Comparison of Bifacial Solar Irradiance Model Predictions With Field Validation

Pelaez, Silvana Ayala; Deline, Christopher A.; MacAlpine, Sara M.; Marion, William F.; Stein, Joshua S.; Kostak, Raymond K.

doi:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2877000

Title: Comparison of Bifacial Solar Irradiance Model Predictions With Field Validation

Abstract

Models predicting rear irradiance for bifacial systems are critical to establish accurate estimates of energy yield. In this paper, we compare five published bifacial irradiance models, varying clearance, row spacing, tilt, and albedo to measure the sensitivity to these parameters. Bifacial energy gains (BG _E) as high as 20% are predicted for some configurations. Model agreement is generally good for low ground clearance (clearance heights lower than 0.75 times the collector width), but at higher clearances, finite system size and edge effects become a significant factor in simulations, stretching assumptions of infinite system extent made in some models. In addition, rear irradiance uniformity is improved at high ground clearance, as expected. A test-bed construction and results are described for comparison between modeled and measured data in Golden, CO, USA. Finally, the investigations indicate that model agreement for BG _E calculation is better than 2% (absolute) when compared with measured results, depending on the system configuration.

Authors:

^[1];

^[2];

^[2]; Marion, William F. ^[2];

^[3];

^[1]

Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Publication Date:: 2018-11-14

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

OSTI Identifier:: 1485567

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-72510
Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381

Publisher:: IEEE

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; bifacial solar panels; irradiance modeling; photovoltaic system modeling

Citation Formats


                    Pelaez, Silvana Ayala, Deline, Christopher A., MacAlpine, Sara M., Marion, William F., Stein, Joshua S., and Kostak, Raymond K. Comparison of Bifacial Solar Irradiance Model Predictions With Field Validation.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2877000.

Copy to clipboard


                    Pelaez, Silvana Ayala, Deline, Christopher A., MacAlpine, Sara M., Marion, William F., Stein, Joshua S., & Kostak, Raymond K. Comparison of Bifacial Solar Irradiance Model Predictions With Field Validation.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2877000

Copy to clipboard


                    Pelaez, Silvana Ayala, Deline, Christopher A., MacAlpine, Sara M., Marion, William F., Stein, Joshua S., and Kostak, Raymond K. Wed .  
"Comparison of Bifacial Solar Irradiance Model Predictions With Field Validation".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2877000.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1485567.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1485567,

  title        = {Comparison of Bifacial Solar Irradiance Model Predictions With Field Validation},

  author       = {Pelaez, Silvana Ayala and Deline, Christopher A. and MacAlpine, Sara M. and Marion, William F. and Stein, Joshua S. and Kostak, Raymond K.},

  abstractNote = {Models predicting rear irradiance for bifacial systems are critical to establish accurate estimates of energy yield. In this paper, we compare five published bifacial irradiance models, varying clearance, row spacing, tilt, and albedo to measure the sensitivity to these parameters. Bifacial energy gains (BG E) as high as 20% are predicted for some configurations. Model agreement is generally good for low ground clearance (clearance heights lower than 0.75 times the collector width), but at higher clearances, finite system size and edge effects become a significant factor in simulations, stretching assumptions of infinite system extent made in some models. In addition, rear irradiance uniformity is improved at high ground clearance, as expected. A test-bed construction and results are described for comparison between modeled and measured data in Golden, CO, USA. Finally, the investigations indicate that model agreement for BG E calculation is better than 2% (absolute) when compared with measured results, depending on the system configuration.},

  doi          = {10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2877000},

  journal      = {IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 9,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {11}

}

Copy to clipboard

Journal Article:

Free Publicly Available Full Text

Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Publisher's Version of Record

https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2877000

Other availability

Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 10 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Works referencing / citing this record:

Application and validity of the effective medium approximation to the optical properties of nano-textured silicon coated with a dielectric layer
journal, January 2019

Fung, Tsun Hang; Veeken, Tom; Payne, David
Optics Express, Vol. 27, Issue 26
DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.038645

Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections:

