Photovoltaic module augmented by commercial reflectors in Southern Algeria: Comparison between different reflective materials

Authors

  • Mohamed Yacine Rachedi Department of Electronics & Telecommunication, Faculty of Modern Technologies of Information & Communication, University of Ouargla, P.O. Box 511, 30000, Ouargla, Algeria
  • Djamel Bechki
  • Hamza Bouguettaia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21014/actaimeko.v12i4.1608

Keywords:

PV panel, solar irradiation, flat plate reflectors, reflective materials, electrical measurements, southern Algeria

Abstract

Even though the southeast region of Algeria, especially Ouargla city, enjoys a lot of sunshine all over the year, fixed photovoltaic (PV) solar panels are not sufficient due to two main reasons. Firstly, these panels are unable to capture sunlight during the early morning and late afternoon, and secondly, their efficiency is low, requiring the use of economical methods to enhance their performance. To overcome these limitations, this research suggests incorporating commercial reflectors to enhance sunlight capture. Furthermore, this paper compares the effects of three types of reflective materials: mirrors, aluminium, and transparent glass, on the performance of the PV module. To achieve this objective, reflectors are installed at the top and bottom of the PV module at their optimal tilt angles. Moreover, the effect of the adjacent module's mirrors was studied by installing two big mirrors (3X). The obtained results show an average improvement of 14.24 %, 11.41 %, and 4.7 % in the electrical energy generated by the PV panel with mirrors, aluminium, and transparent glass, respectively, compared to the module without reflectors. Subsequently, in the large mirror case, the results were positive, with an average 20.84 % increase in the maximal electrical power produced compared to the conventional one.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-11

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 4 (2023)

Section

Research Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Rachedi Mohamed Yacine, Bechki Djamel, Bouguettaia Hamza

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Users are free to

  • share, i.e. copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially;
  • adapt, i.e. remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

At the same time, the user must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
Additional information about the license can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Authors are

  • able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).