Standard Test Conditions (STC) provide a universal laboratory reference for photovoltaic (PV) module characterization; however, they do not represent the wide range of environmental conditions experienced in real operation. To complement this framework, this work derives Real Testing Conditions (RTC) based on long-term, high-resolution meteorological datasets.The proposed methodology is applied to four geographically and climatically diverse sites, i.e., Singapore, Australia, Germany, and China, within the TruePower™ Alliance program, where multiple PV technologies are deployed alongside comprehensive weather monitoring. RTC parameters are derived using a plane-of-array (POA) irradiance-weighted methodology applied to irradiance, temperature, and spectral distributions, ensuring that all operational time steps contribute to the representative conditions.The results show noticeable differences between STC and site-specific RTC values, indicating that fixed laboratory conditions may not fully represent climate-dependent operating environments. Using the derived RTC framework, the theoretical energy production of different semiconductor technologies is evaluated. The comparative analysis indicates that the optimal PV technology for maximizing annual energy yield depends on local climatic conditions, with GaAs-based devices achieving the highest performance among the technologies considered, followed by crystalline silicon.The proposed RTC framework provides a climate-aware reference condition that complements STC and enables improved first-order benchmarking of PV technologies under realistic environmental conditions.

The current energy crisis in Europe demands more renewable energy installation. Looking into the photovoltaic (PV) installations in Germany and The Netherlands, rooftop installations dominate about the share of 45% and 80% of the installations in these countries, respectively. However, rooftops have elements, such as chimneys and antennas, which can cast shadows leading to a drastic energy loss. Typical PV modules have three bypass diodes per module protecting the strings. In extreme cases, only 5% shading of the module area can lead to a total shutdown of the PV module by triggering the bypass diodes. Therefore, AESOLAR has developed a shade-resistant and hot-spot-free PV module to address this challenge and maximize the energy yield in a limited area. The PV module has integrated bypass diodes for each solar cell, showing up to 45% more energy yield than a similar standard module under partial shading conditions. In this work, we analyze and compare the indoor characterization and the outdoor energy yield of the shade-resistant and standard PV modules of AESOLAR that are made from a similar bill of materials under partial shading conditions. The results show a significant advantage in yield production compared to the standard module.

Anhalt University of Applied Sciences is striving to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. This objective will be attained by primarily decreasing CO2 emissions through the utilization of renewable energy sources, promoting eco-friendly transportation, and cultivating a verdant campus that fosters biodiversity. The University's sustainability plan emphasizes an interdisciplinary methodology that effectively combines various actions to realize this ambitious aim. However, this paper centers its attention on a crucial aspect: the examination of energy consumption, production, and technical viability. We will evaluate the real energy usage over the past six years, encompassing a sizeable rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system as well as an agrivoltaic system. This unique system combines agriculture, energy generation, and biodiversity measures, referred to Anhalt's AgriPVplus approach. Additionally, the paper will present an intricate technical analysis of distinct PV systems alternatives, including energy storage, across various locations on the campus. Various factors like orientation, technology, and design will be considered, with a focus on the economic viability of the PV systems and the restrictions imposed by the existing infrastructure. This will provide inputs for a roadmap to expand and integrate PV systems, accounting to the Campus's demand. The University faces limitations when it comes to injecting surplus energy into the grid. Consequently, a maximum threshold for increasing PV nominal power has been determined, considering the curtailed energy, which stands at approximately 600 kWp.

Driven by the urge to expand renewable energy generation and mitigate the intensifying extreme climatic events effects on crops, development of agrivoltaics is currently accelerating. However, harmonious deployment requires to assess both photovoltaic and crop yields to ensure simultaneous compliance with energetic and agricultural objectives of stakeholders within evolving local legal contexts. Based on the community’s priority modelling needs, this paper presents the Python Agrivoltaic Simulation Environment (PASE), an MIT-licensed framework developed in partnership to assess the land productivity of agrivoltaic systems. The various expected benefits of this development are outlined, along with the open-source business model established with partners and the subsequent developments stemming from it. Examples illustrate how PASE effectively fulfils two primary requirements encountered by agrivoltaics stakeholders: predict irradiation on relevant surfaces and estimate agricultural and energy yields. In a dedicated experiment, PASE light model assumptions resulted in 1

The pressing need to decarbonize electricity generation has spurred the imperative integration of renewable energy sources. Among these, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has emerged as a highly viable alternative. However, the limited flexibility in energy distribution to the grid presents a hurdle for increasing the share of photovoltaic energy in the power matrix. Consequently, developing inventive and adaptable ways to include PV in the grid becomes pivotal in expediting the transition toward a low-carbon power generation model. Notably, Chile plays a significant role in advancing solar energy integration. Nevertheless, curtailments have been increased in the final years, with diminished PV energy production. To tackle this challenge, the vertical bifacial photovoltaic (VBPV) configuration emerges as a groundbreaking approach. Its ability to stagger generation peaks across two distinct time-frames throughout the day introduces enhanced grid integration flexibility. This study presents a computational analysis of the potential of VBPV layouts within the Chilean context alongside an exploration of the associated opportunities and obstacles.

