TY - JOUR
T1 - 0.01–0.5 sun is a realistic and alternative irradiance window to analyze urban outdoor photovoltaic cells
AU - Wong, Vox Kalai
AU - Zhang, Chujun
AU - Zhang, Zhuoqiong
AU - Hao, Mingwei
AU - Zhou, Yuanyuan
AU - So, Shu Kong
N1 - Meteorological and solar irradiance data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center CERES ordering tool at https://ceres.larc.nasa.gov/data/ and the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Sciences Data Center NASA/GEWEX SRB Project. SK SO would like to acknowledge support from the Research Committee of Hong Kong Baptist University, HKSAR under GrantFRG/17-18/078, and the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong, HKSAR under Collaborative Research Grant C6023196F.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Solar cells have penetrated many cities as Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) or the energy source for standalone Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Traditionally, photovoltaic (PV) cells are evaluated using 1 sun irradiance. However, in a city, factors such as air pollution, cloudiness and cell installation orientation may attenuate the receivable solar energy. Also, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a PV cell is highly irradiance-dependent. Evaluating urban outdoor PV cells using 1 sun irradiance could lead to inaccurate prediction of PCE and overestimated output power in actual usage. Herein, we analyzed daytime irradiances of 11 cities located across the globe. Our results show that realistic irradiance (RI) in most cities is between 0.01 and 0.5 sun, reflecting the irradiance under a cloudy to mostly sunny sky. Under such an RI window, the PCEs of 9 different PV technologies were compared. 7 PV technologies have compromised performance. 2 PV technologies, organic and perovskite PVs, show enhanced PCE under the RI window and are favorable for urban outdoor applications. The potential of powering IoT devices by these PV technologies under sub-optimal irradiance conditions in cities is also highlighted.
AB - Solar cells have penetrated many cities as Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) or the energy source for standalone Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Traditionally, photovoltaic (PV) cells are evaluated using 1 sun irradiance. However, in a city, factors such as air pollution, cloudiness and cell installation orientation may attenuate the receivable solar energy. Also, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a PV cell is highly irradiance-dependent. Evaluating urban outdoor PV cells using 1 sun irradiance could lead to inaccurate prediction of PCE and overestimated output power in actual usage. Herein, we analyzed daytime irradiances of 11 cities located across the globe. Our results show that realistic irradiance (RI) in most cities is between 0.01 and 0.5 sun, reflecting the irradiance under a cloudy to mostly sunny sky. Under such an RI window, the PCEs of 9 different PV technologies were compared. 7 PV technologies have compromised performance. 2 PV technologies, organic and perovskite PVs, show enhanced PCE under the RI window and are favorable for urban outdoor applications. The potential of powering IoT devices by these PV technologies under sub-optimal irradiance conditions in cities is also highlighted.
KW - Cloud cover
KW - Internet of Things (IoT)
KW - Photovoltaic cells
KW - Solar energy and smart city
KW - Terrestrial irradiance in cities
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85168411036&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.mtener.2023.101347
DO - 10.1016/j.mtener.2023.101347
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85168411036
SN - 2468-6069
VL - 36
JO - Materials Today Energy
JF - Materials Today Energy
M1 - 101347
ER -
