TY - JOUR
T1 - 2D simulation and performance evaluation of bifacial rear local contact c-Si solar cells under variable illumination conditions
AU - Katsaounis, Theodoros
AU - Kotsovos, Konstantinos
AU - Gereige, Issam
AU - Alsaggaf, Ahmed
AU - Tzavaras, Athanasios
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2019-02-13
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank prof. G. L. Stenchikov of KAUST for helpful discussions regarding measurements of turbidity values and providing those data used in this work, KAUST Economic development for their support in accessing solar radiation values for the local site and Saudi Aramco R&D Center, Carbon Management Division for their support in developing this work. We would like also to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
PY - 2017/9/18
Y1 - 2017/9/18
N2 - A customized 2D computational tool has been developed to simulate bifacial rear local contact PERC type PV structures based on the numerical solution of the transport equations through the finite element method. Simulations were performed under various device material parameters and back contact geometry configurations in order to optimize bifacial solar cell performance under different simulated illumination conditions. Bifacial device maximum power output was also compared with the monofacial equivalent one and the industrial standard Al-BSF structure. The performance of the bifacial structure during highly diffused irradiance conditions commonly observed in the Middle East region due to high concentrations of airborne dust particles was also investigated. Simulation results demonstrated that such conditions are highly favorable for the bifacial device because of the significantly increased diffuse component of the solar radiation which enters the back cell surface.
AB - A customized 2D computational tool has been developed to simulate bifacial rear local contact PERC type PV structures based on the numerical solution of the transport equations through the finite element method. Simulations were performed under various device material parameters and back contact geometry configurations in order to optimize bifacial solar cell performance under different simulated illumination conditions. Bifacial device maximum power output was also compared with the monofacial equivalent one and the industrial standard Al-BSF structure. The performance of the bifacial structure during highly diffused irradiance conditions commonly observed in the Middle East region due to high concentrations of airborne dust particles was also investigated. Simulation results demonstrated that such conditions are highly favorable for the bifacial device because of the significantly increased diffuse component of the solar radiation which enters the back cell surface.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/625470
UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X17307958
U2 - 10.1016/j.solener.2017.09.023
DO - 10.1016/j.solener.2017.09.023
M3 - Article
SN - 0038-092X
VL - 158
SP - 34
EP - 34
JO - Solar Energy
JF - Solar Energy
ER -
