Computation of Solar Reflections from Photovoltaic Arrays

As photovoltaic (PV) arrays near transportation pathways and installations in urban areas continue to grow, concern arises about how solar reflections may distract people with potentially dangerous consequences. We demonstrate a method to calculate sunlight reflections as a function of date, time, and location dependent solar positions, and given PV module orientation. Mathematical methods have been used to study reflections, with numerous methods available to calculate reflections under various circumstances. Here, tools within the pvlib-python package were used to generate angles for the Sun's path, in order to calculate reflections in terms of elevation and azimuth angles, common measurements to the field of PV array design and analysis.