Field study of factors influencing performance of PV modules in buildings (BIPV/BAPV) installed in UAE

This paper presents field results for 6 different types of photovoltaic (PV) modules focusing on factors influencing the performance of PV in Buildings (Building-Applied PV and Building-Integrated PV) applications. The studied modules are south-oriented and installed at three different tilt angles 5angles (5 , 25 , and 90 ) in a desert environment in Dubai, UAE. The study period is 2 years, and the examined parameters are daily energy yields (normalized to module area), temperaturerelated losses, and soiling losses. It was noted that the final yield of a module highly depends on a combination of module efficiency in addition to the afore-mentioned performance losses. Normalized yield of bifacial monocrystalline modules are found to be the highest, while the standard polycrystalline modules generally show higher yield than other technologies due to a combination of temperature effect and soiling effect. Though CdTe and CIGS modules have the lowest temperature coefficients, their daily yields are affected by higher soiling losses. The effect of tilt angle on the temperature loss is relatively low, however, it is significant on the soiling losses where lower tilt angles result in higher soiling loss. The findings in this study can assist in selecting the most suitable technology, type and tilt angle of PV module for Building-Applied Photovoltaic (BAPV) and Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) installations in different regions.