Estimation of Solar Irradiance on a Contoured Platform for Optimized Solar Power Generation

摘要

Now-a-days, applications of flexible solar photovoltaic technologies are emerging in the fields of portable applications (solar tent, solar canopy, solar aircraft etc.). Easy integration with any contoured surface and lightweight property makes flexible solar PV technology (Amorphous Silicon, thin-film Silicon, Dye sensitized solar cell) to be a potent solution for multipurpose conditions. However, contour surface produces variable tilt on the SPV modules which causes non-uniform illumination on the integrated SPV array. Further, this leads to significant loss in power generation which requires optimization. This article carries out a numerical study to investigate the effect of surface contour on the incident solar irradiance and a devise a methodology for solar PV array layout strategy to reduce the power loss due to non-uniform illumination.