New publication from the SUNLAB : Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research

The SUNLAB is pleased to announce the publication of a recent paper in Advanced Energy & Sustainability Research entitled “Quantifying structural shading and reflection effects on single axis tracked bifacial photovoltaic system performance”.  This article, first-authored by PhD candidate Mandy Lewis, is the result of a collaboration between the SUNLAB and Soltec Innovations.

This work focuses on the importance of racking structures in single-axis-tracked bifacial photovoltaic systems. By modelling a bifacial system without racking, with absorptive (black) racking, and with reflective racking, researchers isolated the difference in solar energy caused by racking. The impact of racking on rear irradiance, system energy yield, irradiance mismatch losses, and bifacial gain were quantified.

Ray-trace modelling in bifacial_radiance demonstrated that racking reflection reduces rear shading losses by 6.5-9.1% annually, although it is typically neglected in bifacial energy yield models. This resulted in a 0.4-0.6% increase in total system energy yield annually. These effects are more significant if the racking is more highly reflective or the ground albedo is high, such as in Canada where there is a higher degree of snow cover.

This approach will improve the accuracy of bifacial energy yield modelling and allow future researchers to optimize system designs to maximize system efficiency and power output.

Click here for the full article.

M. R. Lewis, T. J. Coathup, A. C. J. Russell, J. Guerrero-Perez, C. E. Valdivia, K. Hinzer, Quantifying structural shading and reflection effects on single axis tracked bifacial photovoltaic system performance, Adv. Energy Sustainability Res., 2400007 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aesr.202400007