Renewable Energy, Vol.135, 1004-1012, 2019
Experimental performance of commercial OPV panels tested outdoor
This work presents the experimental performance of commercial versions of organic photovoltaic (OPV) panels. Twenty four commercialized OPV panels of two different sizes (2.52 x 0.52 m and 1.29 x 0.52 m) were examined. Unfortunately, the company that provides the panels does not inform the technology behind the OPV they commercialize, but it provided a datasheet. We designed an outdoor test bench to make a parallelization between the commercial technology and scientific literature. The panels were bonded over a 0.04-m-thick acrylic layer to provide mechanical resistance and a clear view of the backside. The test bench was designed to allow panel tilt angles to be varied manually. We measured the total, beam, and diffuse radiation, along with the solar spectrum and all environmental conditions. Various topologies were tested, and results of power conversion efficiency (PCE) are presented. PCE was approximately 2% for all OPV panels, and was nearly stable during the four months of testing. PCE provided in the datasheet is similar to 3%, suggesting a loss of efficiency during the burn-in period. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.