Photovoltaic plant at the ML building

Technical, financial and environmental assessment of the photovoltaic plant at the ML building of Universidad de los Andes, modeled in SAM (System Advisor Model, NREL). For PV system sizing I also work with PVsyst.

Generation model

• Solar resource: NSRDB irradiance data for Bogotá (latitude 4.61°, longitude −74.06°, 2,751 m a.s.l.).
• Modules: 15 JA Solar JAM72S20-455/MR panels, configured as one subarray of 2 strings of 3 modules and another of 1 string of 3, with the tilt of the real installation.
• Power electronics: inverter and MPPT charge controller, parameterized with the specifications of the installed equipment.

Hourly irradiance from the NSRDB weather file for Bogotá.

Module I–V curve at reference conditions.

The plant generates 1,900 kWh/year AC (158.3 kWh/month on average), with a 5.3% capacity factor.

Financial analysis

Assumptions: CAPEX of COP 115.3 million, 25-year lifetime, 7% discount rate, 0.5% annual degradation and an initial tariff of 640 COP/kWh rising 3% a year.

The project does not create value: NPV of −90 million COP, negative IRR, LCOE of 5,105 COP/kWh and no payback. This is consistent with a small, educational plant whose cost per installed kilowatt is far higher than a commercial project’s.

Environmental impact

With a grid emission factor of 0.1442 kg CO₂/kWh (IEA), the plant avoids 0.274 t CO₂ per year and 6.45 t CO₂ over 25 years.

Scale-up to 100 kW

Under the same assumptions, a 100 kW plant would generate 68,787 kWh/year, 36 times the current output. If costs scale linearly, CAPEX reaches COP 4,176 million and NPV −3,278 million: financial viability requires capturing economies of scale in cost per kilowatt, not just adding capacity.

Cover photo (illustrative): solar park in Golmud, China. Planet Labs, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Energy Conversion course, Uniandes (2025). It’s part of the University chapter.