IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v159y2020icp50-63.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In-field characterization of key performance parameters for bifacial photovoltaic installation in a desert climate

Author

Listed:
  • Baloch, Ahmer A.B.
  • Hammat, Said
  • Figgis, Benjamin
  • Alharbi, Fahhad H.
  • Tabet, Nouar

Abstract

To address the main challenges inhibiting the adoption of bifacial PV technology in hot desert environment, continuous performance monitoring and comprehensive analyses are timely required. Therefore, for strengthening its bankability, this techno-economic study presents an in-field bifacial parametric analysis for the environment of Middle-East. Impacts of ground coverage ratio (GCR), stand-alone/in-array mounted losses, albedo, module temperature, mounting height, tilt, and azimuth angle were quantified. To highlight the bifacial potential, economic analysis as a function of energy gain and investment premium was carried out for demarcating profitable operating zones. Moreover, multi-variable analysis for rear irradiance was performed using ground coverage ratio, height, albedo and array size, specifically:1 × 1 (free-standing module), 3 × 3 and 5 × 5. It was found that for systems where the land costs are significant, high GCR coupled with increased mounting height would result in a better energy yield per area. Module with a bifacial gain of 8.6% was found to be profitable provided that the bifacial premium investment doesn’t exceed 10% of monofacial. Thermally, bifacial power gain was found to determine the cell temperature under different irradiation conditions. The study reveals vital insights that will allow engineers and researchers to optimize bifacial PV performance in hot and sunny desert climates.

