Simulation and measurement of monofacial and bifacial modules in a 1D tracking system

We compare the simulated and experimental power P
_MP
generated by the central modules of a 1D tracking system. We find that the simulated P
_MP
of four different module types (one monofacial and three bifacial) is within ±2% of the measured P
_MP
at almost all times on a clear summer day, and that the variability of bifacial gain throughout the day can be predicted to within ±0.5% absolute. At times of cloud, however, we find that the discrepancy increases to between -20 and +10%, and the variability in bifacial gain increases to ±2%. The greater discrepancy is partly due to instruments being unable to attain steady state measurements during fluctuating conditions.