Performance Assessment of Bifacial and Monofacial PV Systems on Different Types of Soils in a Low-Latitude Site

This paper presents the performance assessment of bifacial and monofacial photovoltaic systems on different types of soils in a low-latitude site (light sand, white gravel, and dark gravel). The PV Solar Plant includes a bifacial PV system with a nominal power of 6.36 kWp and a monofacial PV system...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Lamas, Douglas, Arns Rampinelli, Giuilano, Nofuentes, Gustavo, Aguilera, Jorge, Sidrach de Cardona, Mariano, Elizeire Bremermann , Leonardo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Jaén
Repositorio:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
OAI Identifier:oai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/6755
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2025.122868
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148125005300
https://hdl.handle.net/10953/6755
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Solar Energy
Photovoltaic Systems
Bifacial Modules.
3322.05
Descripción
Sumario:This paper presents the performance assessment of bifacial and monofacial photovoltaic systems on different types of soils in a low-latitude site (light sand, white gravel, and dark gravel). The PV Solar Plant includes a bifacial PV system with a nominal power of 6.36 kWp and a monofacial PV system with a nominal power of 5.52 kWp. The PV Solar Plant is located at Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Araranguá/SC, in Southern Brazil. Performance analysis utilizes measured data obtained from the PV Solar Plant's monitoring platform and the meteorological station database of tthe National Institute of Meteorology (INMET). This study period covers from February 2023 to January 2024. Meteorological parameters such as global horizontal solar irradiation, in-plane irradiation, reference yield, and clearness index were determined using data from the INMET software tools such as RADIASOL, SAM, and Bifacial Radiance to calculate front and rear irradiation. Electrical measurements from the PV Solar Plant provided insights into PV array energy yield, final system yield, performance ratio, and bifacial gain of the photovoltaic systems. The results indicate that the bifacial PV system outperformed the monofacial PV system in terms of energy performance. Annual average bifacial gains on different types of soils were 8.42%, 5.92%, and 4.53% for light sand, white gravel, and dark gravel, respectively. The values of the annual average performance ratio were between 74.3% and 76.8%. The values of the average bifacial performance ratio values were between 72.2% and 73.7%. The values of final system yield of the monofacial PV systems were between 1187.12 and 1227.96 kWh/kW. The values of final system yield of the bifacial PV systems were between 1240.91 and 1300.70 kWh/kW. This study underscores the superior performance of bifacial photovoltaic systems and their sensitivity to soil albedo variations.