Bifacial Solar panels

[Richie]

Hello. I would like to know how precise are the production forecast data for bifacial solar panels? Since there are so many things that can impact the production, like the albedo. height and angle of solar panels. I could only get like +10% more production. But the ads say you could get up to 30% but I'm not sure how you could get that.

[developer_mh]

Hi Richie,

thank you for your question. Ads vs simulation vs reality - in the field of bifacial PV modules there is a lot of diverging information. I'd recommend to have a look at the results of the Bifacial PV Project from the Sandia Lab, USA. They have published some interesting insights on the topic. For example, here is a short study of the bifacial gain, where they report a bifacial gain of around 10%:

https://pvpmc.sandia.gov/pv-research/bifacial-pv-project/outdoor-bifacial-pv-performance-data/field-example-of-bifacial-gain-at-sandia/

Or here, the proceedings of the 2018 conference on Bifacial Modules might be interesting:

https://www.bifipv-workshop.com/2018denverproceedings

This one here is on bifacial performance, check page 8, where they report around 10% as well.

http://npv-workshop.com/fileadmin/images/bifi/denver/presentations/5__Shan-_comparison_between_mono-_and_bifacial_performance_bifiPV2018.pdf

As you can see, the bifacial gain is dependent on a lot of parameters. In PV*SOL, we account for some of them, more on that here:

https://help.valentin-software.com/pvsol/2023/en/calculation/pv-modules/bifacial-modules/

On 7/31/2023 at 8:57 AM, Richie said:

I could only get like +10% more production. But the ads say you could get up to 30% but I'm not sure how you could get that.

From what I saw so far in terms of independent measurements, I'd consider the 10% much more likely than the 30%.

Kind regards,

Martin

[Richie]

Thank you so much for this information. This helps a lot.

In kind regards,

Richie

[Jessiehew]

I'm also curious about the precision of production forecast data for bifacial solar panels. I've seen ads that claim up to 30% more production, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.I've done some research, and it seems like the actual increase in production will vary depending on a number of factors, including the albedo of the ground surface, the height and angle of the solar panels, shading, soiling, and weather conditions.

Most experts agree that the production forecast data is generally accurate to within 10-15%. However, I would be cautious about any ad that claims a 30% increase in production. That seems like a best-case scenario, and it's unlikely that you would see that kind of increase in real-world conditions.