Experimental performance comparison of different monofacial and bifacial PV modules in outdoor conditions
Industrial and commercial rooftops are a natural location for photovoltaic (PV) installations, but they often impose constraints on tilt, spacing and clearance that can penalise performance and limit the benefit of bifacial modules. This thesis presents an experimental comparison of four commercial...
| Autor: | |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | tesis de maestría |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:upcommonspor::dd6211e852a7d6c41a2db4f89d69fc92 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/461793 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Renewable energy sources Photovoltaic power generation Heat--Transmission Bifacial photovoltaics, Industrial rooftop installation, Efficiency and temperature effects, I-V measurements Energies renovables Energia solar fotovoltaica Calor--Transmissió Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Energia solar fotovoltaica |
| Sumario: | Industrial and commercial rooftops are a natural location for photovoltaic (PV) installations, but they often impose constraints on tilt, spacing and clearance that can penalise performance and limit the benefit of bifacial modules. This thesis presents an experimental comparison of four commercial PV technologies (Nova Duetto, Rhino, Sunpower Maxeon and Velvet Pro) installed on an industrial rooftop test bench and operated under realistic outdoor conditions. The study is based on three measurement campaigns carried out in 2025, in which different combinations of monofacial and bifacial modules were connected to a multi- channel I-V acquisition system. For each module, instantaneous conversion efficiency was computed from the measured maximum power point, place-of-array irradiance and back-surface temperature. The experimental data were then analysed using four complementary indicators: daily efficiency profiles as a function of local time, efficiency versus back-surface temperature, performance at the 20 hottest operating points, and direct comparisons between modules and the same hardware with the rear side temporarily covered. The results show that the monofacial Rhino modules provide a consistent reference baseline and, under the tested rooftop conditions, achieve higher efficiency than the SunPower Maxson. Nova modules exhibit a moderate but systematic gain when operated in bifacial mode, with the bifacial configuration delivering higher efficiency than the covered Nova under identical conditions. The Velvet Pro bifacial module demonstrates consistently the highest efficiency across the investigated temperature range, preserves a significant advantage under the hottest operating points, and exhibits a bifacial gain of the order of 1.5-2 percentage compared with its covered configuration. Overall, the experiments indicate that, for the rooftop configuration examined in this work, bifacial Velvet modules offer the best combined performance in terms of baseline efficiency, temperature behaviour and bifacial benefit, and therefore appear as a particularly suitable option for thermally demanding industrial rooftops. |
|---|