IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v370y2024ics0306261924009747.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Space optimization of utility-scale photovoltaic power plants considering the impact of inter-row shading

Author

Listed:
  • Ma, Chao
  • Deng, Zexing
  • Xu, Ximeng
  • Pang, Xiulan
  • Li, Xiaofeng
  • Wu, Runze
  • Tian, Zhuojun

Abstract

The tilt angle and row spacing are crucial parameters in the planning and design of Photovoltaic (PV) power plants. This study, aiming to minimize the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) per unit land area, optimized the tilt angle and row spacing for fixed monofacial and bifacial PV arrays. To accurately reflect the effect of tilt angle and row spacing on the objective, algebraic expressions for calculating the front and rear sides irradiance of PV arrays considering tilt angle, row spacing, and shading effect in multi-row scenarios have been established. Based on the voltage-power (UP) characteristics of the PV array under local shading, a simple calculation method for the output power of the PV array was established under Inter-Row Shading (IRS) considering electrical characteristic. Multiple scenarios were established based on practical application conditions, and the Nelder-Mead optimization algorithm was employed to find solutions. The results demonstrate that the optimized LCOE is not only 0.75%–3.06% lower than that of the winter solstice rule (Standard rule) but the electricity generation per unit land area is also increased by 22.16% ∼ 50.79%. Additionally, this study provides a detailed analysis of various factors influencing the selection of tilt angle and row spacing for PV arrays. And comparing the differences and similarities in the impact of these factors on monofacial and bifacial PV modules. These contributions aim to provide a more comprehensive understanding and practical approach to optimizing the spatial arrangement of PV arrays, addressing key challenges in the field.

