Sensitivity analysis of design parameters and power gain correlations of bi-facial solar PV system using response surface methodology

Abstract Sensitivity analysis of design parameters and power gain correlations of bi-facial solar PV system is presented in this paper. The main objectives are to study the effects of albedo, tilt angle and height from the ground on the performance of the system; determine the optimum operating conditions; and the development of new correlations for the annual energy yield and bifacial gain of bPV solar system. Three primarily significant installation parameters, albedo [10%, 50%, 90%], tilt angle [15°, 25°, 35°] and height [0.5 m, 1 m, 1.5 m] are investigated with PVSYST for bifacial and mono-facial PV modules. The response surface methodology (RSM) based optimization method is used to determine the optimum conditions and the interaction of these three parameters on the performance of bPV solar system. New quadratic equations or correlations are introduced to estimate the annual energy yield and bifacial gain of bPV. The results show that the albedo is the most significant parameter between tilt angle and height. The increase in albedo factor and height of bPV modules from ground increase the energy yield. In this study, the optimum tilt angle of bPV is found to be 35°for higher albedo and elevation of bPV from the ground as compared to 25° of mPV. An average daily bifacial gain of 35.68% can be achieved in clear sunny day with 90% albedo, tilt angle of 35° and at height of 1.5 m. The maximum specific productions of 192.4 kWh/kWp and 160.6 kWh/kWp are observed in May for bPV and mPV, respectively while the maximum bifacial gain of 21.93% is found in July.