Abstract
SummaryThe efficiency of photovoltaic modules in the field is generally lower than the efficiency under standard testing conditions due to temperature and spectral effects. Using the latest spectral dataset available from the National Solar Radiation Database, we report spectral correction factors ranging from -2% to 1.3% of the produced energy for silicon modules depending on location and collector geometry. We find that spectral effects favor trackers if silicon modules are used, but favor a fixed tilt instead if perovskites or CdTe are used. In high-irradiance locations, the energy yield advantage of silicon-based trackers is underestimated by 0.4% if spectral sensitivity effects are neglected. As the photovoltaic market grows to a multi-terawatt size, these seemingly small effects are expected to have an economic impact equivalent to tens of billions of dollars in the next few decades, far outweighting the cost of the required research effort.
Highlights
Due to the rapid cost reduction of photovoltaics (PV), recent forecasts are predicting that several tens of terawatts of PV capacity will be deployed before 2050 (Haegel et al, 2019)
SUMMARY The efficiency of photovoltaic modules in the field is generally lower than the efficiency under standard testing conditions due to temperature and spectral effects
Using the latest spectral dataset available from the National Solar Radiation Database, we report spectral correction factors ranging from -2% to 1.3% of the produced energy for silicon modules depending on location and collector geometry
Summary
Due to the rapid cost reduction of photovoltaics (PV), recent forecasts are predicting that several tens of terawatts of PV capacity will be deployed before 2050 (Haegel et al, 2019). Changes in the spectral irradiance are mostly driven by the position of the sun and atmospheric conditions (Kurtz et al, 1991; Chan et al, 2014; Ripalda et al, 2018; Vossier et al, 2017; Garcia et al, 2018; Dirnberger et al, 2015; Fernandez et al, 2014; Huld, 2017; Kinsey, 2015; Huld and Gracia-Amillo, 2015; Lindsay et al, 2020; Peters et al, 2018; Warmann and Atwater, 2019), and by the orientation of solar panels as defined by the plane of array (POA) Accounting for these effects requires detailed radiative transfer models including multiple reflection, scattering, and absorption events in the atmosphere including both cloudy and clear-sky conditions (Xie and Sengupta, 2018; Xie et al, 2019b). We provide spectral correction factors, for each location and PV technology, that can be used to improve the accuracy of conventional energy production forecasts
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