Accepted Manuscript

Measurement and Investigation of the Incident Radiation in Case of Using

Transparent Pyramidal Covers for Improving the Solar Panel’s Power Output

M. Talaat, Abdulaziz S. Alsayyari, Mohamed A. Essa, M.A. Yousef

PII: S0263-2241(18)31220-X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2018.12.075
Reference: MEASUR 6209

To appear in: Measurement

Received Date: 3 October 2018

Revised Date: 20 November 2018
Accepted Date: 23 December 2018

Please cite this article as: M. Talaat, A.S. Alsayyari, M.A. Essa, M.A. Yousef, Measurement and Investigation of
the Incident Radiation in Case of Using Transparent Pyramidal Covers for Improving the Solar Panel’s Power
Output, Measurement (2018), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2018.12.075

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 Measurement and Investigation of the Incident Radiation in Case of
Using Transparent Pyramidal Covers for Improving the Solar Panel’s
Power Output
M. Talaat1,2*, Abdulaziz S. Alsayyari3, Mohamed A. Essa4 and M. A. Yousef1
1
Electrical Power & Machines Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, 44519 Zagazig,
Egypt.
2
Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Shaqra University, Dawadmi, Ar Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia.
3
Computer Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Shaqra University, Dawadmi, Ar Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia.
4
Mechanical Power Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, 44519 Zagazig, Egypt.
*m_mtalaat@eng.zu.edu.eg

Abstract
A new approach is presented to enhance the solar radiation intensity incident over the solar panel by
using a transparent cover of pyramidal shapes. The pyramidal cover shape is manufactured of
Polymethylmethacrylate dielectric material. The normal height of each pyramid is considered as a ratio
of the base length. This ratio is considered in the present study to be 0.5, 1, and 1.5. The effect of the
pyramidal covers on the solar panel voltage has been studied at different conditions. The experimental
results confirm that the pyramidal cover shape causes the improvement to the solar panel output
voltage by 4.2% when covering all the panel with pyramids of R=1 with a light incidence angle of 90
when the light rays come parallel to the panel surface. This improvement is found to decreases with
covering fewer areas of the solar panel and with fewer incidence angles. It is found also that the
distance between the light source and the panel is proportional to the output voltage improvement ratio
compared to the panels output voltage without pyramidal cover. A mathematical model has been
presented to prove the concept of increasing the electric and magnetic field of the incident radiation
from the sun in case of presence of the transverse transparent barrier. Moreover, a mathematical ray
tracking model was presented and validated with the experimental results by a maximum relative error
of 14.8%

Keywords: Incident radiation; polarization; enhancement of solar radiation; transverse of transparent

barrier; enhancement of light field radiation; solar panel improvement.

1. Introduction
The importance of the renewable energy resources has been raised rapidly in the last decades for its
renewability and fewer pollution effects. The general trend became to optimize the utilization of these
resources to obtain maximum energy capture efficiency. So, new techniques have been introduced to
enhance the energy from renewable energy resources. Several renewable resources of energy were
used to produce power. Solar energy has advancement of environmental compatibility compared to
the other types of the renewable energy resources. Recently, a variety of methods was applied to
increase the efficiency of photovoltaic panels [1-8]. These methods are classified mainly into two
groups applied on solar panels to increase its efficiency. The First group includes modifying the
internal construction of the solar panel itself. The second group includes modifying the external
geometry and orientation of the solar panel to enhance the collected radiation and hence increase the
system efficiency.

In the first method, a variety of techniques were applied to the surface of the semiconductor material.
The material of the internal structure can be metallic, dielectric, or apart of semi-conductor itself. One
of these techniques proposed adding a Nano-cone silicon structure on the panel [9]. In this study, four
different structures were investigated. The cone structure was added to the top side of the silicon layer,
the bottom side, both sides together (double face) and a normal structure cell. The comparison was
performed among the four proposed structures considering the absorption and photocurrent. It was
observed that the absorption of the double-face Nano-cone was close to the Yablonovitch limit. The
photocurrent of the double-face Nano-cone equal 97.46% of the Yablonovitch limit. So, the double-
face Nano-cone structure gave the best efficiency.

