Estimating and parameterizing mismatch power loss in bifacial photovoltaic systems

Deline, Chris; Ayala Pelaez, Silvana; MacAlpine, Sara; Olalla, Carlos

doi:10.1002/pip.3259

Estimating and parameterizing mismatch power loss in bifacial photovoltaic systems

Journal Article · Fri Mar 06 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Progress in Photovoltaics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3259· OSTI ID:1606308

^[1]; ^[1]; MacAlpine, Sara ^[2]; ^[3]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Juwi Solar Americas, Boulder, CO (United States)
Rovira i Virgili Univ., Tarragona (Spain)

Nonuniform irradiance on the rear side of bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems can cause additional mismatch loss, which may not be appropriately captured in PV energy production estimates and software. We evaluated several scenarios including horizontal single-axis tracking (HSAT) over natural ground-cover and rooftop-mounted systems over high albedo reflective roofs. We found mismatch losses of up to 1.5% annual loss for very close-mounted (0.15 m) rooftop systems, but losses for HSAT systems and high-ground-clearance rooftop systems were lower (<0.5%). A simplified empirical relationship was found that links the spatial variation of irradiance (specifically, the mean absolute difference of irradiance) to the resulting mismatch loss factor, with an R² better than .99. Furthermore, this approximate relationship was experimentally validated on mismatched PV modules, and it provides a basis for rapidly estimating bifacial mismatch loss factors for use in hourly PV performance simulations such as PVSyst or SAM. Additional parameters investigated include (a) climate dependence and module orientation, which were not found to have a strong impact on bifacial mismatch losses and (b) PV module fill factor and bifaciality ratio, which did have a strong linear impact on mismatch losses.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1606308

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1603681

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-74844; MainId:15887; UUID:53b51a87-87d4-e911-9c26-ac162d87dfe5; MainAdminID:4365

Journal Information:: Progress in Photovoltaics, Journal Name: Progress in Photovoltaics Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 28; ISSN 1062-7995

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Estimating and parameterizing mismatch power loss in bifacial photovoltaic systems

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