Experimental Investigation of the BIPV System under Şanlıurfa Meteorological Conditions

Abstract

In this study, under the meteorological conditions of Şanlıurfa, Turkey, some parameter studies were conducted to more efficiently utilize Building Integrated Photovoltaic BIPV systems placed on different facades of a building. For this purpose, one single-sided (monofacial) panel was placed on both the roof and the east facade. As an innovation brought about by this study, both bifacial and monofacial panels with the same production potential were compared under the same conditions on the south facade. In addition, to enhance the production performance of the rear surface of the bifacial panel, a reflector was placed on the wall surface by leaving a gap between the wall and the panel. The experimental study was conducted between February and July. In addition, the building model created experimentally was analyzed monthly using the PVsyst program for a duration of one year. According to the study results, in the 6-month BIPV experimental application, the electrical production of the bifacial panel was found to be 15.1% higher than that of the monofacial panel under the same conditions. In addition, based on the 1-year results in the PVsyst analysis, the bifacial panel demonstrated a 5.86% higher production performance compared with the monofacial panel. This demonstrates that the efficiency of the bifacial panel in the experimental setup was enhanced by placing a reflective surface on the structure wall behind it. According to the complete annual analysis results obtained from the PVsyst analysis, the bifacial panel in the south produced 401.65 kWh, the monofacial panel produced 379.41 kWh, the panel on the eastern facade produced 313.34 kWh, and the rooftop panel, where the highest production was recorded, generated 505.64 kWh of energy. Therefore, it is anticipated that the use of bifacial panels with reflective surfaces on the roof under the meteorological conditions of Şanlıurfa will demonstrate the highest performance for the BIPV system.