Kareem Younes , Majed Bin Saad , Harry Apostoleris , Tareq Farrah , Gaël Nardin , Mathieu Ackermann , Noé Bory , Jaime Viegas , Matteo Chiesa
{"title":"A crop-agnostic baseline for agrivoltaics: Field-Proven characterization of Micro-CPVs with diffuse light transmission","authors":"Kareem Younes , Majed Bin Saad , Harry Apostoleris , Tareq Farrah , Gaël Nardin , Mathieu Ackermann , Noé Bory , Jaime Viegas , Matteo Chiesa","doi":"10.1016/j.renene.2025.124578","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Traditional concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) systems cannot capture diffuse light and require bulky sun-tracking. In this work, we characterize a commercially oriented, semi-transmissive, micro-CPV with integrated tracking optically, thermally, and electrically under the sand-laden, hot desert climate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to evaluate its potential for agrivoltaics and ability to contribute towards the interplay of the food-energy nexus. When the module operates in an “Electricity” mode (E-mode) by focusing direct light on micro-cells, the peak electrical efficiency was 26.9 % while 14–26 % of the incoming irradiance was uniformly transmitted as diffuse light underneath. When climate conditions are not favourable for electric generation, switching to a “Maximum Light Transmission” mode (MLT-mode) yielded a transmittance up to 71.61 %, providing a daily illuminance (daylighting applications) of 1.84 × 10<sup>9</sup> lumens m<sup>−2</sup> day<sup>−1</sup> and Daily Light Integral (DLI) dose of 29.69 mol<sub>PAR</sub> m<sup>−2</sup> day<sup>−1</sup>, suitable for moderate-to-high light crops. On the thermal front, the air temperature beneath the panel surpasses the ambient temperature by a range of 10–15 °C, and the solar cell temperatures ran <span><math><mrow><mo>∼</mo></mrow></math></span> 27 °C above ambient at midday. Based on the data and observations of a 1-year crop-agnostic module characterization, we identify design improvement and manufacturing errors, mostly in the field of optics and tracking-integration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":419,"journal":{"name":"Renewable Energy","volume":"256 ","pages":"Article 124578"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Renewable Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125022426","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Traditional concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) systems cannot capture diffuse light and require bulky sun-tracking. In this work, we characterize a commercially oriented, semi-transmissive, micro-CPV with integrated tracking optically, thermally, and electrically under the sand-laden, hot desert climate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to evaluate its potential for agrivoltaics and ability to contribute towards the interplay of the food-energy nexus. When the module operates in an “Electricity” mode (E-mode) by focusing direct light on micro-cells, the peak electrical efficiency was 26.9 % while 14–26 % of the incoming irradiance was uniformly transmitted as diffuse light underneath. When climate conditions are not favourable for electric generation, switching to a “Maximum Light Transmission” mode (MLT-mode) yielded a transmittance up to 71.61 %, providing a daily illuminance (daylighting applications) of 1.84 × 109 lumens m−2 day−1 and Daily Light Integral (DLI) dose of 29.69 molPAR m−2 day−1, suitable for moderate-to-high light crops. On the thermal front, the air temperature beneath the panel surpasses the ambient temperature by a range of 10–15 °C, and the solar cell temperatures ran 27 °C above ambient at midday. Based on the data and observations of a 1-year crop-agnostic module characterization, we identify design improvement and manufacturing errors, mostly in the field of optics and tracking-integration.
期刊介绍:
Renewable Energy journal is dedicated to advancing knowledge and disseminating insights on various topics and technologies within renewable energy systems and components. Our mission is to support researchers, engineers, economists, manufacturers, NGOs, associations, and societies in staying updated on new developments in their respective fields and applying alternative energy solutions to current practices.
As an international, multidisciplinary journal in renewable energy engineering and research, we strive to be a premier peer-reviewed platform and a trusted source of original research and reviews in the field of renewable energy. Join us in our endeavor to drive innovation and progress in sustainable energy solutions.