pv magazine test: April 2023 Results

By George Touloupas

This article was originally published in pv magazine – June 2023 edition. Learn more about the pv magazine test here.

CEA’s Senior Director of Technology & Quality, George Touloupas, provides analysis of the April 2023 energy yield results from the outdoor test field in Xi’an, China.

The first chart below (Figure 1) shows the meteo station data (irradiance and ambient temperature) for April 2023.

Figure 1: Daily temperature and irradiance data - April 2023

Figures 2 and 3 below show the relative specific energy yield comparison between different PV module technologies. Although the top performer hasn’t changed much, the gap in relative yield between mono PERC and bifacial mono PERC as well as bifacial mono TOPCon has become larger.

Figure 2: Relative yield of different technologies - April 2023

Figure 3: Total energy yield - April 2023

Our test field still has one sample from Jolywood in the n-TOPCon bifacial category. As TOPCon modules become more prominent, we look forward to installing more samples of this type to achieve a more representative yield comparison.

The average bifacial boost is 8.37% for April. Bifacial boost is defined as the relative advantage of the average specific energy yield of all bifacial products compared to the average specific energy yield of all mono-facial mono PERC products. [Read: LCOE of Monofacial vs Bifacial Modules: Are Bifacials Worth the Extra Cost?]

Table 1: Bifacial boost - January 2023 to April 2023

Notes on the energy yield measurements:

• The energy yield comparison among various technologies, including bifacial boost, will be analyzed using products installed after the beginning of 2019.

• The energy yield is given in Wh/Wp and calculated by dividing the energy produced by the module by the Pmax at STC of the module. This Pmax is the maximum STC power after a process of stabilization.

• The results are grouped in categories, per module type.

• The bifacial boost depends on many parameters: the bifaciality factor, the installation geometry, the albedo of the ground, and the sun angle and diffuse irradiance. The ground in this case is gray gravel.

Table 2: Energy yield ranking - historical - January 2023 to April 2023

Test Cooperation

pv magazine test is a cooperative effort involving pv magazine, APsystems, CEA, and Gsolar. All testing procedures are carried out at Gsolar’s test laboratory in Xi’an, China. CEA supervises these tests and designed both the indoor and outdoor testing procedures.