Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, AUPEC 2014, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, 28 September – 1 October 2014 1

Role of Losses in Design of DC Cable for Solar PV

Applications
*
Chin Kim Gan, Yi Ming Lee Danny Pudjianto, Goran Strbac
Faculty of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) Imperial College London
Melaka, Malaysia London, SW7 2AZ, UK
*
ckgan@utem.edu.my

Abstract— This paper discusses the effect of losses in determining I. INTRODUCTION

the optimal capacity of DC cable for a Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
system application. The optimization problem is formulated to
trade-off between the costs of losses against the cable investment
cost over the operational lifetime of the cable. This is to minimize
the total cost. The optimization problem is solved in closed form,
clearly pointing out the key parameters that affect the optimal
selection of DC cable. The main output of the model is the
optimal cable capacity for a given PV system, as well as the
relevant optimal utilization. The results are validated against the
‘heuristic’ approach of which the parametric analyses were
carried out to determine the optimal cable rating. The findings
suggest that the optimal utilization is likely to be very low driven
by the paramount role of losses and the energy prices. Hence, the
proposed model enables the PV system designer and the policy
maker to gain meaningful insights on the parameters that affect
the design of DC cable in solar PV system application.
Index Terms— Losses, Solar PV System, Life-Cycle Cost
List of Symbols
A effective cross-sectional area of the conductor, mm²
CC annuitized capital cost, RM/year
D annuitized constant investment cost, RM/year
CL total annual cost of losses, RM/year
I cap current-carrying capacity, A
opt
I cap optimal current-carrying capacity, A
I (t ) circuit current at time t, A
K annuitized incremental investment
RM/A.km.year
L length of the circuit, km
R resistance, Ω
ep (t ) energy price, RM/kWh
U opt optimal utilization of circuit, %
α coefficient for current-carrying capacity/cross-
A application is scarcely highlighted nor reported in the literature
sectional area correlation,
mm 2⋅ β
β exponent for current-carrying capacity/cross-
sectional area correlation, p.u.
ρ resistivity of the conductor, Ω . mm2 /km
The depletion of fossil fuel and the dire need to tackle
climate change challenge have gathered the worldwide effort to
develop sustainable energy systems. In light of this,
Photovoltaic (PV) has been identified as one of the promising
renewable energy resources, given the abundant of solar energy
received by the mother earth [1], [2]. In this regard, there have
been an increasing number of grid-connected PV system
installations worldwide, from kW scale residential PV systems
to MW scale utility solar PV farms. This is mainly driven by
the strong regulatory support in the respective countries. In
Malaysia, the government is committed to reduce the carbon
footprints by 40% by 2020 from the emission level seen in
2005 [3]. In order to achieve this objective, under the Tenth
Malaysia Plan (2011-2015), Malaysia is targeting to have 985
MW of generation from renewable energy by 2015 which
contribute to 5.5% of Malaysia’s total electricity generation
mix [4]. Subsequently, Renewable Energy Act 2011 has been
enacted [5] and Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme introduced in 2011
[6]. Since then, Malaysia has experienced strong growth in the
solar PV installation for both residential and commercial
sectors [7]. However, the current PV system design practice,
particularly on the DC cable selection, is mainly based on the
technical consideration, i.e., satisfying the voltage drop
constraint [8] and meeting the thermal requirement. This design
procedure complies with the relevant PV design standard and is
able to guarantee the safe operation of the PV plant. However,
cost, such design procedure may not be optimal since it does not
take into account the effect of Joule losses over the technical
lifespan of the cable. Past researches have been mainly
focusing on the techniques and methodology on improving the
efficiency of the solar cells [9], maximizing the PV output
through Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) [10] and
inverter topologies [11]. The PV system level analysis,
particularly on the optimal DC cable selection for solar PV
[12]. Neglecting the role of cable losses in the PV system
design may lead to the installation of an inefficient plant for the
next decades.
Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the optimal solar
DC cable capacity by trading off the investment cost against
the cost of cable losses over the operational life-span of the
asset. In fact, one can expect that selection of larger conductor
 Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, AUPEC 2014, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, 28 September – 1 October 2014 2

