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summary facing east facing south facing west
summary facing east facing south facing west
monthly solar PV data for Madrid using PVGIS 5.2

Summary of different orientations of free standing solar PV panels, using optimal inclinations versus ideal two axis tracking



Table 1: quarterly normalized energy distribution for different free standing solar PV orientations in Madrid
MadridkWh/yearQ1+Q4Q2+Q3Q1Q2Q3Q4
Two axis tracking226140.0%60.0%20.8%29.0%31.0%19.2%
Facing east, slope 28.0°132132.7%67.3%17.9%33.8%33.5%14.8%
Facing south, slope 37.0°163342.9%57.1%22.2%27.6%29.5%20.6%
Facing west, slope 0.0°137132.0%68.0%17.5%34.0%34.0%14.5%
Source: energy.at-site.be/pvgis52, non-commercial use permitted
Data source: PVGIS 5.2 © 2001-2023 European Communities - PVcalc tool
Two axis tracking and Free standing with optimized fixed slope - Radiation model: PVGIS-SARAH2 - Loss=14%

Quarters: Q1 = Jan + Feb + Mar; Q2 = Apr + May + Jun; Q3 = Jul + Aug + Sep; Q4 = Oct, Nov, Dec

East facing free standing solar PV, for different inclinations



Table 2: normalized cumulative and monthly energy distributions for different free standing solar PV inclinations oriented to the east in Madrid
MadridkWh/kWpeakJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Facing east; slope 28.0°; cumulative distribution13214.3%9.7%17.9%27.6%39.3%51.7%64.7%76.3%85.2%91.8%96.1%100%
Facing east: slope 28.0°; monthly distribution13214.3%5.4%8.2%9.7%11.7%12.4%13.0%11.6%9.0%6.6%4.3%3.9%
Facing east; slope 0.0°; cumulative distribution13714.1%9.4%17.5%27.3%39.0%51.5%64.8%76.5%85.5%92.1%96.3%100%
Facing east: slope 0.0°; monthly distribution13714.1%5.3%8.1%9.8%11.7%12.5%13.3%11.7%9.0%6.5%4.3%3.7%
Facing east; slope 30.0°; cumulative distribution13124.3%9.7%17.9%27.7%39.4%51.7%64.7%76.2%85.2%91.8%96.1%100%
Facing east: slope 30.0°; monthly distribution13124.3%5.4%8.2%9.7%11.7%12.3%13.0%11.5%9.0%6.6%4.3%3.9%
Facing east; slope 60.0°; cumulative distribution11194.6%10.2%18.6%28.3%39.7%51.7%64.2%75.6%84.5%91.3%95.8%100%
Facing east: slope 60.0°; monthly distribution11194.6%5.6%8.4%9.7%11.5%12.0%12.5%11.4%8.9%6.8%4.5%4.2%
Facing east; slope 90.0°; cumulative distribution7945.0%10.7%19.3%28.9%40.2%51.8%63.9%75.2%84.0%90.9%95.5%100%
Facing east: slope 90.0°; monthly distribution7945.0%5.7%8.6%9.7%11.3%11.6%12.1%11.3%8.9%6.9%4.6%4.5%
Data source: PVGIS 5.2 © 2001-2023 European Communities - PVcalc tool

South facing free standing solar PV, for different inclinations



Table 3: normalized cumulative and monthly energy distributions for different free standing solar PV inclinations oriented to the south in Madrid
MadridkWh/kWpeakJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Facing south; slope 37.0°; cumulative distribution16336.6%13.6%22.2%31.0%40.4%49.9%60.2%70.3%79.4%87.3%93.6%100%
Facing south: slope 37.0°; monthly distribution16336.6%7.0%8.6%8.8%9.4%9.5%10.3%10.1%9.1%7.9%6.3%6.4%
Facing south; slope 0.0°; cumulative distribution13714.1%9.4%17.5%27.3%39.0%51.5%64.8%76.5%85.5%92.1%96.3%100%
Facing south: slope 0.0°; monthly distribution13714.1%5.3%8.1%9.8%11.7%12.5%13.3%11.7%9.0%6.5%4.3%3.7%
Facing south; slope 30.0°; cumulative distribution16236.2%13.0%21.6%30.4%40.2%50.1%60.8%71.2%80.3%88.0%94.0%100%
Facing south: slope 30.0°; monthly distribution16236.2%6.8%8.6%8.9%9.7%9.9%10.7%10.4%9.1%7.7%6.0%6.0%
Facing south; slope 60.0°; cumulative distribution15287.8%15.7%24.7%33.0%41.2%49.1%57.9%67.1%76.3%84.9%92.2%100%
Facing south: slope 60.0°; monthly distribution15287.8%7.9%9.0%8.3%8.2%8.0%8.7%9.3%9.2%8.6%7.3%7.8%
Facing south; slope 90.0°; cumulative distribution108510.2%19.7%29.4%36.8%42.9%48.0%53.7%61.2%70.3%80.4%89.6%100%
Facing south: slope 90.0°; monthly distribution108510.2%9.6%9.6%7.4%6.1%5.1%5.7%7.5%9.2%10.1%9.2%10.4%
Data source: PVGIS 5.2 © 2001-2023 European Communities - PVcalc tool

