A simulation based optical and electrical approach to estimate energy yield of various designs of curved modules

The concept of sustainable structures is tightly involved with the architectural designs. Photovoltaic is the cheapest way to generate small amount of electricity anywhere. When PV follows functional or aesthetic designs, curved shapes can become desirable. PV modules with curved shapes can follow different forms over the structures and generate electrical power. In this paper, we have simulated the radiation power over 60-cell modules with different angle of curvature by considering the location and the elevation of the modules. In the next step, we have simulated two different module interconnection layouts to investigate the performance of each module at specific levels of curvature. We show that after a range of curvature, it is better to use parallel coupled strings and change the interconnection of the modules to reduce current mismatch over the strings. In this study, we show that for the modules with the 8 degrees tilt angle between the cells, it is better to use standard series connected cells. For higher levels of curvature it is necessary to rearrange the interconnections. The module with parallel connected strings does not have bypass diodes and it can save up to 125% energy compared to the conventional one in high levels of curvature.