Review on the Sources of Power Loss in Monofacial and Bifacial Photovoltaic Technologies

Michelle Kitayama da Silva, Mehreen Saleem Gul and Hassam Chaudhry
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Michelle Kitayama da Silva: School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
Mehreen Saleem Gul: School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
Hassam Chaudhry: School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai P.O. Box 38103, United Arab Emirates

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-29

Abstract: An evaluation of the degradation effects on photovoltaic modules is essential to minimise uncertainties in the system operation. Bifacial photovoltaic technology is attracting attention due to the capacity of generating energy from the front and rear sides. This paper presents a review of degradation factors, for both conventional monofacial and bifacial photovoltaic modules, to highlight how the current and voltage characteristics of these technologies are affected by degradation. Microcracking, encapsulant discoloration, and light induced degradation seem to have similar effects on both modules. Contrarily, bifacial modules are more prone to potential induced degradation as the electromagnetic shielding is affected by the bifaciality. Bifacial devices are less affected by light and elevated temperature induced degradation. The degradation (1.3%) is similar for both technologies, up to 40 kWh/m 2 of solar radiation. Above this value, monofacial degradation increases faster, reaching values of 7%. For tilted systems, the front side soiling degradation of 0.30% per day is similar for both technologies. For vertical systems, soiling loss for bifacial is considerably lower with values of 0.02% per day.

Keywords: bifacial; degradation; mismatch; photovoltaic; PV failure; shading effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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