size will reduce the energy losses due to lower resistance, and
vice versa. However, this will only occur at the expense of 8760
higher investment cost. Therefore, an optimal trade-off
between the cost of losses and the investment cost can be opt ⎛ β +1 ⎞
ρ ∑ I (t )
t =1
2
ep(t )
I cap = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
sought within a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework [13]. ⎝ β ⎠ 1
The following sections of this paper present the methodology ⎛ 1 ⎞β
K ⋅ β ⋅⎜ ⎟
and the relevant case study applications that illustrate the ⎝α ⎠
prominent role of losses in determining the optimal cable rating (7)
for Solar PV application. This is followed by analysis of the
results and finally the conclusions. The optimal utilization of the cable, Uopt can be described
by Equation (8) which defined as the ratio of the peak current
II. METHODOLOGY circulating in the circuit to the optimal capacity determined
The methodology used in formulating the optimization from (7). The utilization value can be used as a useful indicator
problem is based on the life-cycle methodology as described in to compare between the available capacity headroom of
[13]-[15]. The optimal capacity of the cable (Icap) is determined different cable design strategies.
by minimizing the sum of the annual cost of losses and the
annuitized capital cost as shown in (1): I max
U opt = opt
× 100%
I cap
min
I cap
[∑ (CC + CL )] (8)
(1)
In case the costs of maintenance and the cost of cable
From the equipment datasheet, a correlation analysis has
installation are available, a more holistic system level study can
been carried out in order to establish the relationship between
be carried out to evaluate the cost breakdown of the respective
the cross sectional area of circuit (A) and its current-carrying
components. Thus, giving a better insight into the proportion of
capacity. In particular, power-type correlations have been
various costs involved.
found to fit very well with the given data. It can be expressed
as in (2): III. CASE STUDY APPLICATIONS

I cap = α ⋅ A β A. Solar Cable Correlation Analysis

(2)
In addition, the annuitized capital cost for the cable can be
expressed as the product of the annuitized incremental cable
investment cost (K), cable current-carrying capacity and circuit
length (L) as in (3):
CC = K ⋅ I cap ⋅ L + D
(3)
The α, β and K in (2) and (3) are the correlation
coefficients found through a standard least-square estimation
technique. Subsequently, the annual cost of losses is
represented by the product of annual cable power losses and
the electricity prices (or FiT rate where applicable) and can be
expressed as in (4). Equation (5) shows that the resistance of a
cable is a function of the cable cross sectional area and the
length as well as the resistivity of the conductor.
The type of solar cable used in the analysis is multicore DC
copper cables designed for solar PV system installation. The
relevant electrical data is retrieved from manufacturer datasheet
and the associated solar cable price is obtained from solar cable
vendor in Malaysia. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the correlation
results with reference to relation (2) and (3) using the data as
shown in Table I. The values of the coefficient α, β and K are
18.882, 0.7327 and 12.399, respectively. It is important to note
that the value of K may change accordingly when the solar
price cable changes.

8760
CL = R ⋅ ∑ I (t ) 2
⋅ ep(t )
t =1 (4)
ρ⋅L
R=
A (5)
Substituting (5) into (4) and solving the optimal cable
current-carrying capacity as expressed in (6), gives the closed
form solution of the optimization problem as shown in (7). Figure 1. Correlation of cable ampacity versus cable cross-sectional area.

∂ (CC + CL)
=0
∂I cap (6)
 Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, AUPEC 2014, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, 28 September – 1 October 2014 3

4,500 2000

Solar PV Generation Output Power, W

Annuitized Capital Cost, RM/km.year

4,000 1800
1600
3,500 Sunny Day
1400
3,000 Cloudy Day
1200
2,500 1000 Normal Day
2,000 800
y = 12.399x - 356.43 600
1,500 R² = 0.997
400
1,000
200
500
0

0:00
1:00
2:00
3:00
4:00
5:00
6:00
7:00
8:00
9:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Ampacity, A Time, hour