Another structure was suggested as Inverted Nanopyramid structure (INS) [10]. In this research, the
pyramids were made of SiNx material. It was drilled down into the Thin film crystalline silicon (CSI)
solar cells surfaces. It was observed that INS with 10 𝜇𝑚 thickness gave 37.5 𝑚𝐴/𝑐𝑚2 photocurrent
but the thin film CSI with 300 𝜇𝑚 thickness gave 37.2 𝑚𝐴/𝑐𝑚2 photocurrent. So, INS with 10 𝜇𝑚
thickness provide better performance than thin film CSI cells with a thickness of 300 𝜇𝑚. There was
a reduction in silicon material leading to lower manufacturing cost. The value of Yablonovitch limit
for the applied INS was 39.4 𝑚𝐴/𝑐𝑚2. So, the result of INS was close to Yablonovitch limit.

Another researcher investigated the effect of applying three different structures on the solar cell surface
to be regular upright pyramids, regular inverted pyramids, and random upright pyramids numerically
[11]. The reflectance and transmittance were calculated for these structures. These calculations were
tested for different layer thickness and anti-reflecting coating (ARC) materials which have different
refraction index. They applied the optimal thickness of ARC that gave the maximum photocurrent.
They observed that the ARC with refraction index ≥ 1.59 permits multi-ray reflections and hence
enhance the photocurrent. Also, they found that the photocurrent of the regular inverted pyramids gave
a lower solar weighted reflectance (SWR) and so the photo current increased.

Another research presented a comparison of three different structures to solar cell surfaces. These
structures were a flat cell, a cell made of Ag-coated Asahi U-type glass and a cell with 500 nm
thickness pitch hemi-ellipsoidal [12]. The hemi-ellipsoidal structure was proposed as a new structure
for the solar cell. By using a specific simulation, the absorbance and the external quantum efficiency
were calculated for the three structures. It was found that using the hemi-ellipsoidal structure improves
the external quantum efficiency and absorbance as compared to flat film and Ag-coated Asahi glass.

Resonant dielectric sphere structure shape was investigated as well [13]. In this research, the
absorption of the spherical geometry increases as compared to flat film, as its spherical shape allows
the solar cell to collect light over a large range of incidence angles. The photocurrent for spherical
geometry was measured to be 13.77 𝑚𝐴/𝑐𝑚2 while for the flat film was 12.33𝑚𝐴/𝑐𝑚2 .

Another research applied Topology Optimization scheme (TO) [14]. They used Transparent
Conducting Oxide (TCO) material of ZNO on the top of the thin film solar cell and a mixture of the
TCO and reflection metal film material of Ag on the bottom of the thin film solar cell. The TO gave
the best distribution shape of surface texture of the bottom part at different incident angles to control
the direction of incident light. Depending on Snell's law, repeated internal total reflections were
achieved to the incident light inside the solar panel.

An investigation of the effect of applying higher transparent material layer on the photovoltaic panel
was performed by [15]. They selected the high transparent new material as
(Cd0.75Zn0.25S/Zn0.79Mg0.21O/Zn0.88Mg0.12O:Al) which was compared by the traditional layer
( CdS/ZnO/ZnO:Al ). The conversion efficiency found to be higher using the proposed material as
compared to the traditional material.
Another research discussed the perovskite solar cells (PSC) and the enhancement of its performance
by the internal changes in its layers [16]. They added Epoxy layer and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)
above PSC in which PVP placed between the PSC and Epoxy to give a highly effective multilayer
encapsulation system. It was observed that the PSC with Epoxy only reduces the power conversion
efficiency (PCE) from (11.0 ± 0.1) to (8.7 ± 0.4)%. A research work was applied on the Organic
Photovoltaic (OPV) and proposed a technique to increase the PCE of these panels [17]. The
nanoparticle metal layer of OPV was formed to a specific shape to increase the light absorption. The
nanoparticle metal layer consisted of Au@poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) core-shell
tetrahedral. When the Au@PSS was placed under the active layer, the PCE reached to 9.42% (with a
maximum value of 9.53%).

In the second method, a variety of techniques were applied. One of these techniques was using solar
tracking devices. Different kinds of tracking solar radiation were explored in [18], the passive trackers,
the active trackers and Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). The passive trackers depend on
thermal expansion in its operation. They were simple as compared to active trackers but did not provide
the required efficiency. The active trackers depend on motors that control the direction of trackers.
They were complex and high-power consuming. However, they provide 30% increase in the produced
energy as compared to the fixed system. One of the defects of these trackers is that they need
maintenance continuously. The third type of tracking was (MPPT). It provides a theoretical mean to
achieve the maximum power point of the solar panel by using different algorithms.

