A Comprehensive 4E Study on the Performance of Bifacial Solar Module Installed on Different Ground Surface Colors: An Experimental Study on a Specific Site

Abstract

Solar energy will be the most sought-after source for generating electricity shortly because of its availability in abundance and pollution-free nature. Bifacial photovoltaic (PV) technology increases the power output through the albedo effect. However, the major drawback of PV-based power is that the efficiency is very low at less than 25%. The study focuses on the impact of surface color to explore the possibilities of enhancing the efficiency of solar modules considering the different terrace surfaces available in the residential region. The proposed work is one such attempt where the study is mainly focused on the impact of the surface properties on the extraction of electricity from the solar module without adopting the active techniques. A detailed study on different colors like black, green, and white is carried out. The study observed that the white surface improves the albedo effect toward the rear surface of the module, thereby improving the energy production factor (EPF) and higher life cycle conversion efficiency (LCE). It is observed that there is a 4.8% increase in the average efficiency when using white as ground cover as compared to normal reference ground. The comparative study is also carried out for various lifetime periods (T) like 10, 15, and 20 years. Calculated the exergetic cost by considering operating periods like 15, 20, 25, and 30 years with 2%, 5%, and 10% interest rates, and it is observed that after 30 years of operation at a 2% interest rate, energetic cost reached its highest value.