Assessment of PV Performance-Enhancing Technologies in Desert Climate Conditions of Dubai

Dubai receives 2,200 KW/m2 of global horizontal irradiance (GHI) annually, and its desert areas have an albedo of 0.4, making it an excellent location to generate electricity through photovoltaics (PV). However, it also has extremely hot temperatures in the summer and constant dust. Therefore, this study investigated and compared several performance-enhancing technologies, installation parameters, and site conditions to produce relevant information for improving the behavior of PV plants in Dubai's urban and desert conditions. The results of simulations carried out in the System Advisor Model (SAM). For monofacial modules the energy production is increased using: ideal thermal management by 12% (fixed horizontal); single-axis east-west trackers by 34.2%; and their combination by 52.8%. Fixed-mounted bifacial modules produce 19% more than the base case of horizontally tilted monofacial modules without thermal management, and this type of module in a single-axis tracker achieved more than 54% improvement. Monofacial module mounted over dual axis tracker with thermal management showed the best increment in energy yield of all cases.