A study of the annual performance of bifacial photovoltaic modules in the case of vertical facade integration

Sória, Bruno Santana; Gerritsen, E.; Lefillastre, P.; Broquin, Jean-Emmanuel

doi:10.1002/ese3.103

Cited by 48 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Power Loss due to Nonuniform Illumination. As demonstrated by both simulation and experiments, selfshading can cause spatially nonuniform illumination on the rear surface of solar modules [11], [52], [53]. Equation (13) neglects this additional power loss from non-uniform illumination distribution.…”

Section: Electro-thermal Module Model Power Conversion Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 93%

Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective

et al. 2018

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With the rapidly growing interest in bifacial photovoltaics (PV), a worldwide map of their potential performance can help assess and accelerate the global deployment of this emerging technology. However, the existing literature only highlights optimized bifacial PV for a few geographic locations or develops worldwide performance maps for very specific configurations, such as the vertical installation. It is still difficult to translate these location-and configurationspecific conclusions to a general optimized performance of this technology. In this paper, we present a global study and optimization of bifacial solar modules using a rigorous and comprehensive modeling framework. Our results demonstrate that with a low albedo of 0.25, the bifacial gain of groundmounted bifacial modules is less than 10% worldwide. However, increasing the albedo to 0.5 and elevating modules 1 m above the ground can boost the bifacial gain to 30%. Moreover, we derive a set of empirical design rules, which optimize bifacial solar modules across the world, and provide the groundwork for rapid assessment of the location-specific performance. We find that ground-mounted, vertical, east-west-facing bifacial modules will outperform their south-north-facing, optimally tilted counterparts by up to 15% below the latitude of 30 o , for an albedo of 0.5. The relative energy output is reversed of this in latitudes above 30 o . A detailed and systematic comparison with data from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America validates the model presented in this paper. An online simulation tool (https://nanohub.org/tools/pub) based on the model developed in this paper is also available for a user to predict and optimize bifacial modules in any arbitrary location across the globe.Here we will present four tables of global maps summarizing the optimization and performance (i.e., tilt angle, azimuth angle, annual energy yield, and bifacial gain) for a bifacial solar module with different deployment scenarios (i.e., elevation and albedo).

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Section: Electro-thermal Module Model Power Conversion Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 93%

Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective

et al. 2018

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“…VF and RT models were used to model the back irradiance of bifacial PV modules, and the aforementioned optical models have been also used in the current work in order to model the rear side irradiance received by solar cells mounted on a customized PV module. VF is known also as form factor, a shape factor, and a configuration factor, used often to solve heat transfer problems such as quantifying the amount of irradiation leaving one surface (

A_{1}

) reaching another surface (

A_{2}

) with different geometrical orientation (

α 1

and

α 2

) through a distance (

S

) as shown in Figure .…”

Section: Research Methodology and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of ray tracing and view factor simulations of locally resolved rear irradiance with the experimental values

Berrian

Libal

2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

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One of the prerequisites for a reliable energy yield prediction of bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems is the capability of modeling the backside irradiance of those systems with high accuracy. Currently, the most important optical models used to quantify the reflected irradiance on the backside of a bifacial solar panel are view factor and ray tracing. The MoBiDiG simulation tool has been developed at ISC Konstanz uses the view factor (VF) concept to model the rear irradiance. In addition to the VF concept, ray tracing (RT) has been adopted to determine the backside irradiance of bifacial modules by using the open-source tool bifacial_radiance that has been developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). A customized monocrystalline silicon solar panel has been built in order to evaluate the accuracy of the existing optical models by locally resolved rear irradiance measurement. The performance of rear irradiance has been investigated along the rows of the customized PV module during sunny and cloudy days with typical back irradiance values of ≈50 and ≈ 150 W∕m 2 . The comparison of measured and modeled data has been carried out on hourly, daily, and monthly basis, and the results show lower deviations for solar cells located in the center of the PV module than on the edge. Moreover, the concept of decisive solar cells has been introduced and applied to both measured and modeled data, solar cells located in the center rows were found to act as the most decisive solar cells. Finally, considering the installation configuration studied here, ie, bifacial mounting with low clearance height (below 0.2 m), both hourly RT and VF approaches are able to model long-term cumulative irradiance received by decisive solar cells with a very high accuracy ranging from ±0.5% to ±2%.

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“…Bifacial solar cell refers to a specially-designed configuration in which light is absorbed from both front and rear surfaces [1]. Bifacial solar cells are desirable due to their specific features including superior temperature coefficient, reduced metal usage, ability to fabricate on thinner wafers, and enhanced power output at lower material costs [2, 3]. Bifacial solar cell configuration works well in a vertical configuration [3] and can be applied as structural components such as fence or wall in building integrated photovoltaic systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bifacial solar cells are desirable due to their specific features including superior temperature coefficient, reduced metal usage, ability to fabricate on thinner wafers, and enhanced power output at lower material costs [2, 3]. Bifacial solar cell configuration works well in a vertical configuration [3] and can be applied as structural components such as fence or wall in building integrated photovoltaic systems. Additional sunlight can be coupled into the rear surface to significantly increase its output through placement of a suitable reflector on the backside of a bifacial solar module.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light transmission and internal scattering in pulsed laser-etched partially-transparent silicon wafers

Rohaizar

Sepeai

Surhada

et al. 2019

Heliyon

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Continuing trend in silicon wafer thickness directed at cost reduction approaches basic boundaries created by: (a) mismatch between Al paste and Si wafer thermal expansion and (b) incomplete optical absorption. With its symmetrical front and back electrical contacts, the bifacial solar cell setup reduces stress due to mismatch thermal expansion, decreases metal use and increases high temperature efficiency. Efficiency improvement is accomplished in bifacial solar cells by capturing light from the back surface. Partially transparent wafers provide an option to improve near-infrared radiation absorption within Si wafer. To fully absorb optical radiation, three-dimensional texture of these kinds of wafers is essential. Pulsed laser interactions, thermal oxidation, and wet chemical etching are included in this research. A feature of its energy and pattern setup is the interaction of pulsed laser with Si, running at 1.064 μm wavelength and micro-second length. Two experimental settings were explored: (a) post-laser chemical etching with potassium hydro-oxide etching with thermal oxide as etching mask and (b) post-laser heat Si surface oxidation. Due to fast melting and recrystallization, laser pulsed processing inherently produces its own texture. Some of these spherically-shaped, randomly focused characteristics improve inner scattering and boost near-infrared absorption within the wafer. These characteristics are separated during chemical etching with the thermally-grown oxide layer as an etch mask. Comparison of optical absorption in both surfaces shows almost a rise in the magnitude of absorption in non-etched surfaces. Detailed optical (optical microscope and IR absorption), morphological (field emission scanning electron microscope) and heat imaging (far IR camera) analyses were performed to comprehend physical processes that contribute to near-IR absorption improvement. Such kinds of partially-transparent, three-dimensional textured Si wafers are anticipated to discover applications for bifacial solar cells as substrates.

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A study of the annual performance of bifacial photovoltaic modules in the case of vertical facade integration

Cited by 48 publications

References 9 publications

Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective

Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective

A comparison of ray tracing and view factor simulations of locally resolved rear irradiance with the experimental values

Light transmission and internal scattering in pulsed laser-etched partially-transparent silicon wafers

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