Comparative Analysis Between Bifacial and Monofacial Solar Panels Using PV*SOL Software

Mitkovski, Mladen and Cingoski, Vlatko (2023) Comparative Analysis Between Bifacial and Monofacial Solar Panels Using PV*SOL Software. Balkan Journal of Applied Mathematics and Informatics (BJAMI), 6 (2). pp. 155-169. ISSN 2545-4803 (on line)

Text 2023 - 3 - BJAMI, Vol. VI, No. 2, pp. 155-166, BIFACIAL AND MONOFACIAL SOLAR PV.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB)

Abstract

Traditional solar panels commonly used in today’s solar power projects are monofacial, i.e., with solar cells only on one side of the panels. Recently, many solar panel producers have improved their panel designs by introducing the so-called bifacial solar panels which feature solar cells on both sides of the solar panel. Producers claim
that bifacial solar panels, regarding energy generation, typically overperform the traditional monofacial solar panels by about 5.5%, with additional investment costs between 10% and 25%, which strongly depends on the producer and the size of the project. In this paper, the authors made a simulation and comparative analysis between bifacial and monofacial solar panels using PV*SOL simulation software. The simulation was done on a solar power project with an installed capacity of 1 MW using exact solar insolation values for the exact geographical location. Typical bifacial and monofacial half-cell solar panels available at the local market were used for the analysis. For enhancing the analysis, two common placements of the panels were utilized, ground placement, and rooftop placement parallel with the roof at the same inclination (pitch) and orientation (azimuth). The obtained results using PV*SOL simulation software for both panels and both placements are presented with accompanying discussion. For ground placement, bifacial solar panels resulted in increased energy generation of
approximately 2.5%, while for rooftop placements the amount of the increased energy generation was negligible. Ground-placed bifacial solar panels have increased energy generation all year around, while rooftop bifacial solar panels provide larger energy generation only during summer months, from June to August. For the rest of the year the
energy generation difference, although in favor of bifacial over monofacial solar panels, was still negligible.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Natural sciences > Computer and information sciences Engineering and Technology > Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering Natural sciences > Physical sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Depositing User:	Vlatko Cingoski
Date Deposited:	14 Dec 2023 11:59
Last Modified:	14 Dec 2023 11:59
URI:	https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/32924

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