Investigating the impact of ground albedo on the performance of PV systems

Back to 2015 Symposium Overview

Session 3 Paper 2, University College London, 16-17 April 2015

Download full paper using download links above or download slides

Several factors influence the energy generation of Photovoltaic (PV) installations. A ground albedo value of 0.2 is widely accepted and is used in modelling of PV systems. Foreground surfaces may have different albedo and hence a constant albedo value is unsuitable. This paper analysed a real PV facade of a university building. The results show, that in the present case, using a constant albedo value may underestimate the incident ground reflected radiation by 31%. A discussion is also provided on applying white cool paint on foreground surfaces to further increase the receipt of reflected-radiation on PV modules.