Approximated bifacial gains of photovoltaic electricity under low and high ground albedo in Oman using Aladdin cloud simulator of renewable energy systems and energy analysis of buildings

• The approximated bifacial gain (ABG) performance metric for bifacial photovoltaic modules, supplementing the conventional bifacial gain (BG). • The solar power utilization in Oman is generally promising, even in regions with seasonal rains. • The average daily electricity generation in Oman for monofacial PV systems is about 5 kWh/kWp/day. • The average daily electricity generation in Oman for bifacial PV systems with albedo 0.30 is about 5.3 kWh/kWp/day. • The average daily electricity generation in Oman for bifacial PV systems with albedo 0.65 is about 5.7 kWh/kWp/day. • The bifaciality gain in Oman has a distinct seasonal pattern, peaking in June, while dropping to nearly a flat level in the winter months. The purpose of this study is to present original analysis and data about the electricity gains due to switching from monofacial systems to bifacial systems in Oman, through a novel performance metric we introduce and call “approximated bifacial gain” or ABG. These approximated bifacial gains (ABG) are assessed for two albedo values (0.30 and 0.65). Seven geographically-dispersed Omani cities are considered in this study; namely: Duqm, Ibri, Khasab, Muscat, Salalah, and Sohar. Both annual specific electricity yields (expressed in kWh/kWp/year) and monthly specific electricity yields (expressed in kWh/kWp/month) are compared for these cities under three representative situations: (1) monofacial PV system, (2) bifacial PV system with albedo 0.30, and (3) bifacial PV system with albedo 0.65. The results of this study suggest that with the low albedo of 0.30, the monthly bifacial gain in Oman is highest in June (9.5 %), while it is lowest in the winter (near 6 %). With a high albedo of 0.65, the monthly bifacial gain in Oman is still highest in June (about 19 %) and still lowest in the winter (near 13 %). The obtained average daily specific electricity yield in Oman with monofacial PV systems is about 5 kWh/kWp/day, which corresponds to 1,825 kWh/kWp/year. The study is based on the “Aladdin” cloud-based free tool for PV simulation and computer-aided engineering (CAE). Supplementary simulations using three other simulation tools (Energy3D, PVGIS, and PVsyst) were utilized for validation and third-party comparisons.