Shading impact on the electricity generated by a photovoltaic installation using “Solar Shadow-Mask”

• Published in: Energy harvesting and systems Vol. 11; no. 1
• Main Authors: Nfaoui, Mohamed, Abouloifa, Walid, Hayani-Mounir, Sanaa, Roboa, Mohamed Yassine, El-hami, Khalil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin De Gruyter 26.04.2024; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Electric power generation; Electricity; electricity production; Irradiance; Irradiation; Mathematical analysis; Panels; photovoltaic; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; Renewable energy; Shading; Shadow masks; Solar energy; Solar radiation; system
• ISSN: 2329-8766; 2329-8774; 2329-8766
• DOI: 10.1515/ehs-2023-0048

Solar energy is an excellent source of renewable power, but designing photovoltaic (PV) systems can be challenging without proper knowledge of solar radiation. The amount of energy received at the installation site plays a crucial role in determining the number of panels required to meet the electrical demand. For a given electrical demand, higher levels of received energy imply a reduced number of panels required, and vice versa. Hence, having knowledge of this irradiance is of paramount importance in the design and sizing of solar energy systems. The primary objective of this article is to provide an accurate estimation of electricity production in a PV installation when it is affected by shading. To achieve this, we performed calculations of the irradiation (direct and diffuse) received by our installation using the “Hottel” method, which integrates relevant local site parameters for our study. Subsequently, we study the impact of shading by conducting shade mask measurements on our installation. This enables us to obtain an accurate estimation of the irradiance received by the PV panels. The measurements include surveys of the geometry of obstacles and shade measurements taken at various times of the day. Additionally, a practical study of shading effects will be conducted using “close shading masks.” This method was applied to a 1.44 kW PV installation located at the Faculty of Science and Technology of Settat (Morocco), where the output energy of PV panels was calculated. Finally, the effect of shading on the PV installation was quantified.