Representativeness of Energy Rating acc. to IEC 61853 for Different Locations in Middle and South Europe

The energy rating standard series IEC 61 853 parts 1-4 provide a procedure to calculate the performance of a photovoltaic (PV) module for six different reference climates. The results, denoted as climate specific energy rating (CSER), aim to predict the module's energy output for a complete year under maximum power point operation. The reference climate profiles shall represent the typical operating conditions of a PV module in a given region. Our study investigates the representativeness of these reference climates profiles for several locations in South and Central Europe. We gathered both ground- and satellite-based data sets from different weather monitoring stations. Using such data for our specific location in Freiburg, Germany, and a specific reference module, we found deviations ranging from 2.0% to 2.9% compared to the CSER using the temperate continental profile. Further, we analyze the annual impact of the loss factors: reflectivity as function of angle of incidence, solar spectrum, ambient temperature, and irradiance on module performance. For an in-depth PV module benchmarking, we recommend the use of site-specific meteorological data for an accurate module performance assessment, rather than relying on the more general estimates from the standard procedure, which do not intend to capture site-specific effects.