Impact of Torque Tube Reflection on Bifacial Photovoltaic Single Axis Tracked System Performance

Abstract: Among the racking elements of bifacial photovoltaic (PV) single-axis tracked systems, the torque tube (TT) introduces the most shading and reflection, increasing irradiance nonuniformity and electrical mismatch loss. We simulate the impact of TT shading and reflection on the irradiance profiles, electrical mismatch, and energy yield for central bifacial PV modules on one-in-portrait (1P) and two-in-portrait (2P) single-axis trackers. TT reflection increases annual irradiance in 1P and 2P systems by 0.17% and 0.30%, respectively. Overall, TT reflection increases the predicted instantaneous energy yield by up to 0.8% and 0.4%, and the annual energy yield by 0.11% and 0.18% in 1P and 2P system, respectively.

T. J. Coathup, M. R. Lewis, A. C. J. Russell, J. E. Haysom, C. E. Valdivia, K. Hinzer, "Impact of Torque Tube Reflection on Bifacial Photovoltaic Single Axis Tracked System Performance," Optics Express, 31(4), 6143-6155 (2023).