Estimating bifacial loss factors for annual utility scale simulations

Detailed ray tracing simulations of typical bifacial PV systems are used to evaluate appropriate annual loss factors for use in software using 2D view factor models. Structure shading for 1MIP and 2MIP are found to be 7.8% and 6.5%, respectively; backside mismatch parameters for 1MIP and 2MIP are estimated as 2.4% and 2.5%, respectively. The 1MIP results are validated by comparing PVsyst predictions using the parameters to an experimental setup, finding that the energy produced by the two bifacial 1MIP arrays over the test period could be predicted with better than 0.3% accuracy.

Array Technologies Inc., PV Lighthouse, CFV labs

Kendra Passow and Kyumin Lee and Lucas Creasy and Jon Sharp and John Nagyvary and Keith R. McIntosh and Malcolm D. Abbott and Ben A. Sudbury and Jim Crimmins and Daniel Zirzow

PV system modeling,bifacial,tracking

2020

6

10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300403

9781728161150

01608371

Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

2348-2349

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

2020-June