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The effect of clearance height, albedo, tilt and azimuth angle in bifacial PV
energy estimation using different existing algorithms
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1 Introduction
It is well known that bifacial photovoltaic (PV) modules can utilise incident
sunlight via front and rear side absorption. This allows higher energy produc-
tion under various installation conditions such as large solar farms or roof-top
installations. However, the bifacial energy gain depends highly on, e.g., mod-
ule design, mounting method, and reflectivity of the background. However, the
bifacial energy gain depends highly on, e.g., module design, mounting method,
and reflectivity of the background. [1, 2, 4, 7, 12, 25]. Figure 1 shows a qualitative
comparison between the monofacial and bifacial modules.
Nowadays, the PV bifacial technology has been getting much attention from
stakeholders given the increased capacity of generation with practically the same
amount of area and system costs as monofacial PV modules [13]. However, there
is not yet a standard method to estimate the real energy output as it is the case
in monofacial PV technologies. The energy estimation on bifacial PV modules
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presents even more challenges due to reflected rear side irradiance, which highly
depends on the location and the design of the PV system. To reach confident
estimations, it is necessary to consider several variables such as the height from
the floor of the module, the tilt angle, the background reflectance, sun elevation,
and diffuse irradiation [23]. The present paper compares different PV bifacial
power estimation models located in two different climates, i.e., equatorial fully
humid (Af) and warm temperate fully humid warm summer (Cfb) according
to the Köppen-Geiger Climate Classification [14]. The comparative analysis is
based on simulations executed with five different programs. The objective of
the present paper is to determine the different results obtained and how that
changes for different climates. The rest of the paper is structured as follows, first,
a literature review about the methods for estimation of energy yield in bifacial
modules as well as the main variables that affect the energy production in bifacial
models are presented. Then, a description of the main simulation programs used
in the comparison, methodology, and other considerations are shown. After that,
the paper describes the simulation results for the two places selected (Bernburg,
Germany, and Cartago, Costa Rica) and compares the energy yield between the
models. Finally, the synthesis of the results and conclusions are shown.
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a general approach when the different energy estimation methods are compared.
Figure 2 shows a flow diagram of this general structure together with their tools
founded in the literature, which is further detailed in Table 1.
Fig. 2. General modelling flow for the estimation of energy in bifacial modules
Rear side irradiance analysis is a process that it is essential for the power
estimation of bifacial modules, and that haven’t been analysed in detailed until
recently. The next section presents the main considerations that need to be taken
into account for this case.
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Table 1. Description for the simulations steps in the energy estimation for bifacial
modules
– Power conversion
– Efficiency
In this step, the monofacial module en-
Electro- – Thermal Losses
ergy is estimated. For this step the rules
Thermal Model – NOCT
already analyzed and tested are used
– Monofacial Energy Yield
shows an overview and a classification of nine energy yield models for bifacial
PV modules.
The Empirical Models corresponds to the group of models that were ob-
tained using short or long therm experimental data. The View Factor Models
correspond to the utilisation of geometrical construction as a definition of ther-
modynamics. Ray Tracing models corresponds to the models that use software
for the estimation of the light rays through a determined conditions in a 3D
environment.
Several variables affect the energy production of bifacial PV modules but also
the energy yield estimation. The present section gives a primary definition of
these variables. Figure 4 shows the main variables which affects the energy yield
estimation of bifacial PV modules. Namely,
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Purdue University
[22]
and the received irradiance on the rear side of the bifacial PV module. It is
measured on a scale from 0 to 1.
– Clearance Height (CH): is defined as the distance from the lowest point of
the solar module to the ground. This influences the collection of the rear-side
irradiance.
– Tilt Angle (β): refers to the inclination, measured in degrees, that the edge
of the PV module forms with a parallel line to the ground. This factor will
influence both front and rear side irradiance collection in the solar module.
– Module Height(M H): refers to the dimension of the PV module, seen in
the lateral plane. It is dependent on the orientation of the module (landscape
or portrait). This factor has an impact on the self-shadowing of the solar
module and the possibility to collect rear-side irradiance.
– Azimuth(γ): refers to the compass direction in which the solar module or
array is installed. It affects both front and rear side energy production due
to the changing position of the sun during the day.
– Ground Coverage Ratio(gcr): it is defined as the ratio of the PV mod-
ules’area to the used land area. This is an important aspect when the analysis
considers more than one array. It can be also defined as the ratio of array
length to row-to-row pitch. A definition and discussion about this term can
be found in [6, 7, 24]
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– Purdue University Bifacial: this is a model that uses View Factor concept
from thermodynamics developed by researchers at Purdue University for the
estimation of bifacial energy generation. The information on the model can
be found in [22]
– Prism Solar: This model was developed by the company Prism Solar. It
consist in a general linear regression that allows predicting the behaviour of
the solar bifacial tools. The linear regression was validated with real data
for a small range of values. The model and its validation can be found in [3]
– Solar World: The model was developed by the company Solar World, using
data analytic from three different systems installed and then obtaining a
mathematical regression from the data. The description of model as well as
the experiment can be found in [15]
– NREL Radiance Bifacial: It consists in a open source software that uses
an integration of the back-end software Radiance for ray tracing estimation.
The considerations for the software as well as the validation of the model
can be found in [18].
– PVSyst: Since 2017 the software includes the feature for simulation for bifa-
cial modules. The software uses the view factor geometry for the installation.
The details of the models can be found in [17].
The models of Prism Solar, Solar World and Purdue University Bifacial
were implemented in Python v3.7 with the integration of the library PVLib [21].
