pvlib.bifacial.pvfactors_timeseries

pvlib.bifacial.pvfactors_timeseries(solar_azimuth, solar_zenith, surface_azimuth, surface_tilt, axis_azimuth, timestamps, dni, dhi, gcr, pvrow_height, pvrow_width, albedo, n_pvrows=3, index_observed_pvrow=1, rho_front_pvrow=0.03, rho_back_pvrow=0.05, horizon_band_angle=15.0, run_parallel_calculations=True, n_workers_for_parallel_calcs=2)[source]

Calculate front and back surface plane-of-array irradiance on a fixed tilt or single-axis tracker PV array configuration, and using the open-source “pvfactors” package [1]. Please refer to pvfactors online documentation for more details: https://sunpower.github.io/pvfactors/

Parameters:
  • solar_azimuth (numeric) – Sun’s azimuth angles using pvlib’s azimuth convention (deg)
  • solar_zenith (numeric) – Sun’s zenith angles (deg)
  • surface_azimuth (numeric) – Azimuth angle of the front surface of the PV modules, using pvlib’s convention (deg)
  • surface_tilt (numeric) – Tilt angle of the PV modules, going from 0 to 180 (deg)
  • axis_azimuth (float) – Azimuth angle of the rotation axis of the PV modules, using pvlib’s convention (deg). This is supposed to be fixed for all timestamps.
  • timestamps (datetime or DatetimeIndex) – List of simulation timestamps
  • dni (numeric) – Direct normal irradiance (W/m2)
  • dhi (numeric) – Diffuse horizontal irradiance (W/m2)
  • gcr (float) – Ground coverage ratio of the pv array
  • pvrow_height (float) – Height of the pv rows, measured at their center (m)
  • pvrow_width (float) – Width of the pv rows in the considered 2D plane (m)
  • albedo (float) – Ground albedo
  • n_pvrows (int, default 3) – Number of PV rows to consider in the PV array
  • index_observed_pvrow (int, default 1) – Index of the PV row whose incident irradiance will be returned. Indices of PV rows go from 0 to n_pvrows-1.
  • rho_front_pvrow (float, default 0.03) – Front surface reflectivity of PV rows
  • rho_back_pvrow (float, default 0.05) – Back surface reflectivity of PV rows
  • horizon_band_angle (float, default 15) – Elevation angle of the sky dome’s diffuse horizon band (deg)
  • run_parallel_calculations (bool, default True) – pvfactors is capable of using multiprocessing. Use this flag to decide to run calculations in parallel (recommended) or not.
  • n_workers_for_parallel_calcs (int, default 2) – Number of workers to use in the case of parallel calculations. The ‘-1’ value will lead to using a value equal to the number of CPU’s on the machine running the model.
Returns:

  • front_poa_irradiance (numeric) – Calculated incident irradiance on the front surface of the PV modules (W/m2)
  • back_poa_irradiance (numeric) – Calculated incident irradiance on the back surface of the PV modules (W/m2)
  • df_registries (pandas DataFrame) – DataFrame containing detailed outputs of the simulation; for instance the shapely geometries, the irradiance components incident on all surfaces of the PV array (for all timestamps), etc. In the pvfactors documentation, this is refered to as the “surface registry”.

References

[1]Anoma, Marc Abou, et al. “View Factor Model and Validation for Bifacial PV and Diffuse Shade on Single-Axis Trackers.” 44th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference. 2017.