This paper presents a cross-sector analysis of a 100 kWp vertical agrivoltaic (AV) case study in Chanco, Maule, Chile. Maule is an agricultural region facing recurring droughts, which put pressure on irrigated lands. The study investigates the potential of vertical AV in two ways: comparing the energy yield prediction of the photovoltaic component with a typical north-tilted PV plant and comparing the water demand of a reference crop in vertical AV with open field conditions. A PVLib and PVFactors python tools were used to evaluate energy production, while spatial evapotranspiration prediction incorporates wind speed and solar irradiation heterogeneities. Results for the climatic year 2021 indicate that a north-tilted power plant produced more energy than a bi-facial vertical AV plant, but the latter represents a significantly less impact on agricultural activities. The analyzed vertical AV presents a lower impact to the grid due to the two peaks in daily power production that spread the generation over the day and does not contribute to the overproduction in the midday that is currently being curtailed when high solar irradiance is present in Chile. Water savings of up to 1410 m3/ha were found in the study with the vertical AV installation mainly due to the reduced irradiation combined with windbreak effects.

This paper gives an understanding of measurement uncertainty sources of LED sun simulators beyond uncertainty calculation for pulsed Xenon lamp systems. Technology-specific uncertainty sources will be identified, and an uncertainty budget calculation of a single-side and a double-side LED solar simulator will be presented. Results show significant differences between the two light sources. The expanded uncertainty (k=2) for power measurements at 1000 W/m 2 (front) and 200 W/m 2 (rear) is ±8.4%. Due to the 648 individual powered LED channels of each light source, the spectral distribution, the spatial non-uniformity, and the light stability during the I-V sweep are some of the main contributors to the expanded uncertainty.

Como o conhecimento sobre o comportamento de sistemas e tecnologias FV em diferentes ambientes e zonas climáticas é atualmente limitado, a necessidade de obter dados de alta qualidade em diferentes regiões do mundo é uma questão que merece atenção. Por esta razão, foi fundado o chamado “PhotoVoltaic Collaborative to Advance Multiclimate Energy Research”, ou PV CAMPER. Este trabalho visa descrever este consórcio recém-formado de instituições de pesquisa dedicadas à construção de uma plataforma técnica e um repositório de dados meteorológicos e de desempenho FV globais de alta fidelidade para apoiar a transição do mundo para um futuro intensivo em energia solar. A organização possui onze membros com 16 locais de teste ao ar livre nas principais zonas climáticas do mundo. O plano de trabalho do grupo inclui a modelagem de desempenho, a avaliação da confiabilidade e as predições de produção de energia de sistemas FV em diferentes condições meteorológicas. Este trabalho apresenta além dos objetivos da organização, os requisitos de associação, a abordagem técnica aplicada e as contribuições do consórcio para a comunidade FV.

The rear side of bifacial silicon solar cells can suffer potential induced degradation (PID) when subject to high voltage stress. The PID of the polarization type (PID-p) has its largest impact on the rear side short circuit current and is attributed to loss of surface passivation. In this study, PID tests at bifacial silicon solar cells reveal fast transient changes of rear side short circuit current within minutes when subject to voltage stress at the rear. The short circuit current measured under rear side illumination first decreases significantly and increases subsequently reaching almost the level of the initial state. This effect can be explained by field-induced band banding near the rear surface.

Este trabalho visa sumarizar os primeiros resultados obtidos de estudos da colaborativa internacional PV CAMPER (Photovoltaic Collaborative to Advance Multi-Climate Performance and Energy Research). O grupo foi estabelecido em 2018 e é hoje uma organização formalmente reconhecida, com onze instituições participantes e uma rede de 16 locais de estudo distribuídos em ambos os hemisférios e na maioria das principais zonas climáticas. Em um contexto de crescimento sem precedentes da capacidade instalada de energia solar fotovoltaica (FV) - que em anos recentes passou a abranger mercados antes não muito explorados pela tecnologia - e mudanças climáticas - que trazem condições cada vez mais extremas de operação para os sistemas FV -, a colaborativa visa a avaliação de diversos aspectos de durabilidade e desempenho de módulos FV em regiões climáticas diversas, visando um melhor entendimento das perdas e degradação da tecnologia em condições adversas pouco exploradas ou conhecidas pelo setor. Dentre as frentes de estudo do PV CAMPER estão a avaliação multiclimática de impactos na geração FV e incertezas na determinação do albedo, de taxas de sujidade, de perdas por temperatura, da ocorrência de eventos de sobreirradiância, e da deriva de piranômetros na medição de irradiância. O objetivo deste trabalho é descrever os principais estudos em desenvolvimento dentro do PV CAMPER, bem como apresentar resultados preliminares da cooperação.

