Including Atmospheric Extinction in a Performance Evaluation of a Fixed Grid of Solar Panels

TL;DR

This study evaluates the performance of fixed solar panels over a year, incorporating atmospheric extinction effects, and finds seasonal variations in extinction and temperature impacts on efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a method to include atmospheric extinction in solar panel performance evaluation using astronomical photometry techniques.

Findings

Power output is proportional to cos(theta) under clear skies.

Median atmospheric extinction varies seasonally, affecting performance.

Panel efficiency is influenced by temperature changes during the day.

Abstract

We characterize the performance of a fixed grid of solar panels on the basis of data taken under clear sky conditions over 12 months. We confirm that the power output is linearly proportional to cos(theta), where theta is the angular difference of direction toward the Sun and the vector perpendicular to the panels. In order to confirm this we applied methods from astronomical photometry reduction. From late March through August we find that the median effective atmospheric extinction term is 0.145 mag/airmass. From October to mid-March the median extinction term is 0.081 mag/airmass. The proportionality "constant" scaling cos(theta) appears to be seasonally dependent, with the smallest scaling factors occurring when the extinction term is largest. Finally, we find that extinction-corrected power often underperforms the linear relationship late in the morning or early in the afternoon. This is most likely because the efficiency of solar panels depends on their operating temperature, and the panel temperature increases over the course of time on a sunny day.