Figure 2. Correlation of annuitized capital cost versus cable ampacity. Figure 3. Solar PV power generation profiles on March 23, 26 and 29,
2014.
TABLE I. SOLAR CABLE ELECTRICAL AND COST DATA
Cable Size, Ampacity, Cost, Resistance, C. Heuristic versus Analytical Model
mm² A RM/km Ω/km
Under the Malaysia FiT scheme, the 2014 FiT rates varies
2.5 41 2,200 7.400 from RM 1.0411/kWh for PV installation up to and including 4
4.0 55 4,400 4.610 kW to RM 0.5440/kWh for 10 MW-30 MW solar farm. For the
6.0 70 5,500 3.080 sake of simplicity, highest FiT rate of RM 1.0411/kWh has
been considered [16]. In addition, the average electricity price
10.0 98 9,200 1.830 of RM 0.3583/kWh (end consumer electricity bill rate) [17] is
16.0 132 14,000 1.150 also considered in the study to illustrate the sensitivity of
2x10 176.4 18,400 0.915 electricity prices to the design of optimal solar cable. The
analysis is carried out assuming solar cable lifespan of 21
2x16 237.6 28,000 0.575 years, consistent with the 21 years FiT period in Malaysia. A
3x16 336.6 42,000 0.383 7% discount rate is also assumed to calculate the annuitized
solar cable capital cost. This study further assumes a safety
factor of 25% for peak-driven cable selection approach.
B. Solar PV Generation Data Figure 4 and Figure 5 show the parametric analyses by
The weather condition in Malaysia is non-seasonal and utilizing heuristic approach to determine the optimal solar
relatively ‘stable’ throughout the year as compared to the cable size for a 3x8 array configuration with 250W module for
countries with four seasonal changes. As a result, a month of the considered FiT rate and electricity price, respectively.
PV generation data may consider as sufficient to provide some Despite the minimum design requirement of 2.5 mm2 for a
strategic insight into as how the losses may affect the optimal 6kW (3x8x250W) PV array solar cable (assume satisfies
design of cable. As a result, 31 days (March 2014) of 5-minutes voltage drop limits), it is interesting to observe that the optimal
resolution PV generation data is collected from a 2 kW grid- solar cable sizes are much larger, i.e. 6 mm2 for the assumed
connected PV system installed at UTeM. These data are used average electricity price and 10 mm2 for the FiT rate. It is also
in the analysis considering the annual PV generation data is not important to highlight the very high proportion of losses
yet available from the current installed system. However, it is incurred (and the associated cost) for smaller, i.e., 2.5 mm2 and
important to highlight the need to use the annual PV generation 4 mm2 cable sizes. Given the higher role of losses for the
data (when it becomes available) to provide more accurate considered FiT rate (RM 1.0411/kWh) as compared to the
results. Figure 3 below shows three different day types’ average electricity price of RM 0.3583/kWh, the larger
samples of daily PV generation profiles, namely sunny day, conductor size of 10 mm2 instead of 6 mm2 is selected as the
normal day and cloudy day in March 2014. optimal ones.
 Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, AUPEC 2014, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, 28 September – 1 October 2014 4

4,500 D. Optimal Solar Cable Design for Different PV String Power

4,000 Further analyses have been carried out to determine the
optimal solar cable sizing for various PV string power. The
Annuitized Total Cost, RM/ km.year

Cost of Losses
3,500
Capital Cost results are as shown in Table II and Table III, respectively. It is
3,000 interesting to highlight that the optimal utilization for solar
2,500 cable is quite low particularly for the case of FiT rate. For
example, the optimal utilization of a 2 kW PV array is 26% as
2,000
shown in Table II below. In addition, the optimal utilization of
1,500 solar cable increases when the PV array power increases. This
1,000 is due to the fact that the role of losses becomes less prominent
when the required cable rating increases. For example, the
500
optimal cable utilization of a 10 kW PV array is approximately
0 42% as compared to 17% for a 2 kW PV string as shown in
2.5 4 6 10 16 2*10 2*16 3*16 Table III. It is important to note that the peak-driven design as
Cable Size, mm²
shown in the Table II and Table III have factored in the
Figure 4. Overall cost of DC array cable for 3x8 array configuration at RM additional 25% headroom, but does not consider the other
0.3583/kWh. design requirement such as voltage drop limit. Hence, the
4,500 design may change considerably if very stringent voltage drop
4,000
limit is applied to the peak-driven design. It is expected that the
optimal solar cable design proposed in this paper is likely to
Annuitized Total Cost, RM/ km.year

Cost of Losses
3,500
Capital Cost meet both thermal and voltage drop limit criterion given its
3,000 very low cable utilization.
TABLE II.
2,500 OPTIMAL CABLE DESIGN FOR DIFFERENT PV ARRAY POWER AT
ELECTRICITY PRICE OF RM 0.3583 /KWH
2,000
Array Power
Peak-Driven Optimal Optimal
1,500 for Multiple of
Design, mm² Design, mm² Utilization (%)
2kW string
1,000
2 2.5 2.5 26
500
4 2.5 4 39
0
2.5 4 6 10 16 2*10 2*16 3*16 6 2.5 4 50
Cable Size, mm² 8 2.5 6 59
Figure 5. Overall cost of DC array cable for 3x8 array configuration at RM 10 4 6 67
1.0411/kWh.
12 4 6 74