Albedo, or the ground reflectance irradiance, is one of the crucial variables in the energy estimation for bifacial photovoltaic modules due to the modules' ability to collect electricity from both front and rear sides. There are several modeling tools for the energy estimation of these modules. Our paper reports on the comparison of on two available energy estimation models with view factor and ray tracing and compares the estimated data with actual measured values. For a one-year data gathered at the Anhalt Photovoltaic Performance and Lifetime Laboratory (APOLLO) in Bernburg, Germany, the view factor model-based algorithm for a bifacial module is more accurate when predicting PV energy yield. Furthermore, an albedo sensitivity analysis concludes that the tested Ray-tracing algorithm overestimates bifacial PV energy for large albedo values. However, the tested modeling methods follow the measured data trend with a deviation between −8 % to 6 %.

The objective of the Photovoltaic Collaborative to Advance Multi-climate and Performance Research (PVCAMPER) is to: 1) Build and maintain a multi-climate research platform to enable pioneering photovoltaic research; 2) Validate the performance of emerging technologies in specific climates; 3) Help accelerate the world’s transition to a solar-intensive economy. Our focus in achieving those goals is to foster collaborative research and to build an international organization dedicated to improving data quality, minimizing measurement uncertainty and exchanging best practices related to PV performance.

All industries have sometimes quality issues with their products, and photovoltaics (PV) are no different. A major difference is that problems with the operation of photovoltaic systems are often treated confidentially and, unlike other industries, no general recalls are issued as they are common in automotive or telecommunication industry. This does, however, not mean that no issues exist. The PV industry is unfortunately still at a stage where quality assurance is often seen as an avoidable cost. There are three problems discussed which could have avoided problems (1) Equating IEC certification with quality control, (2) No relevant component tests, (3) Cost driven supply chain management. In here we present a generalized Quality Assurance (QA) scheme as a feasible approach for the PV industry and brought into context to more developed industries. Most examples will be for PV modules within this contribution but are not limited to those. However, the quality assurance must consider the final product, in the case this must always refer to the PV system at a particular location as a whole not just individual parts or design stages.

This paper presents the methodology and preliminary results from a global study on solar over-irradiance events, which are more frequent than previously believed and can negatively impact utility-scale PV operations. Data from five test sites in Florianópolis and Brotas de Macaúbas in Brazil, Bernburg in Germany, Albuquerque, in the USA and Loughborough, in the United Kingdom are presented and analyzed.

Within the EURAMET ENG55 "PhotoClass" project, several characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) devices beyond their performance at Standard Test Conditions were investigated, including measurements at varying irradiance and temperature. Four groups of PV devices of different size and technology were prepared and corresponding round-robins were run between partner laboratories with substantially different facilities and methods - namely based on spectral or integral measurements. This paper presents the outcome of the four inter-laboratory comparisons dealing with temperature coefficient measurements of the short-circuit current of PV devices, from reference-cell size to full-size commercial modules of mainly several c-Si technologies, but also with some examples of CIGS and GaAs devices. The measurement results are compared via E-n number assessment, hence including measurement uncertainties. The main outcome of this measurement exercise is a very good agreement of all the laboratories although completely different approaches were applied. In some cases, laboratory measurement uncertainties are even considered rather conservative and could therefore be revised. Furthermore, a comparison between bare cells and commercial modules of the same technology is made, which may represent useful information for PV manufacturers.

This work presents the results of a high-efficiency (HE) photovoltaic (PV) module round-robin intercomparison between five Asian and European ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratories and one industrial laboratory based in Europe. The scope of the round-robin was to examine the measurements comparability for this PV technology with respect to ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory conformity assessment and also to examine the accuracy of step-like methods towards transient errors against already validated methods. The devices under test were four types of HE c-Si PV modules with efficiencies varying between 16.5% and 19.0%. The results indicate that a satisfactory agreement was achieved with maximum deviations of 1.59% in P-max, 1.13% in I-sc, and 0.64% in V-oc for all devices under test. The weighted standard deviations in P-max per device type, which can be seen as a conservative estimate of interlaboratory agreement for HE c-Si PV, ranged within 0.82% to 2.23% (k = 2). The accuracy of step-like methods towards transient errors was evaluated by comparing a second series of results at fixed I-sc for each module under test, eliminating the influence of the effective irradiance measurement. This work suggests that the contribution of capacitive errors was in the range (0.47 +/- 0.19) % (k = 2). A spectral mismatch sensitivity analysis showed that an accurate measurement of the spectral irradiance and of the involved spectral responsivities together with the punctual correction for the spectral mismatch can reduce the error in the measurement of PV modules performance of about 2% even in the case of c-Si against c-Si and class AAA solar simulators.

The bifacial gains, defined as the ratio of bifacial photovoltaic power production to monofacial photovoltaic power production, were evaluated for 1.8kW bifacial PV system with the different ground conditions and front irradiance. Among three different ground conditions, i.e., gravel, white non-woven fabric and artificial grass, the white non-woven fabric ground demonstrated the best albedo of 0.21 and bifacial gain of 14.5%. Also, it was confirmed higher front irradiance leads to lower bifacial gain.