Solar photovoltaic tree multi aspects analysis − a review

Abstract

The generation of photovoltaic solar energy worldwide has increased significantly in recent years. This is mainly due to the growing demand of society for electricity, the need to reduce environmental impacts, and costs of such technology. The installation of a photovoltaic system with horizontally fixed panels requires a significant unshaded area, which has become increasingly scarce, especially in urban centers. The photovoltaic solar tree is a strategy used to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic systems by reducing the occupied area and optimizing the orientation angles of the panels. The originality of this work was that, through a literature review in different researches, seven relevant parameters related to solar photovoltaic trees were analyzed: (i) modeling and simulation, (ii) tree topology, (iii) orientation of the panels, (iv) constructive characteristics, (v) solar tracking, (vi) occupied area and (vii) site multiple uses. It was found that the photovoltaic solar tree is an interesting alternative to generate renewable energy for places without large enough areas, which can be used for other purposes, such as crop production and parking. Finally, it was concluded that, to date, there are no studies available in the literature on the optimization of photovoltaic generation per area for different topologies of known solar trees.