A combination of the sun tracking, and the maximum power point tracking based on fuzzy controllers
was performed in [19]. The sun tracking based on fuzzy controller resulted in 24.5% increase of the
normal output power and the maximum power point tracking based on fuzzy controller resulted in
51% increase of the normal output power. The combination of the two tracking methods based on
fuzzy controller resulted in 78% increase of the normal output power. So, using two tracking system
based on fuzzy controller increased the efficiency of the solar panel.

Using simple component like reflecting mirror, concentrator and manual tracking to the sun increased
the solar panel efficiency [20], although using the mirrors was a very simple technique, these mirrors
needed to be cleaned daily. The efficiency of this simple technique was very low as compared to
automatic trackers.

In another research, they depend on forecasting the solar radiation as it was the main parameter of the
solar plant. Forecasting the solar radiation gave predicting of the solar plant energy. Two main
parameters were required to make forecasting like accurate radiometer and a device for measuring
atmospheric changes. They used public weather station data to measure the atmospheric changes. Two
experiments were performed in this research. The first experiment applied four types of predictors
depending on data collected in the near past at the same site. The percentage error was calculated for
these predictors to get the best to build a model of the solar radiation. The second experiment was
prediction of the solar radiation depending on the data obtained from the public weather station. The
public weather station was placed ten kilometers from the solar plant [21].

Another research presented the use of Data acquisition system (DAS) in monitoring and collecting the
PV system data. They applied a cost-effective DAS, the solar irradiance was estimated by measuring
the short circuit current instead of using electrical device. The difference between the calculated
irradiance and the measured short circuit current was very low and the result was convergent in the
clear weather. These differences increased in the cloud weather due to the cloud layer that permit for
only diffuse irradiance to reach the solar panel. The output parameters of the PV system also were
recorded, and its characteristics were drawn so, the performance of the PV was obtained. The result
proves that a cost-effective DAS can be applied to monitor and collect the PV date [22].

Other research works considered the dust as an important factor that effect on the performance of the
solar panel. Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis methodology (FMECA) was applied to
obtain all failure that effect on the performance of the panel. The failure was the dust and pollution on
the solar panel. They studied the effect of the dust on the characteristics of the solar panel. The data
was measured with the clear and the dirty solar panel, also the data was measured after different time
of cleaning. The LED source was used in the test as they need a repeatable and stable light source. So,
the FMECA can predict the failure before happening to avoid it [23].

In the present study, Enhancement of light intensity and preventing it from scattering in the air were
our goals. The authors followed the second method by changing the external geometry. A material of
Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was used to manufacture a pyramidal cover to the solar panel. This
material was also known as acrylic, Plexiglas, Perspex, or Lucite. Its features were high clear surface,
its transmission was greater than 92% and easily laser cut [24].

2. Proposed Mathematical Techniques

2.1 Light energy mathematical analysis

2.1.1 Light energy

The light is simply a type of electromagnetic energy radiation with different wavelengths. The
radiation is represented by photons with energy given by

ℎ𝑐
𝑊= (1)
𝜆
where, 𝑐 is the speed of light, 𝜆 is the light wavelength, and ℎ is the Planck constant.

The radiation energy can be apprehended by interacting with matter such as solids. According to
Maxwell's wave equation, the characteristics of electromagnetic radiation (light) is given as
 2
1 𝜕 2𝐸
𝛻 𝐸= 2 (2)
𝐶 𝜕𝑡 2

2
1 𝜕 2𝐻
∇ 𝐻= 2 (3)
𝐶 𝜕𝑡 2
where, 𝐸 and 𝐻 are the electric field intensity and the magnetic field strength respectively.

In the free space, the propagation of the electromagnetic radiation is given as the light speed, 𝑐, but in
other solid material this speed propagation is given by

𝐶
𝑣= (4)
ɳ

and

ɳ = √𝜇𝑟 𝜀𝑟 (5)

where, ɳ is the refraction index of the medium, 𝜇𝑟 is the relative permeability of the medium and 𝜀𝑟 is
the relative permittivity of the medium.

