A comparative analysis of polycrystalline and bifacial photovoltaic module under various partial shading condition

•Front and rear side partial shading analysis is done for bifacial PV module.•Performance of bifacial PV module is better during front side partial shading.•Equal performance is shown in both the PV modules during rear side partial shading.•Bifacial PV module extracts more power in low partial shading condition. A bifacial photovoltaic module (BPVM) has gained prominence over the last decade due to its high efficiency due to the arrangements to grab the photon on both sides of the module. It has been shown that partial shading substantially affects the performance of polycrystalline photovoltaic module (PPVM) and BPVMs. A comparison of the performance of PPVM and BPVMs under different partial shading conditions is presented in this paper. Experiments were conducted on polycrystalline and BPVM with 320 W and 395 W, respectively. Module performance is analyzed in terms of percentage power extraction, percentage power loss, and power extraction per square meter. A partial shading for the front and rear side of BPVM has been developed and the results are presented. Based on the results, the average loss due to frontside partial shading is 26% lower in BPVM than in polycrystalline.