Suggested Citation

  • Ma, Chao & Deng, Zexing & Xu, Ximeng & Pang, Xiulan & Li, Xiaofeng & Wu, Runze & Tian, Zhuojun, 2024. "Space optimization of utility-scale photovoltaic power plants considering the impact of inter-row shading," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 370(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:370:y:2024:i:c:s0306261924009747
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123591
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261924009747
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123591?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Copper, J.K. & Sproul, A.B. & Bruce, A.G., 2016. "A method to calculate array spacing and potential system size of photovoltaic arrays in the urban environment using vector analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 11-23.
    2. Ma, Chao & Xu, Ximeng & Pang, Xiulan & Li, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Pengfei & Liu, Lu, 2024. "Scenario-based ultra-short-term rolling optimal operation of a photovoltaic-energy storage system under forecast uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    3. Sun, Xingshu & Khan, Mohammad Ryyan & Deline, Chris & Alam, Muhammad Ashraful, 2018. "Optimization and performance of bifacial solar modules: A global perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1601-1610.
    4. Barbón, A. & Carreira-Fontao, V. & Bayón, L. & Silva, C.A., 2023. "Optimal design and cost analysis of single-axis tracking photovoltaic power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 626-646.
    5. Patel, M. Tahir & Khan, M. Ryyan & Sun, Xingshu & Alam, Muhammad A., 2019. "A worldwide cost-based design and optimization of tilted bifacial solar farms," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 467-479.
    6. Song, Chenchen & Guo, Zhiling & Liu, Zhengguang & Hongyun, Zhang & Liu, Ran & Zhang, Haoran, 2024. "Application of photovoltaics on different types of land in China: Opportunities, status and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    7. Alharbi, Abdulaziz & Awwad, Zeyad & Habib, Abdulelah & de Weck, Olivier, 2023. "Economical sizing and multi-azimuth layout optimization of grid-connected rooftop photovoltaic systems using Mixed-Integer Programming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    8. Gregor Semieniuk & Lance Taylor & Armon Rezai & Duncan K. Foley, 2021. "Plausible energy demand patterns in a growing global economy with climate policy," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(4), pages 313-318, April.
    9. Barbón, A. & Bayón-Cueli, C. & Bayón, L. & Carreira-Fontao, V., 2022. "A methodology for an optimal design of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    10. Khan, M. Ryyan & Hanna, Amir & Sun, Xingshu & Alam, Muhammad A., 2017. "Vertical bifacial solar farms: Physics, design, and global optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 240-248.
    11. Rehman, Naveed ur & Uzair, Muhammad, 2020. "Optimizing the inclined field for solar photovoltaic arrays," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 280-289.
    12. Appelbaum, J., 2018. "The role of view factors in solar photovoltaic fields," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 161-171.
    13. Appelbaum, Joseph & Aronescu, Avi, 2022. "Inter-row spacing calculation in photovoltaic fields - A new approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 387-394.
    14. Xue, Zhenqian & Ma, Haoming & Wei, Yizheng & Wu, Wei & Sun, Zhe & Chai, Maojie & Zhang, Chi & Chen, Zhangxin, 2024. "Integrated technological and economic feasibility comparisons of enhanced geothermal systems associated with carbon storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    15. Rehman, Naveed ur & Uzair, Muhammad & Allauddin, Usman, 2020. "An optical-energy model for optimizing the geometrical layout of solar photovoltaic arrays in a constrained field," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 55-65.
    16. Sun, Bo & Lu, Lin & Yuan, Yanping & Ocłoń, Paweł, 2023. "Development and validation of a concise and anisotropic irradiance model for bifacial photovoltaic modules," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 442-452.
    17. Seleshi G. Yalew & Michelle T. H. van Vliet & David E. H. J. Gernaat & Fulco Ludwig & Ariel Miara & Chan Park & Edward Byers & Enrica De Cian & Franziska Piontek & Gokul Iyer & Ioanna Mouratiadou & Ja, 2020. "Impacts of climate change on energy systems in global and regional scenarios," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(10), pages 794-802, October.
    18. Kornelakis, Aris & Marinakis, Yannis, 2010. "Contribution for optimal sizing of grid-connected PV-systems using PSO," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1333-1341.
    19. Zhang, Pengfei & Ma, Chao & Lian, Jijian & Li, Peiyao & Liu, Lu, 2024. "Medium- and long-term operation optimization of the LCHES-WP hybrid power system considering the settlement rules of the electricity trading market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    20. d'Alessandro, Vincenzo & Di Napoli, Fabio & Guerriero, Pierluigi & Daliento, Santolo, 2015. "An automated high-granularity tool for a fast evaluation of the yield of PV plants accounting for shading effects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 294-304.