In one-dimensional, considering the electric field as a vector, the solution of equation (2) is given as

𝐸 (𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐸0 cos(𝜔𝑡 − 𝐾𝑥 + 𝜑) (6)

where, 𝐸0 is the initial value of the electric field before entering the solid matter, and 𝐾 is the wave
vector given by

2𝜋
𝐾= (7)
𝜆
and 𝜑 is the phase difference between 𝑥 and 𝑡.
1 2𝜋
The variation of the vector of the electric field intensity E for, (𝑇 = = ) and distance in
𝜐 𝜔
𝑥 −direction illustrates that 𝐸 is a constant in magnitude with constant phase, this means

𝜔𝑡 − 𝑘𝑥 + 𝜑 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡 (8)

𝑑𝑥 𝜔
= (9)
𝑑𝑡 𝑘
From equation (7)

𝑑𝑥 𝜔
= 𝜆
𝑑𝑡 2𝜋
1 2𝜋 𝜔
𝑇= = →𝜐=
𝜐 𝜔 2𝜋
𝑑𝑥
= 𝜐𝜆 (10)
𝑑𝑡
This is called phase velocity. To produce perfectly monochromatic light in practice it is impossible.
So, light usually moving as a packet with similar wave length. For a specific beam the propagation
velocity is the group velocity 𝑉𝑔 of the modulated wave, so, equation (9) is modified to

𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝜔
𝑉𝑔 = = (11)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑘
The source of light represented as appoint of light radiating in all directions. So, the electric field
intensity is proportional with distance from the light source.

𝐴
𝐸= cos(𝜔𝑡 − 𝑘𝑟) (12)
𝑟
where, 𝐴 is the strength of the light source.

The irradiance of light 𝐼𝑟 which represent the power density of the light (energy flow per unit time and
per unit area) can be proportional to

1
𝐼𝑟 𝛼 𝐸 2 𝛼 (13)
𝑟2
2.1.2 Reflection and Refraction

In the two-dimension, suppose two plane waves, one vibrating in 𝑥𝑧 −plane [𝐸𝑥 ] and the other
vibrating in 𝑦𝑧 −plane [𝐸𝑦 ] as shown in Figures 1 and 2:

𝐸𝑥 = 𝐸𝑥0 cos 𝜔𝑡 (14)

𝐸𝑦 = 𝐸𝑦0 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜃) (15)

By eliminating 𝜔t and combining equations (14) and (15)

2
𝐸𝑥 2𝐸𝑥 𝐸𝑦 𝐸𝑦 2
( ) − cos 𝜃 + ( ) = (sin 𝜃)2 (16)
𝐸𝑥0 𝐸𝑥0 𝐸𝑌0 𝐸𝑥

The electric field intensity of the incident beam can be resolved into two components, one parallel to
the plane of incidence 𝐸𝑡 and other normal to the plane of incidence 𝐸𝑛 .

For the incident beam, the reflected beam is highly plane-polarized, but the refracted beam is still
partially unpolarized, based on Snell's law

ɳ1 sin 𝜃1 = ɳ2 sin 𝜃2 (17)

From dielectric boundary condition,

𝐸𝑡1 = 𝐸𝑡2
} (18)
𝐷𝑛1 = 𝐷𝑛2

where,
 𝐷𝑛1 = 𝜀1 𝐸𝑛1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑛2 = 𝜀2 𝐸𝑛2

𝐸𝑡1 𝐸𝑡
tan 𝜃1 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 tan 𝜃2 = 2
𝐸𝑛1 𝐸𝑛2

tan 𝜃1 𝐸𝑡 𝐸𝑛 𝐸𝑛2
= 1 × 2=
tan 𝜃2 𝐸𝑛1 𝐸𝑡2 𝐸𝑛1

𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃1 𝐷𝑛2 𝜀1
= ×
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃2 𝜀2 𝐷𝑛1

So, the incident, reflection, and refraction angles at the pyramid surface can be determine according to
the relative permittivity of the medium as given below

𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃1 𝜀1
= (19)
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃2 𝜀2

So, if the relative permittivity of the transparent pyramid is higher than the relative permittivity of air
(like Polymethylmethacrylate). The value of inclined angle (𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃2 ) of the radiation will also be
increased.
𝜀2
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃2 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃1 (20)
𝜀1

This will increase the energy of the light after increasing the electric field
𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙

𝑊 = −𝑞 ∫ 𝐸 𝑑𝑙 = 1.6 × 10−19 × 𝐸2 × 𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃2 (𝑒𝑉) (21)

𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙

Also, by generalize the PV equivalent circuit by including both series and parallel resistances as shown
in Fig. 3.

