Researchers on the University of Ottawa say they’ve developed a technique to optimize the effectiveness of photo voltaic panels, which incorporates the inclusion of synthetic floor reflectors.
To examine how reflective floor cowl impacts photo voltaic vitality output, the college’s SUNLAB partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo.
Research has discovered that inserting reflective surfaces underneath photo voltaic panels can enhance their vitality output by as much as 4.5%.
“We discovered that extremely reflective white surfaces enhance solar energy output,” stated Mandy Lewis, lead creator of the paper. “Critically, these reflectors needs to be positioned immediately underneath the photo voltaic panels, not between the rows, to maximise this profit.”
The venture is funded by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ontario Graduate Scholarships and the US Department of Energy.
The examine “Artificial Ground Reflector Size and Position Effects on Energy Harvesting and Economics of Single Axis Tracked Bifacial Photovoltaics” was revealed within the Progress in Photovoltaics journal.