    21. de Jesus dos Santos Rodrigues, Marinaldo & Torres, Pedro Ferreira & Barros Galhardo, Marcos André & Chase, Otavio Andre & Monteiro, Weslley Leão & de Arimatéia Alves Vieira Filho, José & Mares, Fabríc, 2021. "A new methodology for the assessing of power losses in partially shaded SPV arrays," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    22. Caputo, Antonio C. & Federici, Alessandro & Pelagagge, Pacifico M. & Salini, Paolo, 2023. "Offshore wind power system economic evaluation framework under aleatory and epistemic uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rodrigo, Pedro M. & Mouhib, Elmehdi & Fernandez, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, Florencia & Rosas-Caro, Julio C., 2024. "Comprehensive ground coverage analysis of large-scale fixed-tilt bifacial photovoltaic plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. Zhong, Jianmei & Zhang, Wei & Xie, Lingzhi & Zhao, Oufan & Wu, Xin & Zeng, Xiding & Guo, Jiahong, 2023. "Development and challenges of bifacial photovoltaic technology and application in buildings: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    3. Johnson, Joji & Manikandan, S., 2023. "Experimental study and model development of bifacial photovoltaic power plants for Indian climatic zones," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    4. Tao, Yunkun & Bai, Jianbo & Pachauri, Rupendra Kumar & Wang, Yue & Li, Jian & Attaher, Harouna Kerzika, 2021. "Parameterizing mismatch loss in bifacial photovoltaic modules with global deployment: A comprehensive study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    5. Jouttijärvi, Sami & Lobaccaro, Gabriele & Kamppinen, Aleksi & Miettunen, Kati, 2022. "Benefits of bifacial solar cells combined with low voltage power grids at high latitudes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    6. Patel, M. Tahir & Asadpour, Reza & Bin Jahangir, Jabir & Ryyan Khan, M. & Alam, Muhammad A., 2023. "Current-matching erases the anticipated performance gain of next-generation two-terminal Perovskite-Si tandem solar farms," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    7. Patel, M. Tahir & Ahmed, M. Sojib & Imran, Hassan & Butt, Nauman Z. & Khan, M. Ryyan & Alam, Muhammad A., 2021. "Global analysis of next-generation utility-scale PV: Tracking bifacial solar farms," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    8. Juhee Jang & Kyungsoo Lee, 2020. "Practical Performance Analysis of a Bifacial PV Module and System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Polo, Jesús & Alonso-Abella, Miguel & Marcos, Ana & Sanz-Saiz, Carlos & Martín-Chivelet, Nuria, 2024. "On the use of reference modules in characterizing the performance of bifacial modules for rooftop canopy applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    10. Khan, M. Ryyan & Sakr, Enas & Sun, Xingshu & Bermel, Peter & Alam, Muhammad A., 2019. "Ground sculpting to enhance energy yield of vertical bifacial solar farms," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 592-598.
    11. Gu, Wenbo & Ma, Tao & Li, Meng & Shen, Lu & Zhang, Yijie, 2020. "A coupled optical-electrical-thermal model of the bifacial photovoltaic module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    12. Rahimat O. Yakubu & Maame T. Ankoh & Lena D. Mensah & David A. Quansah & Muyiwa S. Adaramola, 2022. "Predicting the Potential Energy Yield of Bifacial Solar PV Systems in Low-Latitude Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    13. Patel, M. Tahir & Vijayan, Ramachandran A. & Asadpour, Reza & Varadharajaperumal, M. & Khan, M. Ryyan & Alam, Muhammad A., 2020. "Temperature-dependent energy gain of bifacial PV farms: A global perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    14. Sojib Ahmed, M. & Rezwan Khan, M. & Haque, Anisul & Ryyan Khan, M., 2022. "Agrivoltaics analysis in a techno-economic framework: Understanding why agrivoltaics on rice will always be profitable," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    15. Barbón, A. & Fortuny Ayuso, P. & Bayón, L. & Silva, C.A., 2023. "Experimental and numerical investigation of the influence of terrain slope on the performance of single-axis trackers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    16. Zhang, Wei & Zhao, Oufan & Xie, Lingzhi & Li, Zihao & Wu, Xin & Zhong, Jianmei & Zeng, Xiding & Zou, Ruiwen, 2023. "Factors influence analysis and life cycle assessment of innovative bifacial photovoltaic applied on building facade," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    17. Preeti Kumari Sahu & J. N. Roy & Chandan Chakraborty & Senthilarasu Sundaram, 2021. "A New Model for Estimation of Energy Extraction from Bifacial Photovoltaic Modules," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    18. Ganesan, K. & Winston, D. Prince & Sugumar, S. & Prasath, T. Hari, 2024. "Performance investigation of n-type PERT bifacial solar photovoltaic module installed at different elevations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    19. Shitao Wang & Yi Shen & Junbing Zhou & Caixia Li & Lijun Ma, 2022. "Efficiency Enhancement of Tilted Bifacial Photovoltaic Modules with Horizontal Single-Axis Tracker—The Bifacial Companion Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    20. Arkadiusz Dobrzycki & Dariusz Kurz & Ewa Maćkowiak, 2021. "Influence of Selected Working Conditions on Electricity Generation in Bifacial Photovoltaic Modules in Polish Climatic Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-24, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:370:y:2024:i:c:s0306261924009747. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.