We can now write the following equation for the current obtained from each individual cell,
𝑞
(𝑉+𝐼𝑅𝑆 )] 𝑉 + 𝐼𝑅𝑆
𝐼 = 𝐼𝑆𝐶 − 𝐼𝑜 (𝑒 [𝑘𝑇 − 1) − ( ) (22)
𝑅𝑃

where, 𝐼𝑆𝐶 is the current that flows when the terminals are shorted together (the short-circuit current),
𝐼𝑜 is the reverse saturation current (𝐴), 𝑞 is the electron charge (1.602 × 10−19 𝐶), 𝑘 is Boltzmann’s
constant (1.381 × 10−23 𝐽/𝐾), 𝑇 is the junction temperature (𝐾), 𝑅𝑆 is the series resistance of the
PV equivalent circuit, 𝑅𝑃 is the PV equivalent circuit that includes some parallel leakage resistance
and 𝑉 is the voltage across each individual cell.

From this equation the voltage across each individual cell is depending on the value of the normal
component of electric field intensity 𝑉 = 𝐸𝑛2 × 𝑑 where 𝑑 is the cell length. Therefore, the new
equation of the induced current obtained from each individual cell can be surmised as;
 [
𝑞
(𝐸 𝑑+𝐼𝑅𝑆 )] 𝐸𝑛2 𝑑 + 𝐼𝑅𝑆
𝐼 = 𝐼𝑆𝐶 − 𝐼𝑜 (𝑒 𝑘𝑇 𝑛2 − 1) − ( ) (23)
𝑅𝑃

2.2 Mathematical Ray tracking analysis

The ray analysis presented used two-dimensional analysis. The pyramid thickness was neglected as
compared to the pyramid dimensions. The radiation rays were assumed to be inclined on the horizontal
in the range from 0 to 𝜃𝑝 . The angles used in the analysis process are illustrated in Fig. 4. In this Figure,
𝜃𝑝 represents the inclination of the side edges on the base, 𝜃𝑖1 represents the rays’ incidence angle, 𝜃𝑖3
represents the base incident angle of the reflected rays, ∅𝑝 represents the head angle, 𝑏 represents the
base length, ℎ represents the pyramid height and 𝑑𝑛𝑟 represents the portion of the edge facing the rays
through which the rays will reach directly to the base without any internal reflections.

2.2.1 For the incidence ray angle in the counter clock wise direction
When the incident ray be below the line perpendicular to the surface, it is considered through the
following analysis as a counter clock wise ray (CCW). This analysis is based on Fig. 4 (a) applied for
(0 ≤ 𝜃𝑖1 ≤ 90 − 𝜃𝑝 ). When the rays come horizontally, all the rays will be affected by the reflection
on the internal surface of the facing edge. As incidence angle 𝜃𝑖1 decreases, a portion of these rays will
be directed to the pyramid base without reflection on the internal face of the facing edge. The length
of the edge on which the rays comes on can be calculated as a function of the incidence angle 𝜃1 as
follows:

sin(90 − 𝜃𝑖1 − 𝜃𝑝 )
𝑑𝑛𝑟 = 𝑏 × (24)
sin(90 + 𝜃𝑖1 )
So, the rest of the edge length through which the reflected rays pass is calculated as follows:
ℎ
𝑑𝑟 = − 𝑑𝑛𝑟 (25)
sin 𝜃𝑝

Using the two lengths, the radiation intensity reaching the pyramid bass can be calculated as follows;

𝐿𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 = 𝐿1 × 𝑑𝑛𝑟 × cos(𝜃𝑝 − 𝜃𝑖1 ) + 𝐿2 × 𝑑𝑟 × cos(𝜃𝑖3 ) (26)

Such that 𝐿1 is the radiation intensity passing through the LHS edge and 𝐿2 is the radiation intensity
after its reflection on the RHS edge, as illustrated in Fig. 4. (a). The values of 𝐿1 and 𝐿2 are defined as
follows:
𝐿1 = 𝐿 × 𝐹𝑝𝑒 (27)

Such that 𝐹𝑝𝑒 is the permeability coefficient, and

𝐿2 = 𝐿1 × 𝐹𝑟𝑒 (28)
Such that 𝐹𝑟𝑒 is the reflection coefficient.
The angle of the incidence on the base 𝜃3 is defined as follows:
 𝜃𝑝 − ∅𝑝 − 𝜃𝑖1 𝑖𝑓 𝜃𝑝 ≤ ∅𝑝 + 𝜃𝑖1
𝜃𝑖3 = { (29)
∅𝑝 + 𝜃𝑖1 − 𝜃𝑝 𝑖𝑓 𝜃𝑝 ≥ ∅𝑝 + 𝜃𝑖1

