
Moreover, we can obtain the largest amount of solar radiation
with Case (1) from Fig. 6. However, the installation area of
Case (2) is less than that of Case (2). Therefore, in the limited
space, we can see that the installation of PV panels with Case
(2) and tilt angle of 20 is efficient to receive most solar
radiation per unit area annually. This is because we can
increase the number of installation of PV panels.

Tilt
angle

Furthermore, we evaluate the relationship to the solar

radiation and the number of panels from the monthly solar
radiation at each tilt angle.

13688

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(b)The monthly solar radiation of Case (4)

Fig. 8 The monthly solar radiation in Tokyo (NL: 35.5)

18th IFAC World Congress (IFAC'11)

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

Annual solar radiation [[10 2 MJ]

1000
800
600
400
200

#20 70
#18
#16
#14
#12
#10
#8
#6
#4
#2

Fig. 10 shows the annual solar radiation of pairs of PV panels

in relation to the installation area. As a result, the more we set
up PV panels with large tilt angle, the smaller the installation
area required of PV panels becomes. On the other hand, the
more we set up PV panels with large tilt angle, the larger the
annual solar radiation becomes. Therefore, PV panels with
large tilt angles are effective installation by increasing the
number of PV panels. However, the initial cost becomes high
when many PV panels are installed. Therefore, the economic
aspect should be taken into account in the future.

60
50

40 30

2010
0

5. CONCLUSIONS

0
0

10

15

Installation area [m 2 ]

In this study, we have analyzed the optimal arrangement of

PV panels in the limited space considering the influence of
the shadow to obtain the largest output of the PV generation,
and have investigated the best installation of PV panels.
Considering the installation of pairs of PV panels with the
installation space, we can get the amount of solar radiation by
installed PV panels with tilt angle of 20 at east-west.
Moreover, when the installation of pairs of PV panels without
the installation space, PV panels with large tilt angles are
effective to receive more amount of solar radiation.

20

2.5

10
9

8
7
6

1.5

5
4
3
2
1
0

Installation area [m 2 ]

Annual solar radiation [GJ/m 2 ]

Fig. 9 Annual solar radiations in relation to installation area

of Case (3) in Tokyo (NL: 35.5)

1
Annual solar radiation[GJ/m2]
installation area[m2]

Under all optimal installations we have analyzed, we can

increase the number of PV panels and the larger amount of
solar radiation per unit area. However, the more PV panels
are installed, the higher initial cost becomes. Therefore, we
are aiming at further effective utilization of the photovoltaic
generation in consideration of economic aspects when PV
generation is connected in a large scale to electric power
grids in the near future.

0.5
0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Tilt angle

6. REFERENCES

Fig.10 Annual solar radiation of pairs of PV panels in

relation to installation area
From Fig. 8, the characteristic of solar radiation changes
throughout a year at each tilt angle, and we can see that the
characteristic of Case (3) is different from that of Case (4) in
case of PV panels with large tilt angle. Moreover, the annual
solar radiation of Case (3) is larger than that of Case (4).
Annual solar radiation in relation to installation area of Case
(3) is shown in Fig. 9, and PV panels with tilt angle of 70
can be received the largest solar radiation from Fig. 8 and 9.
When this arrangement of PV panels is compared with the
installation of Case (1) and (2) which arrangement with the
installation space of PV panels, this installation area is less
than other installations. This is because the arrangement
without the installation space of PV panels and we can set up
many panels. Furthermore, this characteristic of solar
radiations which the arrangement without the installation
space of PV panels is different from Case (1) which the
arrangement with the installation space. The larger the tilt
angles of PV panels become, the more we can receive solar
radiations per unit area in case of the arrangement without the
installation space. However, the larger tilt angles of PV
panels become, the more the installation space of PV panels
increase in case of the arrangement with the installation space.

T. Ito, N. Saito, T. Tatsuya, K. Koyanagi, T. Niimura, R.

Yokoyama (2009). Power Generating Characteristic of
PV Array and Its Dependency on Direction and Tilt
Angle of PV Panels. IEEJ-EIT, Joint Symposium on
Advanced Technology in Power Systems
Y. Ito, N. Saito, T. Ito, T. Tsukada, K. Koyanagi, R.
Yokoyama, T. Ito, T. Tsukada, (2010). Improvement of
Generating Efficiency by Optimal PV Panels Installation
and Surface Temperature Control. 16th International
Conference on Electrical Engineering 2010
Y. Ito, Y. Hida, T. Ito, T. Tsukada, K. Koyanagi, R.
Yokoyama, T. Ito, T. Tsukada, (2010). The Effective
Installation of Inclined PV panels Considering the
Influence of Shadow. 31st Joint of Technical Meeting on
Power Engineering and Power System Engineering, IEE
of Japan.
Y. Ito, Y. Hida, T. Ito, T. Tsukada, K. Koyanagi, R.
Yokoyama, T. Ito, T. Tsukada, (2010). Enhancement of
Generating Efficiency by PV Panel Direction and Tilt
Angle. The Twenty - First Annual Conference of Power
and Energy Society, IEE of Japan.

