Engineering Commons^™

Characterization Of Ground Albedo Materials For Bifacial Solar Farms, Fernanda De Los Angeles Garcia, Benny Tam, Jean Lee, James Vance

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Bifacial photovoltaics can collect solar energy from both sides, unlike regular one-sided solar panels. With the ability to collect energy from both sides, the energy production of bifacial photovoltaic farms is about 2-6% more efficient than typical solar farms. However, the increase in efficiency is highly dependent on the reflectivity of the ground material. This project explores six different materials to determine which material would be best to implement as a ground material for a bifacial photovoltaic farm, based on their mechanical properties and albedo value. Albedo refers to the ratio between the reflected solar radiation to the incident solar …