Experimentally diagnosing the shading impact on the power performance of a PV system in Hong Kong

Jinqing Peng, Lin Lu, Hongxing Yang, K. M. Ho, Peter Law

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceedingConference article published in proceeding or bookAcademic researchpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental diagnosis on the power performance of a PV system in Hong Kong. The annual solar radiation received by the PV modules was simulated based on the recorded horizontal solar radiation. The theoretical annual energy output of this PV system was about 11,702 kWh/yr, which was higher than the actual energy output by 24.5%. In order to find out the reasons of the energy loss, an on-site inspection and testing was conducted. The shading and aging problems were found in the process of visual inspection. The shading problem can be further subdivided into edge-shading, pillar-shading and nameplate shading. To further understand and quantify the impact of different types of shadings on the power output performance, the I-V curves of a PV module were tested under different solar radiation. The testing results showed that the impact of different types of shadings on the power performance varied with the Sun position, solar radiation as well as the time. In general, the edge-shading effect reduced the energy output of PV system by 11%-15% the pillar-shading effect reduced the energy output by 15%-19%, and both effects of edge-shading and pillar-shading reduced the energy output of PV system by 18%-35%. Thus, the main reason that resulted in the energy loss of this PV system was attributed to the shading impact. If the edge-shading and pillar-shading problems are solved, the annual energy output of the PV system could increase about 20%-24%.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2013 World Congress on Sustainable Technologies, WCST 2013
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages18-22
Number of pages5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2013
Event2013 World Congress on Sustainable Technologies, WCST 2013 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: 9 Dec 201312 Dec 2013

Conference

Conference2013 World Congress on Sustainable Technologies, WCST 2013
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period9/12/1312/12/13

Keywords

  • energy loss
  • PV system
  • shading impact
  • Solar energy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management of Technology and Innovation

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