Energy Yield Modelling of 2D and 3D Curved Photovoltaic Modules

This paper presents a detailed model to simulate the energy yield potential of various designs of curved PV modules depending on their bending angle, orientation and location. Furthermore, we analyze the effective irradiance incident on the curved cell pattern surface to investigate the current mismatch between cells and strings that results from the deviating level of irradiance reaching the cells. The results of our simulations show that parallel interconnection of strings produces a higher energy yield for most but not all curved module layouts compared to standard series interconnection with three bypass diodes. The energy yield of curved PV modules can be maximized by using an adapted module design that compensates the inhomogeneous irradiance distribution on the curved module surface.