Performance enhancement of bifacial solar photovoltaic system

Abstract

The bifacial solar Photovoltaic (bPV) cells have the capability to generate electricity through the front and rear sides. This feature allows the module to generate additional energy per square meter area when compared to the monofacial module under similar operating conditions. Besides, the performance of the bifacial module can be enhanced either by improving the front side and/or the rear side characteristics. The performance of the module mainly depends on various design and installation factors such as types of cells, amount of direct and reflected solar irradiance, module elevation, the albedo of the ground surface, tilt angle, row and module spacing, orientation, etc. Albedo is one of the important factors that influence performance significantly. It primarily determines the amount of reflected solar irradiance. The higher the albedo, the more will be the reflected irradiance and the energy yield. The performance of the module installed on different reflective surfaces namely aluminum, white paint, cement, river sand, and grass were studied. The comparative analysis of the parameters such as albedo, bifacial gain, and output power revealed that the aluminum reflective surface produced the highest albedo, bifacial gain, and output power among all reflective surfaces. The module installed on the aluminum reflective surface produces an average albedo in the range of 0.50-0.57, an average bifacial gain of around 21.4%, and a peak power of around 430 Wp. The outcome of this research work will be helpful to the bPV installers to choose the optimum reflective ground surfaces that can produce more electrical energy per square meter area. newline