Investigating the Impact of Ground Albedo on the Performance of PV Systems

Kotak, Yash; Gul, M S; Muneer, Tariq; Ivanova, S M

Abstract

Several factors influence the energy generation of Photovoltaic (PV) installations. A ground albedo value of 0.2 is widely accepted and is used in modelling of PV systems. Foreground surfaces may have different albedo and hence a constant albedo value is unsuitable. This paper analysed a real PV facade of a university building. The results show, that in the present case, using a constant albedo value may underestimate the incident ground reflected radiation by 31%. A discussion is also provided on applying white cool paint on foreground surfaces to further increase the receipt of reflected-radiation on PV modules

Citation

Kotak, Y., Gul, M. S., Muneer, T., & Ivanova, S. M. (2015, April). Investigating the Impact of Ground Albedo on the Performance of PV Systems. Presented at CIBSE Technical Symposium

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: CIBSE Technical Symposium
• Start Date: Apr 16, 2015
• End Date: Apr 17, 2015
• Publication Date: 2015
• Deposit Date: Jan 14, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 14, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: PV facades; Ground albedo; Ground reflectance; radiation exchange
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9431
• Contract Date: Jan 14, 2016