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18th IFAC World Congress (IFAC'11)

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

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Fig. A Monthly solar radiation in relation to tilt angle
in Sapporo, Hokkaido (NL: 43.0)
700

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Appendix A. MONTHLY SOLAR RADIATIONS IN

SAPPORO AND NAHA

500

Feb.

Ryuichi Yokoyama received the degrees of B.S., M.S., and

Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Waseda University,
Tokyo, Japan, in 1968, 1970, and 1974 respectively. After
working in Mitsubishi Research Institute, from 1978 through
2007, he had been a professor in the Faculty of Technology
of Tokyo Metropolitan University. Since 2007, he has been a
professor of the Graduate School of Environment and Energy
Engineering in Waseda University. His fields of interests
include planning, operation, control and optimization of
large-scale environment and energy systems, and economic
analysis and risk management of deregulated power markets.
He is a fellow of IEEE and a senior member of IEE of Japan,
and a member of CIGRE.

700

600

Jan.

Kaoru Koyanagi (M96) received his B.S degree in applied

physics from Tokyo University of Education in 1971. He
obtained Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Tokyo
Metropolitan University in 2000. From 1971 to 1996, he was
with Toshiba Corp. working on power system analytical
engineering. He has been involved in various aspects of
power system stability analysis and design of control systems.
He retired from TEPCO Systems Corporation in 2008, as a
manager involved in software development in power system
engineering. He is currently with Environment and Energy
Research Center, Waseda University, Japan. He is a member
of IEE of Japan, IET and IEEE.

Monthly solar radiation [MJ/m2]

Yusuke Hida graduated from Electrical Engineering

Department of Meisei University, Tokyo Japan, in 2008. He
is now a graduate student at the Graduate School of
Environment and Energy Engineering in Waseda University
in Japan. His research interests are environmental issues of
power systems.

700

Monthly solar radiation [MJ/m2]

Noriko Okutaki received B.S. degree in information,

electrical and electronics engineering from Hosei University,
Tokyo, Japan, in 2011. She is now a graduate student at the
Graduate School of Environment and Energy Engineering in
Waseda University in Japan.

Monthly solar radiation [MJ/m2]

Yuki Ito received B.S. degree in information, electrical and

electronics engineering from Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan,
in 2010. She is now a graduate student at the Graduate
School of Environment and Energy Engineering in Waseda
University in Japan.

angle of 0 is the optimal tilt angle and PV panels with small

tilt angles are efficient to receive more solar radiation
annually. From (a) of Fig. B, we can receive the largest
amount of solar radiation when we install PV panel with tilt
angle of 20 annually. From (b) of Fig. B, we can find that
PV panels with small tilt angles are efficient to receive more
solar radiation annually as in other cities, and the monthly
solar radiation in Naha at the direction of south, east and west
is the largest than in Tokyo and Sapporo. The solar radiation
in Naha is not affected by the rainy season unlike those
characteristic in Tokyo and in Sapporo.

Monthly solar radiation [MJ/m2]

7. BIOGRAPHY

(a) at the direction of South

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40
80

100

Feb.

Monthly solar radiations of two cities in Japan one of them in

Sapporo, which is located in northern Japan and the other city,
Naha in Okinawa is southern Japan are shown Fig. A and Fig.
B. From (a) of Fig. A, the solar radiation fall from spring to
summer by installing PV panel with tilt angle of 40-90.
However, because north latitude in Sapporo is higher than in
Tokyo and Naha, solar altitude in Sapporo is lower than in
Tokyo and Naha. Therefore, we can obtain the most amount
of solar radiation by installing PV panels with tilt angle of
40. This tilt angle of PV panel is higher than the optimal tilt
angle at south in Tokyo and Naha. From (b) of Fig. A, tilt

(b) at the direction of East and West

Fig. B Monthly solar radiation in relation to tilt angle
in Naha, Okinawa (NL: 26.2)