Model and Validation of Single-Axis Tracking with Bifacial PV

Journal Article Ayala Pelaez, Silvana ; Deline, Christopher A ; Greenberg, Peter ; ... - IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Single-axis tracking is a cost-effective deployment strategy for large-scale ground-mount photovoltaic systems in regions with high direct-normal irradiance. Bifacial modules in 1-axis-tracking systems boost energy yield by 4%-15% depending on module type and ground albedo, with a global average of 9%. This benefit is in addition to the 15%-25% energy gain already afforded by single-axis tracking relative to fixed-tilt deployments. Here, we compare model results against field performance data for two side-by-side bifacial/monofacial tracked systems - one in Albuquerque, NM, USA, and one in eastern Oregon. The Albuquerque system shows monthly rear irradiance gain of 10%-14.9%, and the Oregon bifacialmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2019.2892872
Model and Validation of Single-Axis Tracking with Bifacial Photovoltaics: Preprint

Conference Pelaez, Silvana A ; Deline, Christopher A ; Greenberg, Peter ; ...

Single-axis tracking is a cost effective deployment strategy for large-scale ground-mount photovoltaic (PV) systems in regions with high direct-normal irradiance (DNI). Bifacial modules in 1-axis tracking systems boost energy yield by 4% - 15% depending on module type and ground albedo, with a global average of 9%. This benefit is in addition to the 15%-25% energy gain already afforded by single-axis tracking relative to fixed-tilt deployments. Here we compare model results against field performance data for two side-by-side bifacial / monofacial tracked systems - one in Albuquerque NM, and one in eastern Oregon. The Albuquerque system shows monthly rear irradiancemore »« less
Full Text Available
Assessment of bifacial photovoltaic module power rating methodologies–inside and out

Journal Article Deline, Chris ; MacAlpine, Sara ; Marion, Bill ; ... - IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

One-sun power ratings for bifacial modules are currently undefined. This is partly because there is no standard definition of rear irradiance given 1000 W·m^-2 on the front. Using field measurements and simulations, we evaluate multiple deployment scenarios for bifacial modules and provide details on the amount of irradiance that could be expected. A simplified case that represents a single module deployed under conditions consistent with existing one-sun irradiance standards lead to a bifacial reference condition of 1000 W·m^-2 G_front and 130-140 W·m^-2 G_rear. For fielded systems of bifacial modules, Grear magnitude and spatial uniformity will be affected by self-shade frommore »« less
Cited by 3
https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2650565

Full Text Available
Vertical bifacial solar farms: Physics, design, and global optimization

Journal Article Khan, M. Ryyan ; Hanna, Amir ; Sun, Xingshu ; ... - Applied Energy

There have been sustained interest in bifacial solar cell technology since 1980s, with prospects of 30–50% increase in the output power from a stand-alone panel. Moreover, a vertical bifacial panel reduces dust accumulation and provides two output peaks during the day, with the second peak aligned to the peak electricity demand. Recent commercialization and anticipated growth of bifacial panel market have encouraged a closer scrutiny of the integrated power-output and economic viability of bifacial solar farms, where mutual shading will erode some of the anticipated energy gain associated with an isolated, single panel. Towards that goal, in this paper wemore »« less
Cited by 15
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.042

Full Text Available
Understanding Bifacial PV Modeling: Raytracing and View Factor Models

Conference Ayala Pelaez, Silvana ; Deline, Christopher A ; Marion, William F ; ...

As part of the PV Magazine Webinar 'View-factor vs. ray tracing - which bifacial modelling techniques should you use?,' the second part lead by NREL will explore the different rear-irradiance calculation software, which fall into two categories: view-factor and ray-tracing models. View factor models assume isotropic scattering of reflected rays, allowing for calculation of irradiance by integration. Due-diligence software such as PVSyst or SAM use the view-factor model. Ray-tracing models simulate multipath reflection and absorption of individual rays entering a scene. Raytracing software such as bifacial_radiance, which is the only available open-source toolkit, offers the possibility of reproducing complex scenes,more »« less
Full Text Available

Similar Records

Title: Comparison of Bifacial Solar Irradiance Model Predictions With Field Validation

Abstract

Citation Formats

Application and validity of the effective medium approximation to the optical properties of nano-textured silicon coated with a dielectric layer journal, January 2019

Application and validity of the effective medium approximation to the optical properties of nano-textured silicon coated with a dielectric layer
journal, January 2019