For the case of PV Syst, the version used was the v6.8.6. In the case of NREL
Radiance Bifacial, the release used was the 5.2 that is available in [5]. In the
next section the simulation study and the comparison between the models are
presented.
4 Simulation study
To compare the bifacial PV module power estimation results of the considered
algorithms (Purdue University Model, Prism Solar Model, Solar World Model,
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Radiance Bifacial Model and PVSyst Model ) a simulation case study has been
designed. The places for study correspond to the location of the PV Outdoor
Characterisation of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences at Bernburg, Ger-
many, and the experimental PV plant from the Costa Rica Institute of Tech-
nology in Cartago, Costa Rica so that in the future it will be possible to run
experiments to validate the simulated results. The parameters used in the sim-
ulation study are shown in Table 2.
Module Module
Latitude Longitude Tilt Angle
Location Landscape Portrait Bifaciality [%]
[◦ ] [◦ ] [◦ ]
Height [m] Height [m]
The module height for both configurations (landscape and portrait) is as-
sumed for the standard dimensions for a 72 solar cell PV module. The tilt angle
is defined to maximise the power energy production of a monofacial PV mod-
ules in each site. The bifaciality is chosen in 90% as it is common to find in
commercial modules. The 22 year meteorological database from NASA is used.
Additional parameters used in the simulation are shown in Table 3.
Only the landscape configuration was used given that this is the case from
which more energy can be obtained. As a metric to compare the simulation re-
sults the same methodology for the analysis of the energy performance of the
models in a Round Robin campaigns is used [8]. These metrics consider the de-
viation with respect to the average value. In this regards, for all the variables
analysed the median value is calculated and then the Root Mean Square De-
viation (RMSD) and the Mean Bias Deviation(MBD) are estimated using as a
reference value the median for the all measurement.
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5 Results
The results of the simulation study are shown in figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 and are
discussed in the following sections.
Fig. 5. Comparison height effects for different models Bernburg and Cartago
Based on the results shown in 4 the Radiance model has the closest approx-
imation in the case of Bernburg. On the other hand, the PUB model has the
closest approximation for the case of Cartago. The model of Prism Solar is the
farthest approximation in both cases.
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Fig. 6. Comparison Rear/front-side irradiance ratio effects for different models Bern-
burg and Cartago
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a slope but it is to small that graphically looks like constant value. Using the
same methodology from this analysis, the RMSD and MBD is estimated. Table
4 shows the calculation of RMSD and MBD.
The obtained results shown that the Prism Solar model has the closest ap-
proximation for the case of Bernburg and for the Solar World model in the case
of Cartago. On the other hand, the PV Syst is the farthest approximation in
Bernburg and the Radiance model is the farthest approximation in Cartago.
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Fig. 7. Comparison tilt angle effects for different models Bernburg and Cartago
5.4 Azimuth
For the azimuth angle simulation the following variables are kept constant:
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Fig. 8. Comparison azimuth effects for different models Bernburg and Cartago
In the previous section and analysis for different models under different variables
was performed. This analysis gives an idea of the accuracy of the different models
in every case. When simulation methods are compared, it is also necessary to
have a look at the computational resources and performance for every algorithm.
For this purpose, Table 8 shows a quantitative comparison for the result of every
method available. The table is made using as a reference the work presented
in [19].
From the previous table, the models from PV Syst and Bifacial Radiance
from NREL that can estimate more features regarding the simulation. Looking
for the time consuming aspect, the Bifacial Radiance model is the most time-
consuming algorithm, due to the ray-tracing solving process. In the case of Prism
Solar and Solar World, the running time is faster. These models are simplified
for a simple equation. Nevertheless, these models are more liable to underfitting
or overfitting the energy yield estimation in bifacial models.
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Table 8. Quantitative comparison between models for the energy estimation in bifacial
models
6 Synthesis of results
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Fig. 9. Comparison albedo effects for different models Bernburg and Cartago
ues for all models. When the RMSD and MBD are estimated, all the models
report less than 10 % of error. This value indicates that all the models could fit
the estimation. However, there are some atypical cases such as the Prism Solar
model. This model has a different response when the clearance height and the
albedo change. According to the error estimated, the more acceptable models for
both places are PUB model and PV Syst model. In Bernburg, Radiance model
has acceptable accuracy.
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analysis for all the models used. From this table, the PV Syst model and the Ra-
diance model give output variables and information. Nevertheless, the Radiance
model is one of the most time-consuming algorithms to make and estimation
along with the PUB model. Despite their differences in assumptions and com-
plexity, there is a good agreement between all models.
The present work shows how the estimation of bifacial modules is affected by
several factors such as Clearance Height, Albedo, Tilt Angle, and Azimuth. Also,
the practical comparison of different models found in the literature. Due to
the penetration in the market of bifacial modules it is necessary to elaborate
on accurate tools for the process, planning and design. In the case of the Ray
Trace Models it is still not clear the accuracy of the model compared to the
View Factor Models (PUB, PVSyst), that present less deviation in the statistical
analysis. On the other hand, the Ray Trace Models requires more time and more
computational resources to converge into a result.
It is necessary to carry out analyses with field validation data to get a more
realistic analysis, as well as considering the changes that the variables can present
during the year. Bifacial technology offers interesting applications and benefits
compare to the monofacial modules. For this reason, it is necessary to develop
accurate tools to help other PV professionals and stakeholders in the making-
decision process. And with that, contribute to the transition to a clean energy
age.
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