West facing free standing solar PV, for different inclinations



Table 4: normalized cumulative and monthly energy distributions for different free standing solar PV inclinations oriented to the west in Madrid
MadridkWh/kWpeakJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Facing west; slope 0.0°; cumulative distribution13714.1%9.4%17.5%27.3%39.0%51.5%64.8%76.5%85.5%92.1%96.3%100%
Facing west: slope 0.0°; monthly distribution13714.1%5.3%8.1%9.8%11.7%12.5%13.3%11.7%9.0%6.5%4.3%3.7%
Facing west; slope 0.0°; cumulative distribution13714.1%9.4%17.5%27.3%39.0%51.5%64.8%76.5%85.5%92.1%96.3%100%
Facing west: slope 0.0°; monthly distribution13714.1%5.3%8.1%9.8%11.7%12.5%13.3%11.7%9.0%6.5%4.3%3.7%
Facing west; slope 30.0°; cumulative distribution12824.3%9.9%18.0%27.6%39.0%51.2%64.2%75.8%84.8%91.5%96.0%100%
Facing west: slope 30.0°; monthly distribution12824.3%5.6%8.1%9.7%11.3%12.2%13.0%11.6%9.0%6.7%4.5%4.0%
Facing west; slope 60.0°; cumulative distribution10834.6%10.5%18.6%28.2%39.1%50.9%63.5%74.9%83.9%90.8%95.6%100%
Facing west: slope 60.0°; monthly distribution10834.6%5.8%8.2%9.6%10.9%11.8%12.7%11.3%9.1%6.9%4.8%4.4%
Facing west; slope 90.0°; cumulative distribution7594.9%11.1%19.3%28.7%39.1%50.4%62.7%73.7%82.9%90.1%95.2%100%
Facing west: slope 90.0°; monthly distribution7594.9%6.2%8.3%9.4%10.4%11.3%12.3%11.1%9.1%7.2%5.1%4.8%
Data source: PVGIS 5.2 © 2001-2023 European Communities - PVcalc tool

Acknowledgement: many thanks to the PVGIS team for open access to PVGIS 5.2 PVcalc tool. Source - "Photovoltaic Geographic Information System (PVGIS)", European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC). Online tool available at re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis.html - PVGIS Ⓒ European Communities, 2001-2023.

Methods: in this work, monthly data for various solar panel orientations is combined. An explanation of PVGIS data sources and calculation methods is available in [1]. Papers [2][3][4][5] provide additional background on the PVGIS methods and references [6][7][8][9] detail the used solar radiation models. In this work we use the proposed (default) solar radiation model per region of PVGIS and we use city names to refer to specific coordinates on the world map. Ocean locations are not modelled in the PVGIS tool, hence we limit ourselves to the land mass of the planet. Both free standing and building integrated (rooftop) solar panels are simulated, with a slope of 0 a horizontal panel and a slope of 90 degrees a vertical oriented panel, for example to mount on a wall. The used PVcalc simulation does not take into account detailed local shadowing effects. Also the invertor is not modelled in detail, and grid saturation is not taken into account as well as dirt on the panels. All these aspects can decrease the effective yield of the PV solar panels. A limitation of PVGIS5.2 is that the optimal inclination of a solar panel is not correctly computed for building integrated solar panels facing west.

References:

[1]
Overview of PVGIS data sources and calculation methods.
joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/pvgis-photovoltaic-geographical-information-system/getting-started-pvgis/pvgis-data-sources-calculation-methods_en
[2]
Huld, T.; Müller, R.; Gambardella, A. A new solar radiation database for estimating PV performance in Europe and Africa. Solar Energy 2012, 86, 1803-1815.
doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2012.03.006
[3]
Gracia Amillo, A.; Huld, T.; Müller, R. A New Database of Global and Direct Solar Radiation Using the Eastern Meteosat Satellite, Models and Validation. Remote Sensing 2014, 6, 8165-8189.
doi:10.3390/rs6098165
[4]
Huld, T.; Gracia Amillo, A. Estimating PV Module Performance over Large Geographical Regions: the role of Irradiance, Air Temperature, Wind Speed and Solar Spectrum. Energies 2015, 8, 6, 5159-5181.
doi:10.3390/en8065159
[5]
A.M. Gracia Amillo, N. Taylor, A.M. Martinez, E.D. Dunlop, P. Mavrogiorgios, F. Fahl, G. Arcaro, I. Pinedo (2021): Adapting PVGIS to Trends in Climate, Technology and User Needs, Proc. 38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, p. 907-911
doi:10.4229/EUPVSEC20212021-5BO.6.1
[6]
Müller, Richard; Pfeifroth, Uwe; Träger-Chatterjee, Christine; Cremer, Roswitha; Trentmann, Jörg; Hollmann, Rainer (2015): Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) - Edition 1, Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring.
doi: 10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/SARAH/V001
[7]
Pfeifroth, Uwe; Kothe, Steffen; Trentmann, Jörg; Hollmann, Rainer; Fuchs, Petra; Kaiser, Johannes; Werscheck, Martin (2019): Surface Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) - Edition 2.1, Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring
doi: 10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/SARAH/V002_01
[8]
Hersbach, H, Bell, B, Berrisford, P, et al. The ERA5 global reanalysis. Q J R Meteorol Soc. 2020; 146: 1999– 2049.
doi: 10.1002/qj.3803
[9]
Manajit Sengupta, Yu Xie, Anthony Lopez, Aron Habte, Galen Maclaurin, James Shelby, The National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB), Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 89, 2018, Pages 51-60.
doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.003

Additional PVGIS publications are available at: ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/PVGIS/about/who.


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