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Does EnergyPlus considers reflected solar radiations from the roof on Photovoltaic

asked 2024-03-25 11:20:42 -0500

Ajay's avatar

updated 2024-03-25 17:02:40 -0500

Hi,

I want to study the effect of cool roof (high reflective) surfaces on electricity generation by solar panels. Is it possible to model this using EnergyPlus? Does EnergyPlus considers reflections from roof that could possibly increase solar radiations received by PV, and thereby generating more power? I'm open to any other ideas in case any.

Thanks

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Hi have you got the answer of this question?

mep_engineer's avatar mep_engineer  ( 2025-09-13 23:03:38 -0500 )edit

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answered 2025-09-16 12:30:03 -0500

If you create your PV surface on top of the roof, it should take into account the reflectivity of the roof. From the documentation:

The full geometric model for solar radiation is used, including shading and reflections, to determine the incident solar resource.

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If I model a bifacial PV on the roof, will the rear side generate some electricity? Is there anything that I should take into account there.

mep_engineer's avatar mep_engineer  ( 2025-09-22 23:22:51 -0500 )edit

Only solar radiation incident on the normal side (pointing outward, the side the right-hand rule points to) of the surface will generate electricity. I supposed you could create two surfaces, one pointing at the sky and one pointing at the roof, with two Generator:Photovoltaic object referencing each of the surfaces, to model bifacial PV. You'd need to adjust PhotovoltaicPerformance for each appropriately, as I'd image the backside of the panel is not as efficient as the front side. I've never done this before, but I imagine it would work.

ericmartinpe's avatar ericmartinpe  ( 2025-09-23 08:03:01 -0500 )edit

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Asked: 2024-03-25 11:20:42 -0500

Seen: 1,042 times

Last updated: Sep 16