Simulation of Optical and Electrical Losses of PV Modules in Moderate and Desert Conditions

Measurements of the PV modules are based on standard test conditions. However, PV modules have significant difference in performance based on the locations, environmental conditions and mounting situation. One of the environmental factors which influence the performance of the PV module is the spectrum of incident light on the PV module. In this paper, we compare the optical reflection losses, thermal losses as well as electricity production of modules under moderate (AM1.5) and desert-like spectrums (AM1.0). The results show quantitatively that thermalization has the highest loss portion with an average of 29.5% of the total incoming power density for both spectrums. The highest relative change is for absorption of light in polymer encapsulant especially between 280-400 nm with 24.3% and total resistive losses (in cell and interconnection) with 21.3% extra losses from desert to moderate conditions. Finally, we show that similar modules in desert climate produce 5% extra power gain while it suffers from 7.2% extra heat and 5% extra reflections.