Design and Construction of Controlled Back Reflectors for Bifacial Photovoltaic Modules

Bifacial photovoltaic (PV) modules enable higher power output in the installed systems by using additional light reflected on the back of the cells. Conventionally, the light reflected from the ground surface is used by the bifacial PV systems. The cells in a 48-cell module are less densely packed than 60-cell modules of the same size, which allows light to pass through the intercell area. Presented in this paper, back reflectors with three different reflective profiles have been designed to increase the energy production of these 48-cell modules by effectively utilizing the intercell light passing through the modules. The additional power generation through the introduction of an inexpensive back-side reflector could make 48-cell modules competitive with more densely packed 60-cell modules by reducing expensive cell material without increasing installation size.