Prospecting solar energy in Australia: accounting for temperature losses

Abstract

In this paper, we prospect the solar potential of 5 varieties of commercially available modules in 15 locations around Australia, accounting for regional temperature and irradiance. We employ irradiance datasets, from the Australian Solar Energy Information System (ASEIS). Through our analysis, we categorise regions around Australia, by their impact on the performance of different solar module technology. From this comparison we find coastal DNI on average is lower in the mornings owing to the high relative humidity and daily temperature variation. These irradiance conditions, slightly alter the optimum installation direction and tilt. The best performing modules are the premium back-contact c-Si modules, and the worst is the standard mc-Si module. Importantly, the impact of a module technology on yield must be determined with site-specific irradiances and ambient temperatures. We find temperature losses correlate most strongly correlated with average mean monthly temperature. An additional interesting finding is that coastal locations have lower direct normal irradiance in the morning, which infers the optimum orientation is slightly West of North.