Abstract
Bifacial photovoltaics (BPVs) are a promising alternative to conventional monofacial photovoltaics given their ability to exploit solar irradiance from both the front and rear sides of the panel, allowing for a higher amount of energy production per unit area. The BPV industry is still emerging, and there is much work to be done until it is a fully mature technology. There are a limited number of reviews of the BPV technology, and the reviews focus on different aspects of BPV. This review comprises an extensive in-depth look at BPV applications throughout all the current major applications, identifying studies conducted for each of the applications, and their outcomes, focusing on optimization for BPV systems under different applications, comparing levelized cost of electricity, integrating the use of BPV with existing systems such as green roofs, information on irradiance and electrical modeling, as well as providing future scope for research to improve the technology and help the industry.
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Abbreviations
- a′ :
-
Sky geometry factor according to Perez model
- a r :
-
Angular loss coefficient
- AM:
-
Air mass
- AMa :
-
Absolute air mass
- A m :
-
Module azimuth angle/(°)
- A s :
-
Sun azimuth angle/(°)
- AOIf :
-
Front side angle of incidence/(°)
- b :
-
Bifaciality factor
- c′:
-
Sky geometry factor according to Perez model
- C ini,inv :
-
Cost of initial investment/$
- c ins :
-
Installation cost/$
- c ins,lab :
-
Labor costs/$
- c ins,mat :
-
Material costs/$
- c (0) iyt :
-
Inverter cost/$
- c sp :
-
Cost of solar panels/$
- C war :
-
Warranty extension cost/$
- CFi :
-
Configuration factor for ith segment
- CFsky :
-
Sky configuration factor
- DNI:
-
Direct normal irradiance/(W·m−2)
- DR:
-
Discount rate/%
- E 0 :
-
Extra-terrestrial normal irradiance/(W·m−2)
- f 1 :
-
Spectral irradiance contribution
- F 1 :
-
Coefficient expressing degree of circumsolar and horizon anisotropy
- F 2 :
-
Coefficient expressing degree of circumsolar and horizon anistropy
- GHI:
-
Global horizontal irradiance/(W·m−2)
- GRIi :
-
Ground reflected irradiance for ith segment
- gvf :
-
Ground view factor
- h mg :
-
Module height/m
- HRI:
-
Horizontal reflected irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I :
-
Current generated/A
- I 0 :
-
Reverse saturation current/A
- I diff,f :
-
Front side diffuse irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I diff,r :
-
Rear side diffuse irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I dir,f :
-
Front side direct irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I dir,r :
-
Rear side direct irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I f :
-
Front side irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I gnd,f :
-
Front side ground reflected irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I gnd,r :
-
Rear side ground reflected irradiance/(W·m−2)
- I ph(F+R) :
-
Front + rear photogenerated current/A
- I r :
-
Rear side irradiance/(W·m−2)
- IR:
-
Inflation rate/%
- Jsc,front:
-
Short circuit current density of front side/(mA·cm−2)
- Jsc,rear:
-
Short circuit current density of rear side/(mA·cm−2)
- l m :
-
Module length/m
- I s :
-
System lifetime/year
- I s/w ivt :
-
Number of warranty extensions over lifetime
- n :
-
Diode ideality factor
- N s :
-
Number of cells
- P pv :
-
PV power production/W
- P STC,f :
-
Front side power production at STC/W
- R s :
-
Series resistance/Ω
- P SH :
-
Shunt resistance/Ω
- rl cir.f :
-
Front side reflection loss for circumsolar component
- rl dir.f :
-
Reflection loss for direct front side irradiance
- rl hor,f :
-
Front side reflection loss for horizontal contribution
- rl sky,f :
-
Front side reflection loss for sky contribution
- svf :
-
Sky view factor
- T a :
-
Ambient air temperature/°C
- T c :
-
Cell temperature/°C
- T INOCT :
-
PV panel installed normal operating temperature/°C
- V :
-
Voltage/V
- V t :
-
Thermal voltage/V
- x mount :
-
Coefficient based on selected mounting structure
- y :
-
Age of panel/year
- z :
-
Sun zenith angle/(°)
- α :
-
Circumsolar half angle/rad
- β 0 :
-
Initial cell degradation/%
- α 1 :
-
Yearly degradation rate/(%·year−1)
- γ :
-
Power temperature coefficient/(%·°C−1)
- η sc,front :
-
Front side efficiency/%
- η sc,rear :
-
Rear side efficiency/%
- θ m :
-
Module tilt angle/(°)
- ρ :
-
Ground albedo
- ε′:
-
Sky clearness
- Δ:
-
Sky brightness
- Χ c, Χ h, ψ h, ψ c :
-
Intermediate parameters in Perez model
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Garrod, A., Ghosh, A. A review of bifacial solar photovoltaic applications. Front. Energy 17, 704–726 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0903-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0903-7