Simulation of Energy Production by Bifacial Modules with Revision of Ground Reflection

Yusufoğlu, U.A.; Lee, Tae Hun; Pletzer, T.M.; Halm, A.; Koduvelikulathu, Lejo J.; Comparotto, Corrado; Kopecek, Radovan; Kurz, H.

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2014.08.111

Cited by 96 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…An important factor affecting the performance of bifacial modules is their elevation above the ground. Highly elevated modules suffer considerably less from self-shading as shown in [11], [14], [41], which accords with our results in Sec. III.…”

Section: Asupporting

confidence: 92%

“…9 (i.e., tilt angle increases with latitude) although the tilt angle of BiSN is always slightly higher from that of the monofacial counterpart (black dashed lines). This increased tilt enhances the rear-side albedo light collection, consistent with previous studies [11], [14]. The higher tilt angle of BiSN make them more resistant to soiling compared to monofacial ones, since the soiling loss reduces with increasing tilt angle [60].…”

Section: Csupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Toward this goal, several groups have reported on the performance of south-north-facing, optimally tilted, standalone bifacial solar modules-both numerically [11]- [14] and experimentally [15], [16]. These studies have shown that the deployment (e.g., elevation, orientation) and the environment conditions (e.g., irradiance intensity, ground albedo) dictate the energy output of bifacial solar modules, and the synergistic effects of these factors ought to be accounted for when evaluating the performance of bifacial technologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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: Asupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Csupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective

et al. 2018

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“…One prominent reason for this increasing attention is the suitability of the PERT cell structure for the realization of industrial cell structures on n ‐type silicon substrates. When being assembled into modules, an increase in energy output of around 10 to 20% rel + compared with monofacial operation has been reported for bifacial modules, utilizing rear‐side irradiation because of the albedo of the surroundings and direct contributions depending on the mounting of the modules. Some solar cell and module manufacturers have started to advertise their products to support bifacial operation and/or report increasing R&D efforts in this field, for example .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic feasibility of bifacial silicon solar cells

Fertig

Nold

Wöhrle

et al. 2016

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Bifacial solar cells and modules are a promising approach to increase the energy output of photovoltaic systems, and therefore decrease levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). This work discusses the bifacial silicon solar cell concepts PERT (passivated emitter, rear totally diffused) and BOSCO (both sides collecting and contacted) in terms of expected module cost and LCOE based on in-depth numerical device simulation and advanced cost modelling. As references, Al-BSF (aluminium back-surface field) and PERC (passivated emitter and rear) cells with local rear-side contacts are considered. In order to exploit their bifacial potential, PERT structures (representing cells with single-sided emitter) are shown to require bulk diffusion lengths of more than three times the cell thickness. For the BOSCO concept (representing cells with double-sided emitter), diffusion lengths of half the cell thickness are sufficient to leverage its bifacial potential. In terms of nominal LCOE, BOSCO cells are shown to be cost-competitive under monofacial operation compared with an 18% efficient (≙ pMPP = 18 mW/cm2) multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) Al-BSF cell and a 19% mc-Si PERC cell for maximum output power densities of pMPP ≥ 17.3 mW/cm2 and pMPP ≥ 18.1 mW/cm2, respectively. These values assume the use of $10/kg silicon feedstock for the BOSCO and $20/kg for the Al-BSF and PERC cells. For the PERT cell, corresponding values are pMPP ≥ 21.7 mW/cm2 and pMPP ≥ 22.7 mW/cm2, respectively, assuming the current price offset (≈50%, at the time of October 2014) of n-type Czochralski-grown silicon (Cz-Si) compared with mc-Si wafers. The material price offset of n-type to p-type Cz-Si wafers (≈15%, October 2014) currently accounts for approximately 1 mW/cm2, which correlates to a conversion efficiency difference of 1%abs for monofacial illumination with 1 sun. From p-type mc-Si to p-type Cz-Si (≈30% wafer price offset, October 2014), this offset is approximately 2.5 mW/cm2 for a PERT cell. When utilizing bifacial operation, these required maximum output power densities can be transformed into required minimum rear-side illumination intensities for arbitrary front-side efficiencies ηfront by means of the performed numerical simulations. For a BOSCO cell with ηfront = 18%, minimum rear-side illumination intensities of ≤ 0.02 suns are required to match a 19% PERC cell in terms of nominal LCOE. For an n-type Cz-Si PERT cell with ηfront = 21%, corresponding values are ≤ 0.11 suns with 0.05 suns being the n-type to p-type material price offset. This work strongly motivates the use of bifacial concepts to generate lowest LCOE

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“…Bifacial module operation has gained increasing attention due to the rise of cell concepts featuring a grid on the rear side , which allows for bifacial module applications. Compared with monofacial operation, an increase in energy output of around 10 to 20% rel + has been reported by utilising rear‐side irradiation because of the albedo of the surroundings and direct contributions depending on the mounting of the modules. The cited cell structures, in principle, represent PERT‐like (passivated emitter, rear totally diffused) structures and are preferably realised on n ‐type Czochralski‐grown silicon (Cz‐Si) substrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bifacial potential of single‐ and double‐sided collecting silicon solar cells

Fertig

Wöhrle

Greulich

et al. 2016

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Bifacial applications are a promising way to increase the performance of photovoltaic systems. Two silicon solar cell concepts suitable for bifacial operation are the passivated emitter, rear totally diffused (PERT) and the both sides collecting and contacted (BOSCO) cell concepts. This work investigates the bifacial potential of these concepts by means of in-depth numerical device simulation and experiment with a focus on the impact of varying material quality. It is shown that the PERT cell concept (representing a structure with front-side emitter only) requires high-minority-carrier-diffusion-length substrates with L-bulk > 3 x W (with cell thickness W) to exploit its bifacial potential, while the BOSCO cell (representing a structure with double-sided emitter) can already utilise its bifacial potential on substrates with significantly lower diffusion lengths down to L-bulk approximate to 0.5 x W. Experimentally, BOSCO cells with and without activated rear-side emitter are compared. For rear-side illumination, the activated rear-side emitter is measured to increase internal quantum efficiency at wavelengths lambda < 850 nm by up to 45%(abs) (factor of 9) and 30%(abs) (factor of 2) for cells processed on p-type multicrystalline silicon substrates with L-bulk approximate to 0.3 x W and L-bulk approximate to 2.6 x W, respectively. For PERT cells processed on n-type Czochralski-grown silicon substrates, an according increase in internal quantum efficiency for rear-side illumination of more than 20%(abs) (factor of 1.3) is measured when changing from a substrate with L-bulk approximate to 3.0 to 10.0 x W. The performed simulations and experiments demonstrate that the BOSCO cell concept is a promising candidate to successfully exploit bifacial gain also on low- to medium-diffusion-length substrates such as p-type multicrystalline silicon, while PERT cells require a high-diffusion- length substrate to utilise their bifacial potential. Furthermore, the BOSCO cell concept is shown to be a promising option to achieve highest output power densities, even when using lower quality and therefore possibly more cost-effective silicon substrates

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Simulation of Energy Production by Bifacial Modules with Revision of Ground Reflection

Cited by 96 publications

References 4 publications

Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective

Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective

Economic feasibility of bifacial silicon solar cells

Bifacial potential of single‐ and double‐sided collecting silicon solar cells

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