2.2.2 For the incidence ray angle in the clock wise direction
When the incident ray is above the line perpendicular to the surface, it is considered through the present
analysis as a clock wise direction ray (CW). This analysis is based on Fig. 4 (b) applied for (0 ≤ 𝜃𝑖1 ≤
2𝜃𝑝 − 90). This range permits the ray rotation from the perpendicular to the LHS edge position to the
RHS edge parallel position. The definitions of 𝐿𝑛𝑟 is modified in the CW analysis as follows;

sin(90 + 𝜃𝑖1 − 𝜃𝑝 )
𝑑𝑛𝑟 = 𝑏 × (30)
sin(90 − 𝜃𝑖1 )
The total radiation reaching the base is defined as follows:

𝐿𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 = 𝐿1 × 𝑑𝑛𝑟 × cos(𝜃𝑝 − 𝜃i1 ) + 𝐿2 × 𝑑𝑟 × cos(𝜃i3 ) (31)

The calculation of 𝑑𝑟 , 𝐿1 , 𝐿2 and 𝜃𝑖3 are as defined in the CCW analysis Eqns. (25, 27, 28 and 29)
respectively.

3. The Experimental Procedure

An opaque box was used to perform the experiment to overcome the radiation coming from outside
and to ensure the use of one radiation source which was a lamp of 120 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 (PAR38 EC) as
illustrated in Fig. 5 (a). A black opaque paper internally covered the box to minimize the internal
reflectivity inside the box. The solar panel used was 20 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡 power monocrystalline panel (𝑆𝑌 −
20𝑀). The solar panel and the radiation source were placed inside the box. The cell was connected to
the voltmeter which was outside the box. The Pyranometer was placed inside the black box and its
wire was followed externally to record the radiation intensity in the place of the pyramids.

Eight quadrilateral pyramids were manufactured from Perspex with 2 𝑚𝑚 thickness. The base of the
pyramid was square with length of 12𝑐𝑚. The pyramid height was varied to be a function of the base
length. Three different values of the pyramid height (𝑅) were applied by a ratio of the pyramid base
length. The values of 𝑅 applied were 0.5, 1, and 1.5 of the pyramid base length. another parameter was
applied to study the effect of the ratio of the panel area covered with pyramids with respect to the total
panel’s area. These were covering all the panel with the pyramids, covering 0.75 of the panel’s area
with pyramids from the light source side, covering 0.5 of the panel’s area, and covering 0.25 of the
panel’s area which used one row of pyramids from the light source side. In that experiment, the light
source was fixed on 61𝑐𝑚 from the panel center and the incidence angle was varied from 0 to 90 by
10 step. The measured irradiance of the used light at this distance was 1190 𝑊 ⁄𝑚2. The incidence
angle was defined as the angle between the light rays and the panel normal.

Another set of experiments were performed by fixing the light incidence angle to 90 and changing
the distance between the panel and the light source. The voltage and the irradiance were measured at
different distances. The measurements of the voltage were applied with and without the pyramids.

The light coming from the lamp is divided by the pyramids to three portions as illustrated in Fig. 5 (b).
5. Results and Discussion
5.1 Experimental Results

5.1.1 Effect of pyramids coverage area on the panel

Figure 6 illustrates the variation of the panel voltage output with the variation of the light incidence
angle (between light rays and panel normal). As can be observed, the panel voltage output is improved
only when this angle is 90 up to 88 approximately (parallel incident radiation condition). This
indicates the efficiency of using the pyramids of covering 0.25 of the panel area from the light source
side. This indicates that the panel output increased by 1.3% at this incidence angle. However, the effect
of the pyramids decreases as the value of incidence angle decreases. It can be observed that the pyramid
geometry of height of 0.5 base length gives the best performance over different angles of incidence.

When the pyramids cover 0.5 the panels area, at the incidence angle of 90, the panel output is
increases by 2.78% as illustrated at Fig. 7. However, the pyramids affect more negatively on the output
of the panel at incidence angles below 88. This refers to covering more area and preventing more light
from reaching the panel at the smaller angles.

As the pyramids cover more area of 75% of the panel, this enhances the panel output at 90𝑜 incidence
angle by 3.8%. however, the performance decreases with the lower incidence angles, see Fig. 8.

When covering the full panel area with pyramids, this enhances the performance at incidence angle of
90𝑜 by 4.2%. However, the performance is decreased more at the lower angles. This is illustrated at
Fig. 9.

