Future Features

We often get asked what we will include in the next versions. So far, bifacial_radiance has had good success in the validation projects we've done with measured data, and this part of the work will continue, and for the most part the software provides everything we need to do these simulations -- from irradiance calculation, to obtain shading factors and electrical mismatch-- but more bells-and-whistles can still be added.

Here is a non-encompassing list of wish-list, github issues and some thoughts of where we will take this software. If you have specific things that you wish to be added we always accept new ideas.

Bifacial Radiance Wish List:

• Daily/Monthly albedo options / workflow. This is doable as it is now, you have to recreate the simulation each hourly step, but it'd be good to include a Journal to show this or an internal function that handles all of this.
• Implement clean up of results before saving CSVs (function to clean available but user must call it afterwards).
• PVMismatch option on GUI
• Easier scan function for full module irradiance distribution, not just slope. (Journals in Docs\ show how to hack this)
• Glass surface for modules to evaluate fresnel losses.
• Function to add new materials to ground/rad
• Modifiable distance of the sensors from surface. (Journals in Docs\ show how to hack this)
• HDR to PNG to display images on journals without the viewer? Viewer option shown in journals.
• Different number of sensors for Front and Back Scan
• multiple sceneObjs WITH tracking. This works for hourly simulations at the moment ~ Journal shows how to do "tracking" with the hourly simulations.
• Clean-up scene definitions on the object-oriented-programming ~ approx 4 of them on trackerdict
• Modifiable module thickness
• Frames
• More racking options
• Streamline irradiance results as input to SAM
• Streamline or document how to use irradiance results as input to PVSyst
• Full spectral raytraces (see Lo et al. “New integrated simulation tool for the optimum design of bifacial solar panel with reflectors on a specific site” 2015)