10.3 Three Relevant Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
10.3.1 Energy Rating for Modules on Trackers . . . . . . . . . . . 260
10.3.2 Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV) and Energy
Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
10.3.3 Energy Rating for Bifacial PV Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
10.4 Energy Losses and Failure Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
10.4.1 Power Losses from the Module to the Grid . . . . . . . . . 264
10.4.2 Overview of Module Failure Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
10.4.3 The Timeline of Failure Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.4.4 Unrecoverable Failure Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
10.4.5 Partially Recoverable Failure Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
10.4.6 “Recoverable” Failure Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
10.5 Simulation and Monitoring: Energy Yield Measurement . . . . . . 276
10.5.1 Standard Simulation, Open-Source
and Commercial Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
10.5.2 Measuring Equipment for Energy Yield
Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
11 Solar Photovoltaics on Land, Water, and Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Alessandro Virtuani
11.1 Solar Electricity for Powering the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
11.2 Solar on Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
11.3 Solar on Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
11.4 Solar on Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
11.5 Solar in Developing Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
11.6 Solar Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
12 Solar PV Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Urs Muntwyler
12.1 Overview Solar PV Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
12.2 The Solar Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
12.3 Off-Grid PV Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
12.3.1 Off-Grid Stationary DC Applications on Earth . . . . . . . 309
12.3.2 Off-Grid Installations Without Storage
Systems—Components/Sizes/Reliability/Yield/
Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
12.3.3 Components of Off-Grid DC PV Applications . . . . . . . 310
12.3.4 Design of an Off-Grid System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
12.3.5 Balance Off Systems (BOS)—Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
12.3.6 Off-Grid Installations with Storage System
and AC-Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
12.3.7 Off-Grid Installations Without Storage—Solar
Pumps Etc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
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