From the presented curves, it can be observed that the effect of the pyramids is efficient at incidence
angles of the range 90 to 81 when covering all the panel’s area. This helps to collect the maximum
quantity of light to reach the panel. As illustrated in Fig. 10., it can be shown that as the height of the
pyramid increases, the inclination angle between the pyramid surfaces and the panel surface increase
causing the internal light rays to reflect away from the panel. On the other hand, when the height ratio
is low, this inclination ingle decreases causing the quantity of light reflected internally to be low. So,
the optimum pyramid height ration was found to be 𝑅 = 1. For incidence angles lower than 88𝑜 , the
effect of the pyramids is reversed as it acts as shadow elements on the panel which reduces the quantity
of the light that should reach to the panel.

5.1.2 Effect of the distance of the light source from the panel

As the existence of the pyramids is found to give the maximum performance at incidence angle of 90𝑜 ,
the distance of the light source from the panel was varied to study its effect on the enhancement ratio.
It was observed that, the voltage of the solar panel increased in the presence of pyramids as shown in
Fig. 11 and decreases with increasing the distance of the light source from the panel. This increase was
a result of reflection of the light on the inner surface of the pyramid face. This act as a concentrator for
the light as illustrated in Fig. 5 (b).
The percentage of these increase ranged from 0.87 𝑡𝑜 1.30 %. This percentage increased when the
distance between the radiation source and the solar panel increased as shown in Fig. 12. This refers to
the scattering of the radiation when the light source is far from the pyramids.

The irradiance of light was measured at the center and at different distances from the center. The
irradiance was large at the middle of the solar panel and less as measuring away from the mid of panel
making Gaussian distribution. The measuring points are illustrated in Fig. 13. The irradiance
distribution along the solar panel is represented in Fig. 14.

5.2 Numerical Results and validation

Using the mathematical ray tracking analysis, the optical collection of rays when applying pyramids
was applied. The diffuse factor of the used Perspex material was considered as 0.9 and the reflection
factor was considered as 0.1. A comparison between the collected energy fraction with and without
pyramids for the ratio ℎ/𝑏 equals to 1 and 1.5 is illustrated in Fig. 15.
The incidence angle is defined as the angled between the ray direction and the normal to the panel.
This means that the angle equals 90𝑜 when it comes parallel to the panels. It can be observed that the
effect of the pyramid is very efficient starting from an incidence angle of 90𝑜 . As this angle decreases,
the collecting efficiency of the pyramids decreases and the collection of the systems without pyramids
decreases until reaching to an angle of 73.5𝑜 in case of ℎ/𝑏 equals to 1.5, and 69𝑜 in case of ℎ/𝑏 = 1.
This gives the pyramids effect an importance for the radiation collecting efficiency at a range of 26𝑜
from the horizontal.
A focus of Fig. 9 in the range of angles from 80 to 90 is shown in Fig. 16. It can be observed that,
between the angles of incidence of 90 and 81.25 for ℎ/𝑏 of 1 and 1.5, the effect of the pyramids
exists. In the numerical results based upon the mathematical ray tracking model, the angle at which
the good effect of the pyramids vanishes at 69 and 73.5 for ℎ/𝑏 of 1 and 1.5 respectively. It can be
found that there is an agreement between the numerical and experimental results in the angle at which
the effect of the pyramids by a relative error of 9.25% and 14.8% for ℎ/𝑏 of 1.5 and 1 respectively.

6. Economic Analysis
The analysis of costs can be illustrated here, the cost consists of three terms as the following:

- the panel`s cost: -

It was referring to the cost of the solar panel. The average price per watt of a 20 𝑊 solar panel was
about 0.363$ in [25], so the cost of the panel was 7.26$.

- the installation cost:-

It was the cost of the quadrilateral pyramid of Perspex material. We used Perspex sheet of 3𝑚𝑚
thickness which its price was 5.57$ in.

- the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE)

The LCOE was 0.2 $/𝑘𝑊ℎ approximately in [26].

Power (P)

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼 (32)

If

𝑉𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐼𝑛𝑒𝑤
= (33)
𝑉 𝐼
So,

𝑃 ∝ 𝑉2 (34)

Therefore, the percentage increase in Power

𝑃𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑠 − 𝑃𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑠

% 𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 = × 100 (35)
𝑃𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑠

This can be presented also by;

𝑉 2 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑠 − 𝑉 2 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑠

% 𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 = × 100 (35)
𝑉 2 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑠

When covering the full panel area with pyramids of 𝑅 = 1, this increases the voltage at incidence angle
of 90𝑜 by 4.2% and the percentage increase in the power became 8.59%. The increase in the cost
would be 5.57$ due to pyramids. But we can save about 1.7 $/ℎ due to the increase in power.

