Geospatial analysis of the energy yield and environmental footprint of different photovoltaic module technologies

Abstract

The majority of currently installed photovoltaic (PV) systems are based on mono- and polycrystalline silicon PV modules. Manufacturers of competing technologies often argue that due to the characteristics of their PV technologies, PV systems based on their modules are able to achieve higher annual energy yield, due to a smaller effect of temperature on module performance and/or a better performance at low light intensities. While these benefits have been confirmed in local studies many times, there is still limited insight as to the locations at which a particular technology actually performs best. In this study we have analysed the performance of a large set of PV modules, based on irradiance time series that were taken from satellite measurements. Using these data, and combining it with a PV performance model, we have made a geospatial analysis of the energy yield of different types of PV modules. We aim to make the energy yield of the investigated modules spatially explicit, allowing PV system installers to choose the best module type for every location investigated. Our results show that there is large geographical variety in the performance of PV modules, in terms of energy yield but also in terms of relative performance or performance ratio. While some technologies clearly exhibit a decrease in performance ratio at locations where they operate at higher temperatures, for some technologies this effect is much smaller. As a result of the variation in performance, the environmental footprint of PV modules also shows large geographical variations. However, even at low irradiance locations the environmental footprint of PV modules in general is much lower compared to that of fossil fuel based electricity generation.