Bifacial Photovoltaic Technology: Recent Advancements, Simulation and Performance Measurement

Book chapter (2022)

Authors

Mohammadreza Aghaei Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Marc Korevaar Kipp & Zonen
Pavel Babal Kipp & Zonen
H. Ziar Photovoltaic Materials and Devices - EEMCS
Research Group
Photovoltaic Materials and Devices (EEMCS) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2022 Mohammadreza Aghaei, Marc Korevaar, Pavel Babal, H. Ziar
DOI
help_outline
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105152
Albedo Bifacial solar cell Solar radiation Bifacial PV module Bifacial photovoltaics (PV) technology Bifaciality factor
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2022

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Electrical Sustainable Energy

Research Group

Photovoltaic Materials and Devices

Abstract

In this chapter, we introduce the physic principle and applications of bifacial PV technology. We present different bifacial PV cell and module technologies as well as investigate the advantages of using bifacial PV technology in the field. We describe the measurement and modeling of Albedo, which is one of the important factors for the energy yield of bifacial PV technology. For an accurate assessment of the performance ratio of bifacial PV strings, it is necessary to measure the albedo irradiance using an albedometer or the front- and rear-side plane of array (POA) irradiance. We also discuss the advanced techniques for the characterization of bifacial PV modules. By means of simulation, we give insight into what boundary conditions result in new bifacial technology gains and the influence of the mounting position of irradiance sensors. We executed several simulations by varying the sensor positions on the rear side of the PV modules, different places, different albedo numbers, mounting heights, different geographical locations with various tilts, seasons, and weather types. To validate the simulation results, we performed various experiments in the field under different conditions. The results prove that the bifacial gain is highly dependent on the mounting heights of PV modules, tilt angles, weather conditions, latitude, and location.