The 2023 Doha bifiPV Workshop will be hosted on December 3rd-6th of 2023. This workshop will explore desert bifacial PV, as well as new technological and industry status of this technology.

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The 2023 Doha bifiPV Workshop is hosted by ISC Konstanz, Germany, and QEERI, Qatar

Chairs welcome message

Dear bifiPV colleagues,

In only 20 years, photovoltaic (PV) solar energy has evolved from barely 0.5 GW to 1.1 TW of installed capacity in 2022, of which around 70% has been installed in the past five years. During the last years, developers of PV power plants have increasingly opted for bifacial crystalline silicon PV modules accounting today for more than 30% of the market share. This market share will continue growing as most of the international roadmaps anticipate a promising market for bifacial modules with more than 70% of market share by 2033.

The climatic conditions of arid and semi-arid regions – especially hot deserts- seem to provide the best conditions for the use of bifacial PV due to a high solar irradiation throughout the year and the high natural albedo, thereby promising high energy yields, especially when installed on single-axis tracker. This has been demonstrated by the fact that the last years lowest Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and record-low solar tariffs have taken place for bifacial tracked technologies installed in desert environments, as for example in Qatar 2020, UAE (date), Saudi Arabia (date), Australia (date), Arizona (USA, (date), Chile (date) and others. At the same time there are unique challenges to bifacial modules such as degradation mechanisms, rear-side irradiation optimization, modeling, and potentially two-sided soiling and cleaning. With the high potential and market future development in these hot desert regions, we are honored and delighted to welcome you to the 9th bifiPV Workshop 2023, that will be hosted by the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) under Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) on December 3rd to 6th at Education City in Doha, Qatar,

Top international leaders in bifacial technology will gather for four-days to discuss the current status of the technology and the latest developments and advancements in the field of bifacial PV. The bifiPV workshop will bring together PV equipment researchers, manufacturers, and project developers to discuss the challenges and opportunities of bifacial PV technology and power plant operations. The program includes oral and visual presentations covering a range of topics from solar cell technology to PV modules, from system applications to albedo enhancement, from energy yield and modelling to qualification, characterization, and reliability, power plant operations and strategies to reduce O&M costs. There will also be special sessions focusing on the development of PV sector in desert environments and the bifacial PV era.

The workshop will be complemented with a technical tour to the QEERI’s Outdoor Test Facility (OTF);a 35000 m2 test site equipped with “plug-and-play” test benches for PV modules and strings and the largest HSAT facility in the MENA region for research, development and testing purposes

Hot and sunny regards

Verónica Bermúdez, Juan Lopez-Garcia, Ben Figgis