Bifacial photovoltaic technology for the oil and gas industry

The oil and gas industry has a tremendous challenge in powering its remote and off-grid locations. Conventional power systems require large investments and complex projects to achieve a reliable and efficient power supply at those locations. Realizing this fact, Saudi Aramco has completed many solar panel PV system installations projects. The company is aiming to gain familiarity with different renewable technologies, build operating experience, and to achieve a reliable and cost-effective power supply to its widespread remote locations. However, traditional solar panel PV systems installed in Saudi Arabia are exposed to a harsh environment and accumulated dust impacts the system performance. In this paper a pilot project was implemented using a bifacial grid-connected PV system mounted vertically and facing east-west direction. The purpose is to examine bifacial PV system capability to withstand harsh environment compared to traditional mono-facial inclined PV system facing south, and to examine the system performance.