IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v186y2022icp469-485.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards a standard approach for annual energy production of concentrator-based building-integrated photovoltaics

Author

Listed:
  • Smith, Duncan E.
  • Hughes, Michael D.
  • Borca-Tasciuc, Diana-Andra

Abstract

A form of building-integrated photovoltaics, luminescent solar concentrators are devices used to enhance solar cell output per unit area through red-shifted, concentrated internal reflection of sunlight. Luminescent solar concentrators have shown promise, but they have yet to achieve commercial success. At present, it is prohibitively difficult for architects and solar engineers to assess their annual energy production and subsequently conceptualize their economic potential. To bridge this gap, this paper provides an approach for annual performance evaluation of luminescent solar concentrators that parallels conventional processes used internationally for existing photovoltaic projects and solar development proposals. The approach starts by following conventional processes to evaluate the plane-of-array irradiance. Then, two metrics are introduced to evaluate the effective irradiance incident on solar cells within an LSC: 1) LSC optical efficiency is employed to determine the proportion of light reaching solar cells relative to the exposed surface; 2) LSC spectral mismatch factor is defined to represent the impact of spectral differences due to absorption and luminescent emission within an LSC. These metrics have never been employed in such a context before. With their addition, the process to produce LSC energy estimates becomes analogous to the conventional process to produce estimates for solar panels. The proposed approach is first validated against the commercial software, PVsyst. Then, case studies in Albany, NY and Phoenix, AZ are conducted to present energy estimates (at the maximum power point) for solar panels, and both planar and wedge-shaped luminescent solar concentrators when mounted vertically on a southern facing surface.

Suggested Citation

  • Smith, Duncan E. & Hughes, Michael D. & Borca-Tasciuc, Diana-Andra, 2022. "Towards a standard approach for annual energy production of concentrator-based building-integrated photovoltaics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 469-485.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:186:y:2022:i:c:p:469-485
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.12.147
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148121018759
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2021.12.147?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. Badescu, V., 2002. "3D isotropic approximation for solar diffuse irradiance on tilted surfaces," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 221-233.
    2. Hughes, Michael D. & Smith, Duncan E. & Borca-Tasciuc, Diana-Andra, 2020. "Performance of wedge-shaped luminescent solar concentrators employing phosphor films and annual energy estimation case studies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 513-525.
    3. Riyad Mubarak & Martin Hofmann & Stefan Riechelmann & Gunther Seckmeyer, 2017. "Comparison of Modelled and Measured Tilted Solar Irradiance for Photovoltaic Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Rajkumar, Vikram A. & Weijers, Cees & Debije, Michael G., 2015. "Distribution of absorbed heat in luminescent solar concentrator lightguides and effect on temperatures of mounted photovoltaic cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 308-315.
    5. Duncan E. Smith & Michael D. Hughes & Bhakti Patel & Diana-Andra Borca-Tasciuc, 2021. "An Open-Source Monte Carlo Ray-Tracing Simulation Tool for Luminescent Solar Concentrators with Validation Studies Employing Scattering Phosphor Films," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-28, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Oliveto, Vincent & Patel, Bhakti & Park, Kai & Smith, Duncan E. & Hughes, Michael D. & Borca-Tasciuc, Diana-Andra, 2023. "Theoretical investigation of asymmetric light interfaces for increasing optical efficiency of luminescent solar concentrators via integration of finite element simulation results with Monte Carlo ray ," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

    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. García, Ignacio & de Blas, Marian & Hernández, Begoña & Sáenz, Carlos & Torres, José Luis, 2021. "Diffuse irradiance on tilted planes in urban environments: Evaluation of models modified with sky and circumsolar view factors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1194-1209.
    2. Mehleri, E.D. & Zervas, P.L. & Sarimveis, H. & Palyvos, J.A. & Markatos, N.C., 2010. "A new neural network model for evaluating the performance of various hourly slope irradiation models: Implementation for the region of Athens," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1357-1362.
    3. 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).
    4. Grubbs, E.K. & Gruss, S.M. & Schull, V.Z. & Gosney, M.J. & Mickelbart, M.V. & Brouder, S. & Gitau, M.W. & Bermel, P. & Tuinstra, M.R. & Agrawal, R., 2024. "Optimized agrivoltaic tracking for nearly-full commodity crop and energy production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    5. Mohammadi, Kasra & Khorasanizadeh, Hossein, 2015. "A review of solar radiation on vertically mounted solar surfaces and proper azimuth angles in six Iranian major cities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 504-518.
    6. Ortega, Eneko & Suarez, Sergio & Jimeno, Juan Carlos & Gutierrez, Jose Rubén & Fano, Vanesa & Otaegi, Aloña & Rivas, Jose Manuel & Navas, Gustavo & Fernandez, Ignacio & Rodriguez-Conde, Sofia, 2024. "An statistical model for the short-term albedo estimation applied to PV bifacial modules," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    7. Turgut Karahüseyin & Serkan Abbasoğlu, 2022. "Performance Loss Rates of a 1 MWp PV Plant with Various Tilt Angle, Orientation and Installed Environment in the Capital of Cyprus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-23, July.
    8. Badescu, Viorel, 2006. "Optimum size and structure for solar energy collection systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 1819-1835.
    9. Adarsh Vaderobli & Dev Parikh & Urmila Diwekar, 2020. "Optimization under Uncertainty to Reduce the Cost of Energy for Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants for Different Weather Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, June.
    10. Duncan E. Smith & Michael D. Hughes & Bhakti Patel & Diana-Andra Borca-Tasciuc, 2021. "An Open-Source Monte Carlo Ray-Tracing Simulation Tool for Luminescent Solar Concentrators with Validation Studies Employing Scattering Phosphor Films," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-28, January.
    11. Nithyanandam, K. & Narayan, A. & Pitchumani, R., 2018. "Analysis and design of a radial waveguide concentrator for concentrated solar thermal applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 940-953.
    12. Arias-Rosales, Andrés & LeDuc, Philip R., 2020. "Comparing View Factor modeling frameworks for the estimation of incident solar energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    13. Nithyanandam, K. & Deshpande, J. & Pitchumani, R., 2017. "Coupled thermal and optical analysis of a planar waveguide concentrator-receiver," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 1576-1589.
    14. Quan, Hao & Yang, Dazhi, 2020. "Probabilistic solar irradiance transposition models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    15. Barbón, A. & Ayuso, P. Fortuny & Bayón, L. & Silva, C.A., 2021. "A comparative study between racking systems for photovoltaic power systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 424-437.
    16. Seyed Abbas Mousavi Maleki & H. Hizam & Chandima Gomes, 2017. "Estimation of Hourly, Daily and Monthly Global Solar Radiation on Inclined Surfaces: Models Re-Visited," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-28, January.
    17. Chen, X.M. & Li, Y. & Zhao, B.Y. & Wang, R.Z., 2020. "Are the optimum angles of photovoltaic systems so important?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    18. Dengchang Ma & Guobing Pan & Fang Xu & Hongfei Sun, 2021. "Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Meteorological Environment on Photovoltaic System Feasibility," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, May.
    19. Demain, Colienne & Journée, Michel & Bertrand, Cédric, 2013. "Evaluation of different models to estimate the global solar radiation on inclined surfaces," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 710-721.
    20. Riyad Mubarak & Eduardo Weide Luiz & Gunther Seckmeyer, 2019. "Why PV Modules Should Preferably No Longer Be Oriented to the South in the Near Future," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-16, November.

    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:renene:v:186:y:2022:i:c:p:469-485. 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.