Maximizing Yield with Improved Single-Axis Backtracking on Cross-Axis Slopes

Conference · Tue Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300438· OSTI ID:1769834

Anderson, Kevin

Many tracking PV systems avoid row-to-row shading by backtracking in morning and afternoon. Because the common single-axis backtracking implementation assumes the array is in a horizontal plane, it does not fully prevent row-to-row shading in arrays installed on cross-axis slopes, e.g. an east-west slope for a tracker with north-south axis alignment. This paper presents the simulated effect of reduced self-shading on annual production with two modified backtracking strategies. Depending on the array geometry and the steepness of the cross-axis grade, using a modified backtracking strategy improved annual yield by 3-10%.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1769834
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5K00-79278; MainId:33504; UUID:26ef3505-65d8-4db6-af35-e8b6376b57ce; MainAdminID:19792
• Resource Relation: Conference: Presented at the 2020 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 15 June - 21 August 2020, Calgary, Canada; Related Information: 76023
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
backtracking
mathematical model
standards
production
sun
computational modeling
temperature measurement