By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
In light of other solar industry news on the policy side, it’s easy to forget the hardware portion of the industry is still chugging along despite the obstacles put in front of them like tariffs and other chicanery by policymakers beholden to the fossil fuel interests. But innovations are still going on in the module market, including bifacial modules.
Bifacial (literally: two faces) solar modules can generate energy not only from the front side, but from the back side as well. The sunlight on the ground is reflected to the glass-covered back side of the module, producing extra solar energy in a solar system, significantly reducing the solar system’s levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), hence higher return on investment (ROI). Depending on the albedo (reflectivity) of the ground and other site conditions, daily energy yield for projects with bifacial modules can be 5-20% higher than with conventional polymer backsheet modules. This improved yield can dramatically enhance the economics of solar system deployments.
Now one company is betting that these modules will become a major portion of the U.S. market – and they’re intent on proving it by supplying a major Northwest project with their own spin on the new technology.
Canadian Solar, one of the world’s largest solar power companies, announced that the company has delivered 10 MW of Canadian Solar bifacial PV modules – BiKu CS3U-PB-AG – to Neighborhood Power for four solar power projects near Portland, Oregon. This represents the first significant delivery of bifacial solar PV modules into the United States.
Neighborhood Power chose Canadian Solar bifacial modules because the additional energy gain is significant enough to compensate for the new tariffs on solar modules and steel mounting equipment, and the extra power gain made their solar projects economical again.
“When the solar industry was hit with tariffs on solar modules and steel, it seemed that rising landed costs had priced these projects out of the market,” said Stephen Gates, President, Neighborhood Power Corporation. “But with the additional power generated by Canadian Solar’s bifacial modules, delivered in the quantities and in the timeframe we needed, we were able to make the project economics work and bring these projects online by the end of 2018 as planned.”
Canadian Solar BiKu bifacial modules are warranted for 30 years, 5 years longer than the industry standard, and have a lower degradation rate, which results in 20% additional yield over the lifetime of the solar module. When added to the additional daily bifacial yield of 5-20%, Canadian Solar BiKu bifacial modules deliver up to 44% additional lifetime value compared to conventional modules.