Publication Date:
2014-08-29
Description:
We investigated the effect of contrails on global shortwave radiation and on solar energy gain. The study was done for days with a high contrail persistence and looking at situations where the contrails were obstructing the sun. Measurements of cloudiness using a fish eye camera, diffuse and direct shortwave measurements and measurements of the short circuit current of three different types of photovoltaic (PV) modules were performed at the solar observatory Kanzelhöhe (1540 m a.s.l.) during a period of one year with a time resolution of one minute. Our results show that contrails moving between sun and observer/sensor may reduce the global radiation by up to 72%. A statistic of contrail persistence and influence of contrails on global irradiance and solar energy gain is presented. The losses in solar energy gain that were recorded may even be critical under some circumstances for PV system performance.
Electronic ISSN:
1867-8610
Topics:
Geosciences
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