The Influence of the Installation Condition and Performance of Bifacial Solar Modules on Energy Yield

Abstract

Compared with typical mono-facial photovoltaic (PV) solar modules, bifacial solar modules can make full use of reflected or scattered light from the ground and the surroundings to yield more electrical energy. The electrical energy on the rear side depends on multiple factors, such as the IV parameters of modules, packaging materials, and installation circumstances. In this work, the power generation output is simulated and researched using the PV-SYST software program, based on the different electrical parameters of bifacial solar modules and the installation conditions of the given PV systems. The influencing factors that affect the electrical energy are further analyzed using power-loss diagrams. The results show that improving the surface albedo can raise additional energy by 8.3%, thus behaving significantly better than the mono-facial module. Furthermore, improving the siting height and incidence angle modifier (IAM) of the modules can increase the additional energy by 3.1%. In contrast, adjusting the output current or voltage of the modules adds some energy, while the modules are of the same nominal power value. It was observed that the energy level of a photovoltaic system mainly depends on the installation circumstances, but the electrical parameters of the modules themselves contribute little.