Browsing by Author "Sheth, Namrata"

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    Effect Of Snow On Solar Photovoltaic Systems In Alberta
    (2016) Sheth, Namrata
    Alberta lies in the highest irradiance regions of Canada and has a cold climate which makes it the best candidate to expand its installed solar photovoltaic capacity. Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan to shut down coal generated electricity is another motivation to develop renewables like solar PV. However, there is a significant amount of snow in Alberta, which may hinder the electricity generation ability of photovoltaic systems. The primary objective of this paper is to find the effect of snow on electricity generation by photovoltaic systems in Alberta. A photovoltaic system is set up in Calgary for the experimental research. The result is there is a 9% loss in energy yield per year due to snow accumulation which is quite an insignificant loss considering the analysis is in the absence of bypass diodes.