Optical-electrical-thermal model of flexible non-planar photovoltaic modules: Decoupling, validation, and photoelectric performance analysis

The advanced flexible photovoltaic (PV) module can be molded into three-dimensional shapes, allowing it to adapt to complex nonplanar building surfaces and generate electricity for building occupants. However, limited theoretical research has been done on multi-physics simulations to predict performance under dynamic operating conditions. This paper presents a comprehensive optical-electrical-thermal (O-E-T) model for flexible curved PV modules. The model incorporates an optical model to determine solar irradiance distribution, a thermal model to calculate operating temperature, and an electrical model to predict power output. A simplified approach assumes uniform solar irradiance across the curved surface while maintaining the total irradiance intensity of real-world non-uniform distributions. The model is validated through indoor and outdoor experiments. The parametric analysis related to the curvature and the azimuth angle demonstrates that vertical-installed curved PV modules show promising power generation potential in summer, particularly at larger central angles, as off-south orientations benefit from morning&evening smaller solar incident angles. A case study on a curved PV-tiled roof optimized using a genetic algorithm shows that flat-installed PV tiles on a sloped roof produce 10.32 % more energy than curved PV tiles (2413.11 kWh vs. 2187.42 kWh).