Bifacial PV systems are known to yield 5% to 20% more electricity compared to traditional monofacial counterparts at little or no extra cost, yet limitations of the current simulation tools to precisely determine their expected energy yield could hinder further deployment of this technology. Belgium's research and innovation institute Imec has suggested a new simulation framework validated at module level at EnergyVille.
EnergyVille is a collaboration between the Flemish research institutes KU Leuven, VITO, imec and UHasselt in the field of sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems, and in collaboration with Kuwait University.
The partners claim their new simulation framework can accurately calculate the energy yield of bifacial PV systems. It computes energy yield of individual cells and modules based on local and varying meteorological conditions, and at the same time, it factors in the double-sided illumination and the way it is influenced by module frames, geometry of system components, and varying albedo.
Imec and EnergyVille say the framework is ready to be validated on large-scale installations in real-life conditions and in different climates across the world.
"Our final goal is to calculate with high precision the bifacial gain at module, string and system level and enable a multi-objective and automated PV power plant design tool on the longer-term," said Eszter Voroshazi, R&D manager of PV modules and systems at Imec/EnergyVille.
Philip Pieters, Business Development Director at Imec/EnergyVille, believes their solution will help developers gain confidence on the achievable gain from bifacial modules which will in turn give investors a good view of their return on investment thus creating easier funding of bifacial power plants.
In November 2018, Norway's DNV GL announced a research on comparative energy yield analysis for bifacial and monofacial modules with project funding coming from the US Department of Energy (see DNV GL Analysing Energy Yield For Bifacial Modules). An in-depth overview on bifacial technology can be found in TaiyangNews Bifacial Solar Technology Report 2018.