On the Optimal Orientation of Bifacial Solar Modules

This paper presents an accurate simulation strategy to optimize the installation of bifacial photovoltaic modules in terms of orientation and tilt. The tool relies on horizontal irradiance data and ambient temperature taken from PVGIS for assigned times during the day at the selected geographical site and provides the I-V (and P-V) curves at each time. In this analysis, Naples is chosen as a case-study. It is shown that vertical bifacial modules with the front oriented either to West or to East offer energy production comparable to that of a South-oriented monofacial panel tilted by 30°, which represents the conventional optimized configuration and is thus considered as a reference.