Thermal Analysis of a Bifacial Solar Panel Using ANSYS Modeling

Solar energy harnessed through photovoltaic cells is now widely recognized as an effective renewable energy source. However, the primary challenge with solar panels lies in their relatively low efficiency, typically ranging between 12% and 18%. To address this, innovative methods to enhance efficiency are being explored, including the development of bifacial solar panels. These panels capture solar irradiance from the backside using scattered light from the floor and surroundings. This study develops a thermal model to evaluate the performance of bifacial panels by analyzing the effects of backside activation. A JJN 200W bifacial solar panel was modeled in SolidWorks to provide input information for an Ansys transient thermal simulation. The model predicts surface temperatures over time under various operating conditions. Indoor simulations assumed an upper surface flux of 300 W/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> and a lower side flux of 26.5 W/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>, while outdoor conditions used 800 W/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> and 70 W/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>, respectively. Results compared mono and bifacial modes, revealing that the upper surface temperature peaked at 45° Celsius in mono mode and increased to 50° Celsius during bifacial operation under indoor conditions. A similar trend was observed outdoors, with bifacial operation resulting in a ~6% temperature rise, indicating enhanced solar absorption due to the bifacial design. Ansys's findings indicate that activating the backside of solar panels does influence panels, which in turn will enhance their output efficiency. More research is required to characterize the output supporting the claim that a bifacial design approach can significantly improve the overall efficiency of solar panels. Future work will focus on validating these results experimentally, comparing efficiency under both mono and bifacial operations at multiple operating conditions.