Energy loss due to shading in a BIPV application

Building integrated PV systems are often subject to shading. This results in the loss of available irradiation and, in case of partial shading, it may result in the so-called mismatch loss. Monitoring data of a BIPV system were used to quantify these effects. The simulation tool PVSYST has been used to model the same effects. Comparison of the measured and modelled results show that the in-plane irradiation can be calculated from the irradiation on the horizontal plane accurately, even in presence of shading elements. The calculated mismatch loss due to the partial shading of strings seems to be overestimated in case of the chosen PV system.