Meta-Parametrization of Photovoltaic Module Technologies for a Comprehensive Evaluation of Solar Energy Projects in Road Infrastructure

This paper introduces a methodology for abstraction of photovoltaic (PV) technologies by parametrization of relevant PV module characteristics. The proposed approach is utilized to evaluate PV projects integrated with the road infrastructure. The silicon monocrystalline and polycrystalline PV modules are selected as examples of technologies for illustration of the proposed meta-parametrization methodology and the calculated meta-parameters for these two PV technologies are reported. The proposed methodology can be applied to evaluate PV projects based on general PV technology characteristics instead of individual PV module parameters. An example of a PV system design next to a road is analyzed to illustrate how the proposed methodology can enable comparison of PV technologies in a general way. The example also shows how different trade-offs can be identified from the meta-parametrization compared to comparison based on individual modules. It has been found that the polycrystalline technology performs better for the considered case study.