Technical assessment of a solar tree installation: productivity, losses, and conversion efficiency

The growing global demand for electricity, coupled with the urgency to mitigate climate change, has driven the expansion of photovoltaic (PV) technologies in urban areas. Despite the increasing adoption of solar energy, alternative PV configurations such as solar trees remain underexplored, particularly in terms of standardized performance assessment under real environmental conditions. This study evaluates the operational performance of a solar tree installed at a university campus in northeastern Brazil, monitored over a five-month period (September 2023 to January 2024), encompassing both dry and rainy seasons. Using procedures based on IEC 61724:1998 and ABNT NBR 16274:2014, key indicators—including array productivity (Yf), final system productivity (Ya), total system losses, and efficiency—were calculated and compared to a conventional 3.96 kWp ground-mounted PV system. The solar tree achieved an average final productivity of 4.51 ± 0.08 kWh/kWp·day and a final efficiency of 10.42 ± 0.21%, while the conventional system reached 4.85 ± 0.22 kWh/kWp·day and 10.94 ± 0.29%, respectively. However, the solar tree exhibited lower seasonal variation in performance and reduced total energy losses in December and January (0.95 and 0.76 kWh/kWp·day, respectively), compared to 1.22 and 1.52 kWh/kWp·day for the conventional system. These findings demonstrate that solar trees, although less efficient in absolute terms, provide greater performance stability and urban adaptability, supporting their strategic use in compact or shaded environments within tropical cities.