Suggested Citation

  • Baloch, Ahmer A.B. & Hammat, Said & Figgis, Benjamin & Alharbi, Fahhad H. & Tabet, Nouar, 2020. "In-field characterization of key performance parameters for bifacial photovoltaic installation in a desert climate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 50-63.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:159:y:2020:i:c:p:50-63
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.05.174
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014812030879X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2020.05.174?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarhaddi, F. & Farahat, S. & Ajam, H. & Behzadmehr, A. & Mahdavi Adeli, M., 2010. "An improved thermal and electrical model for a solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) air collector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(7), pages 2328-2339, July.
    2. Harry Apostoleris & Sgouris Sgouridis & Marco Stefancich & Matteo Chiesa, 2018. "Evaluating the factors that led to low-priced solar electricity projects in the Middle East," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(12), pages 1109-1114, December.
    3. Guerrero-Lemus, R. & Vega, R. & Kim, Taehyeon & Kimm, Amy & Shephard, L.E., 2016. "Bifacial solar photovoltaics – A technology review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1533-1549.
    4. R. Kopecek & J. Libal, 2018. "Towards large-scale deployment of bifacial photovoltaics," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(6), pages 443-446, June.
    5. Katsaounis, Th. & Kotsovos, K. & Gereige, I. & Basaheeh, A. & Abdullah, M. & Khayat, A. & Al-Habshi, E. & Al-Saggaf, A. & Tzavaras, A.E., 2019. "Performance assessment of bifacial c-Si PV modules through device simulations and outdoor measurements," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 1285-1298.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hayibo, Koami Soulemane & Petsiuk, Aliaksei & Mayville, Pierce & Brown, Laura & Pearce, Joshua M., 2022. "Monofacial vs bifacial solar photovoltaic systems in snowy environments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 657-668.
    2. Prasad, Manendra & Prasad, Ramendra, 2023. "Bifacial vs monofacial grid-connected solar photovoltaic for small islands: A case study of Fiji," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 686-702.
    3. Michelle Kitayama da Silva & Mehreen Saleem Gul & Hassam Chaudhry, 2021. "Review on the Sources of Power Loss in Monofacial and Bifacial Photovoltaic Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-29, November.
    4. Tina, Giuseppe Marco & Bontempo Scavo, Fausto & Merlo, Leonardo & Bizzarri, Fabrizio, 2021. "Analysis of water environment on the performances of floating photovoltaic plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 281-295.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Faisal Masood & Nursyarizal Bin Mohd Nor & Perumal Nallagownden & Irraivan Elamvazuthi & Rahman Saidur & Mohammad Azad Alam & Javed Akhter & Mohammad Yusuf & Mubbashar Mehmood & Mujahid Ali, 2022. "A Review of Recent Developments and Applications of Compound Parabolic Concentrator-Based Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal Collectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-30, May.
    2. Gu, Wenbo & Ma, Tao & Li, Meng & Shen, Lu & Zhang, Yijie, 2020. "A coupled optical-electrical-thermal model of the bifacial photovoltaic module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    3. Hua, Zhengcao & Ma, Chao & Lian, Jijian & Pang, Xiulan & Yang, Weichao, 2019. "Optimal capacity allocation of multiple solar trackers and storage capacity for utility-scale photovoltaic plants considering output characteristics and complementary demand," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 721-733.
    4. Jouttijärvi, Sami & Lobaccaro, Gabriele & Kamppinen, Aleksi & Miettunen, Kati, 2022. "Benefits of bifacial solar cells combined with low voltage power grids at high latitudes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Abbas, Sajid & Yuan, Yanping & Zhou, Jinzhi & Hassan, Atazaz & Yu, Min & Yasheng, Ji, 2022. "Experimental and analytical analysis of the impact of different base plate materials and design parameters on the performance of the photovoltaic/thermal system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 522-536.
    6. Moh’d Al-Nimr & Abdallah Milhem & Basel Al-Bishawi & Khaleel Al Khasawneh, 2020. "Integrating Transparent and Conventional Solar Cells TSC/SC," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Ooshaksaraei, Poorya & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman & Zaidi, Saleem H. & Zulkifli, Rozli, 2017. "Performance of four air-based photovoltaic thermal collectors configurations with bifacial solar cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(PB), pages 279-293.
    8. Sgouridis, Sgouris & Ali, Mohamed & Sleptchenko, Andrei & Bouabid, Ali & Ospina, Gustavo, 2021. "Aluminum smelters in the energy transition: Optimal configuration and operation for renewable energy integration in high insolation regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 937-953.
    9. Carlos Cárdenas-Bravo & Rodrigo Barraza & Antonio Sánchez-Squella & Patricio Valdivia-Lefort & Federico Castillo-Burns, 2021. "Estimation of Single-Diode Photovoltaic Model Using the Differential Evolution Algorithm with Adaptive Boundaries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-24, June.
    10. Timilsina, Govinda R., 2021. "Are renewable energy technologies cost competitive for electricity generation?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 658-672.
    11. Contento, Gaetano & Lorenzi, Bruno & Rizzo, Antonella & Narducci, Dario, 2017. "Efficiency enhancement of a-Si and CZTS solar cells using different thermoelectric hybridization strategies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 230-238.
    12. Ding, H. & Zhou, D.Q. & Liu, G.Q. & Zhou, P., 2020. "Cost reduction or electricity penetration: Government R&D-induced PV development and future policy schemes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    13. Oussama El Manssouri & Bekkay Hajji & Giuseppe Marco Tina & Antonio Gagliano & Stefano Aneli, 2021. "Electrical and Thermal Performances of Bi-Fluid PV/Thermal Collectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    14. Bonanno, F. & Capizzi, G. & Graditi, G. & Napoli, C. & Tina, G.M., 2012. "A radial basis function neural network based approach for the electrical characteristics estimation of a photovoltaic module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 956-961.
    15. Zhou, Zhihua & Wang, Xiaojuan & Zhang, Xiaoyan & Chen, Guanyi & Zuo, Jian & Pullen, Stephen, 2015. "Effectiveness of pavement-solar energy system – An experimental study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1-10.
    16. Sun, Xingshu & Khan, Mohammad Ryyan & Deline, Chris & Alam, Muhammad Ashraful, 2018. "Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1601-1610.
    17. Zhang, Wei & Zhao, Oufan & Xie, Lingzhi & Li, Zihao & Wu, Xin & Zhong, Jianmei & Zeng, Xiding & Zou, Ruiwen, 2023. "Factors influence analysis and life cycle assessment of innovative bifacial photovoltaic applied on building facade," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    18. Zogou, Olympia & Stapountzis, Herricos, 2012. "Flow and heat transfer inside a PV/T collector for building application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 103-115.
    19. Oztop, Hakan F. & Bayrak, Fatih & Hepbasli, Arif, 2013. "Energetic and exergetic aspects of solar air heating (solar collector) systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 59-83.
    20. Hao, Wengang & Zhang, Han & Liu, Shuonan & Mi, Baoqi & Lai, Yanhua, 2021. "Mathematical modeling and performance analysis of direct expansion heat pump assisted solar drying system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1), pages 77-87.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:159:y:2020:i:c:p:50-63. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.