Impact of Snow Depth on Single-Axis Tracked Bifacial Photovoltaic System Performance

Photovoltaic (PV) capacity is rapidly expanding in mid-to-high latitude jurisdictions due to drastic decreases in PV system cost and global decarbonization efforts. However, uncertainty around performance impacts of latitude-specific conditions, such as ground-accumulated snow, contribute to investment risk. In this work, we employed DUET, our custom bifacial PV modelling tool, to study variable ground clearance resulting from snow accumulation. We model the impact of snow depth on a module in four generic, 2-in-portait single-axis tracked (SAT) systems with baseline ground clearances ranging from 1.6-2.8 m. Over the snowy season in Ottawa, Ontario
$(\boldsymbol{45}^{\circ}\mathbf{N})$
and Cambridge Bay, Nunavut
$(\boldsymbol{69}^{\circ}\mathbf{N})$
, Canada, rear insolation and energy yield decrease by 3.4-9.6% and 0.36-0.69%, respectively - comparable to annual structure shading and electrical mismatch loss factors. The average daily energy yield loss in both locations is 0.034
^%
per centimeter of accumulated snow. When hourly energy yield loss throughout the snowy season is binned by hour of day, hourly averages peak at 1.2-1.4% loss, suggesting implications for real-time and short-term forecasting.