The Impact of Haze on Performance Ratio and Short-Circuit Current of PV Systems in Singapore

• Published in: IEEE journal of photovoltaics Vol. 4; no. 6; pp. 1585 - 1592
• Main Authors: Haohui Liu, Nobre, Andre M., Dazhi Yang, Jia Ying Ye, Martins, Fernando R., Ruther, Ricardo, Reindl, Thomas, Aberle, Armin G., Peters, Ian Marius
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.11.2014; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Average photon energy (APE); Current measurement; haze; Light scattering; performance ratio (PR); photovoltaic (PV) module; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Short-circuit currents; Silicon wafers; Solar energy; Spectral analysis; Average photon energy (APE); spectral analysis; photovoltaic (PV) module; haze; performance ratio (PR)
• ISSN: 2156-3381; 2156-3403
• DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2346429

The spectral content of sunlight directly affects the power output of solar photovoltaic (PV) devices. The extent of the effect of seasonal and weather-related spectral variations on the power output will depend largely on the semiconductor bandgap. In this study, haze, which is a common weather condition in many parts of the world, is found to affect the power output of PV systems. An analysis of a recent haze event in Singapore in mid-June 2013 reveals that haze has an impact on the performance ratios and short-circuit currents of PV systems. The performance ratio of amorphous silicon thin-film PV systems dropped during the haze event, while that of crystalline silicon wafer-based systems exhibited a slight increase. A detailed analysis showed that the main cause of the observed performance ratio variations was changes in the generated short-circuit currents, which were due to a red shift of the solar spectrum arriving in the module plane during the haze period. Therefore, PV systems with different semiconductor bandgaps were affected differently.