7. Conclusions
A new technique of pyramidal covers was applied on the solar panel to increase its efficiency. Fractions
of 25, 50, 75 and 100% of the solar panel area was covered with pyramids of different height ratios
to study its effect on the panel voltage output. It was found that as the panel area covered fraction
increases, the panel output increases up to 4.2% at ray’s incidence angle of 90 with a pyramid height
to base length ratio of 1.0. As the incidence angle decreases, the panel output is affected negatively as
it acts as a separator between the rays and the panel. It was found that as the pyramids coverage area
decreases for low ray’s incidence angles, its effect decreases but still affect negatively on the total
panel output. The effect of the distance between the light source and the panel was found to affect the
percentage of pyramids enhancement for the panel output positively for the Lamp source. This is
explained by the scattering of the light of the lamp widely as the distance increases. This causes more
radiation to be collected by the pyramids as the distance is larger. A mathematical ray tracking model
was developed and validated with the experimental results by relative errors of 9.25% and 14.8% for
ℎ/𝑏 of 1.5 and 1 respectively.
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Medium 1
η1 θ1 θ1

Medium 2 η2 θ2

r
Plane of
incidence
Figure 1. The incident, reflection, and refraction angle at the pyramid surface interference where,
Incident angle 𝜃1 , reflection angle 𝜃1 and refraction angle 𝜃2 .

En E

Et

Figure 2. The tangent and normal component of the electric field intensity at the pyramid surface.
Figure 3. Equivalent circuit of a PV cell includes both parallel and series resistances
S)
( LH
Rig
ide

ht
ha
ds

Φp
nd
an

si d
ft h

e(
Le

L θi1
RH

L1 h
θi2
S)

θi3 L2
dnr θp θp

(a)
 L
θi1
Φp

L1
θi2

θi3 h

dnr
L2 θp
θp

(b)
Figure 4. The ray analysis for (a) the incidence ray angle is in the counter clock wise direction, (b)
the incidence ray angle is in the clock wise direction

(a)

Outer reflection

Passing out

inner Lamp light source

reflection
(b)
Figure 5. (a) experimental setup using the solar panel and arranged pyramids. (b) the three-portions
of the light incident on the pyramid (outer reflection, inner reflection and passing out) across the
pyramid surface

Figure 6. Pyramids effect with different incidence angles when covering 25% of the panel’s area

Figure 7. Pyramids effect with different incidence angles when covering 50% of the panel’s area

Figure 8. Pyramids effect with different incidence angles when covering 75% of the panel’s area
Figure 9. Pyramids effect with different incidence angles when covering 100% of the panel’s area

Figure 10. Voltage enhancement ratio of the pyramids of different 𝑅 effect with different coverage
area fractions of the panels area at 90 incidence angle.
Figure 11. The variation of obtained voltage from solar panel as a function of the location of light
source with and without pyramids

Figure 12. The percentage of increasing output voltage from solar panel due to pyramids

Figure 13. The location of the light source with respect to the solar panel and the arrangement
pyramids.

1200

at the center of the cell

1000
far 10 cm from the center
far 20 cm from the center

800
Irradiance in (w/m )
2

600

400

200

0
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Distance from light source to the cell in (m)
Figure 14. The variation of irradiance at different location on the solar panel surface as a function
of the location of light source with pyramids

0.21
Energy fraction with pyramid
0.18
Received energy fraction

energy fraction without pyramid

0.15

0.12

0.09

0.06

0.03

0
89 87 85 83 81 79 77 75 73
-0.03
Incidence angle [deg]

(a)

0.21
Energy fraction with pyramid
0.18 energy fraction without pyramid
Received energy fraction

0.15

0.12

0.09

0.06

0.03

0
90 88 86 84 82 80 78 76 74 72 70 68
Incidence angle [deg]
(b)
Figure 15. Collected Energy fraction with and without pyramid for (a) ℎ/𝑏 = 1.5, (b) ℎ/𝑏 = 1.
Figure 16. Pyramids effect with different incidence angles when covering 100% of the panel’s
area for the angle range of 80𝑜 to 90𝑜 .
 A new approach is presented for improving the solar panel’s output power.
 The effect of the pyramidal covers on the solar panel voltage has been studied at different
conditions.
 Results confirm that, the pyramidal cover enhance the solar panel output voltage by 4.2%
 A mathematical model is presented to describe the experimental results