Subsequently, the proposed analytical model (7) is used to

TABLE III
design the optimal solar cable for the same PV string power. OPTIMAL CABLE DESIGN FOR DIFFERENT PV ARRAY POWER AT
The calculated value of the optimal current is 76.5 A which ELECTRICITY PRICE OF RM 1.0411 /KWH
suggest the use of 10 mm2 for the cost of losses calculated Array Power for
Peak-Driven Optimal Optimal
using the FiT rate of RM 1.0411/kWh. Similarly, for the case Multiple of 2kW
Design, mm² Design, mm² Utilization (%)
string
of average electricity price, the calculated optimal current is
2 2.5 4 17
48.8 A, which again suggests the use of larger cable size for
PV array with 6kW maximum power. The closed form 4 2.5 6 25
calculation results are consistent with the heuristic approach 6 2.5 10 32
result that demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed
model in designing the cost-effective cable for PV applications. 8 2.5 10 37
The peak-driven design that does not consider the cost of 10 4 10 42
losses will select 2.5 mm2 cable for the abovementioned case, 12 4 16 47
even after factoring in the 25% safety headroom margin. In this
regard, the proposed optimal design can provide the annual Furthermore, the results also suggest that the model is
saving of RM 875/km and RM 101/km, respectively for the relatively robust to the changes in the electricity energy prices.
two electricity rates as discussed above. This would translate For example, for the increase of energy price from RM 0.3583/
into a total saving of RM 18,381/km and RM 2,121/km for the kWh to RM 1.0411/ kWh (tripled), the optimal utilization of
period of 21 years. cable remains relatively robust at 26% and 17% respectively
for a 2 kW PV string cable.
 Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, AUPEC 2014, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, 28 September – 1 October 2014
E. Example of Real Case Application
An example of a 6kW real case residential rooftop PV
system is considered here to exemplify the effectiveness of the
proposed model. The system consists of 20 polycrystalline
modules of 250 Wp each with Imp = 7.96 A and Vmp=31.41V.
The inverter rating is 5kW with two separate MPPTs. Given
the number of solar modules, the inverter characteristic and the
rooftop directions, two strings (Np = 2) with 12 modules each
(Ns=12) is considered as the optimal configuration. The
distance (L) from the rooftop solar module to inverter is
approximately 10 meter. Assuming a voltage drop design limit
of 2.5%, the minimum required DC cable size (A) can be
calculated as follow which give 0.36 mm2. Table I shows that
the minimum commercially available solar cable size is 2.5
mm2, also as the minimum size required by the MS1837 [18].
Therefore 2.5 mm2 shall be selected as the designed cable size.
It also satisfies the thermal limit.
2 × LDC _ cable × I DC × ρ copper
ADC =
%Vdrop × Vstring
Next, the optimal model (7) is used to design the optimal
cable for the case described above. The calculated optimal
current is 76.5 A for FiT rate electricity price of RM 1.0411/
kWh. This means 10 mm2 cable should be selected as the
optimal designed cable. The result is consistent with the result
as discussed in Section III.D. This also confirms the proposed
optimal model is able to satisfy both the voltage drop and
thermal limits.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper presents an optimization approach to determine
the optimal rating of DC cable in a PV system taking into
account the total cost of cable and losses across the lifespan of
the PV system. The aim is to determine the optimal rating of
the solar cable, (and the size) for PV system applications.
Thirty days of five minutes resolution real PV generation data
in Malaysia were considered in this study. The results of the
proposed optimal model are validated against the heuristic
approach for different electricity price rates. In addition, peak-
driven design is also considered and compared with the optimal
design. The results suggest the prominent role of losses in
designing the solar cable with optimal utilization of below 50%
for PV array of up to 12 kW when FiT rate is considered. This
implies that the PV installer should consider to oversize the
designed cable considerably in order to minimize the losses
cost-effectively in the long run. Finally, a real case example
was considered to demonstrate the application of the proposed
model. The results suggest that cable designed from the
proposed optimal model is able to satisfy both the voltage drop
and thermal limits. However, it is also important to highlight
that for large scale solar PV farm application, the distance from
the PV array junction box to the inverter room may become
considerable. Hence, design may be become voltage-driven. As
5
a result, when designing the solar cable, both losses and
voltage drop limit will need to be considered simultaneously.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Mr. Tan Pi Hua from Sharp-
Roxy Malaysia for his valuable suggestions. The funding
support provided by The Ministry of Malaysia under research
grant FRGS/2012/FKE/TK02/02/1/F00121 is also gratefully
acknowledged.
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