A general illumination method to predict bifacial photovoltaic system performance

Erin Tonita is currently a PhD candidate in physics at the University of Ottawa under the supervision of Dr. Karin Hinzer of the SUNLAB. Her research activities focus on the modeling and characterization of bifacial photovoltaic technologies for diesel displacement in the Arctic. Her hobbies include biking, interpretive dance, and astrophotonics. Christopher Valdivia is a senior research scientist in the University of Ottawa's SUNLAB, with more than 20 years of research in photonics. He holds a PhD from the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, UK (2007). His research focus is renewable solar energy generation and photonic power, with activities spanning novel photonic device design to systems energy yield modeling. Annie Russell is a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa SUNLAB where she develops the bifacial PV performance software, DUET. She works from unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Michael Martinez-Szewczyk is currently a PhD student at Arizona State University under the supervision of Dr. Mariana Bertoni. His research activities focus on novel low-resistance silver metallization for low-temperature applications and their use in next-generation photovoltaic devices by way of dispense printing. Mariana I. Bertoni is a professor at Arizona State University. She received her PhD in 2007 from Northwestern University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her group focuses on defect engineering and advanced characterization of solar cells and modules. Karin Hinzer is vice-dean of research of the Faculty of Engineering and a professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a cross-appointment in the Department of Physics at the University of Ottawa and is the university research chair in photonic devices for energy. She has published over 190 refereed papers and trained over 170 highly qualified personnel, and her laboratory has spun-off three Canadian companies in the energy sector. Her research interests include new materials, high-efficiency light sources and light detectors, photovoltaics, solar modules, new electrical grid architectures, and power converters.