Performance Evaluation and Comparison of Bifacial and Mono-Facial Crystalline Silicon PV Modules and Systems
Abstract
The objective of the study is to evaluate the technical performance of a bifacial PV system & compare it with its mono-facial counterpart in outdoor conditions in India. It is found that the energy generation from the bifacial latitude tilt system is highest, followed by the mono-facial latitude tilt system and then the bifacial vertical tilt system. The quantum of excess energy generation depends on various parameters like ground albedo, GCR, GCH, module tilt angle etc. It is also found in the study that the bifacial gain is over 20% with natural vegetation & grass as the ground reflecting material and it increases further when SS-sheet was used as the ground reflecting material. The simulation study reveals that the LCOE from the bifacial system is comparatively lower than the equivalent mono-facial system when the albedo is 0.2 or above. The higher module cost of the bifacial module compared to its mono-facial counterpart is compensated by the extra energy generated by the bifacial system. The study further reveals that the albedo of the Ladakh region and desert of Rajasthan, India is naturally higher than the normal plain. Thus, these potential sites in India should be targeted for setting up MW-scale bifacial PV plants for higher energy yield and thereby, lower LCOE. Further, bifacial PV vertical systems can also be set up along the bunds of the agricultural land or the side of the national highways.
Keywords
Bifacial, Mono-facial, Solar pv, Bifaciality factor, Bifacial gain, Albedo, Gcr, Gch, Lcoe