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Numerical modeling of all-day albedo variation for bifacial PV systems on rooftops and annual yield prediction in Beijing

  • Research Article
  • Building Systems and Components
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Abstract

Bifacial PV modules capture solar radiation from both sides, enhancing power generation by utilizing reflected sunlight. However, there are difficulties in obtaining ground albedo data due to its dynamic variations. To address this issue, this study established an experimental testing system on a rooftop and developed a model to analyze dynamic albedo variations, utilizing specific data from the environment. The results showed that the all-day dynamic variations in ground albedo ranged from 0.15 to 0.22 with an average of 0.16. Furthermore, this study evaluates the annual performance of a bifacial PV system in Beijing by considering the experimental conditions, utilizing bifacial modules with a front-side efficiency of 21.23% and a bifaciality factor of 0.8, and analyzing the dynamic all-day albedo data obtained from the numerical module. The results indicate that the annual radiation on the rear side of bifacial PV modules is 278.90 kWh/m2, which accounts for only 15.50% of the front-side radiation. However, when using the commonly default albedo value of 0.2, the rear-side radiation is 333.01 kWh/m2, resulting in an overestimation of 19.40%. Under dynamic albedo conditions, the bifacial system is predicted to generate an annual power output of 412.55 kWh/m2, representing a significant increase of approximately 12.37% compared to an idealized monofacial PV system with equivalent front-side efficiency. Over a 25-year lifespan, the bifacial PV system is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 8393.91 kgCO2/m2, providing an additional reduction of 924.31 kgCO2/m2 compared to the idealized monofacial PV system. These findings offer valuable insights to promote the application of bifacial PV modules.

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Abbreviations

A :

total front-side surface area of the PV cells (m2)

BGE:

bifacial gain (%)

d :

degradation rate (%)

EFgrid :

carbon emission reduction factor (kgCO2/kWh)

E i :

power generated in the year i (kWh/m2)

EmPV,i :

carbon emission reduced in the year i (kgCO2/m2)

f :

ratio of rear side to front-side incident irradiance for the bifacial PV module

G h :

global horizontal irradiance (W/m2)

G h,dif :

diffuse horizontal irradiance (W/m2)

NOCT:

normal operating cell temperature (°C)

P :

output power (W)

STC:

standard test condition

T a :

ambient temperature (K)

β :

tilt angle of PV modules (°)

η :

efficiency (%)

θ z :

zenith angle (°)

θ β :

angle of incidence (°)

ρ :

ground albedo

ϕ :

bifaciality factor

bif:

bifacial module

ft:

front side of the bifacial module

mon:

monofacial module

rear:

rear side of the bifacial module

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Jiangsu provincial key research and development program, China [grant number BE2023821]; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant number 30923011037]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [grant number 51408278]; and the Jiangxi provincial key research and development program, China [grant number 20202BBEL53033].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

    Xiaoxiao Su, Chenglong Luo, Xinzhu Chen, Yanshun Yu & Yuandan Wu

  2. Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China

    Jie Ji

  3. Institute of Energy Research, Jiangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanchang, 330096, China

    Yuandan Wu & Wu Zou

Authors
  1. Xiaoxiao Su
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  2. Chenglong Luo
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  3. Xinzhu Chen
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  4. Jie Ji
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  5. Yanshun Yu
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  6. Yuandan Wu
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  7. Wu Zou
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Chenglong Luo, Xiaoxiao Su, Xinzhu Chen, Jie Ji, Yanshun Yu and Yuandan Wu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xiaoxiao Su and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chenglong Luo.

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This study does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Su, X., Luo, C., Chen, X. et al. Numerical modeling of all-day albedo variation for bifacial PV systems on rooftops and annual yield prediction in Beijing. Build. Simul. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-024-1120-y

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