Comparative Study of Solar PV Power Plant Dimensionnement Connected to Network Based on Monofacial and Bifacial Modules

This article presents the results of comparative study of two PV solar modules technologies, namely monofacial and bifacial. This study main objective is to identify conditions and parameters that make it possible to obtain better energy and economic efficiency from one or other of two technologies. The study reason lies in revival observed on bifacial module in recent years where all the major manufacturers of PV solar panels are developing them where in a few years, this technology risks being at the same price as the monofacial solar panel with better efficiency. Economic indicator used is energy levelized cost (LCOE) which is function technology type, energy productivity, annual investment and operation cost. To achieve this, a 3.685 MWc solar PV power plant was dimensioned and simulated under Matlab for a 3.5 ha site with a 2,320,740,602 FCFA budget for monofacial installation, against 1,925,188,640 FCFA for 2.73 MWc bifacial installation. The LCOE comparative analysis of two technologies calculated over a period of 25 years, showed that plant with bifacial panels is more beneficial if bifacial gain is greater than 9 %. It has further been found that it is possible to gain up to 40 % of invested cost if bifacial gain reaches 45 %. Finally, a loss of about 10 % of invested cost could be recorded if bifacial gain is less than 9 %.