Since solar shingle systems also functions as a roof, they can be subject to complex roof typologies with multiple orientations and shading. The smaller size of the solar shingles allow higher utilization of the roof area as modules can be installed on sections of the roof otherwise not installable using larger building applied PV modules. As a result, solar shingles are subject to mismatch losses by both shading and orientation variance. Such mismatch losses can be mitigated by incorporating power optimizers into the system. However, no study was found on the utilization of power optimizers in solar shingle systems. This study aims to fill this research gap by investigating the economic and technical feasibility of utilizing power optimizers in residential solar shingle systems in Oslo, Norway.
Mismatch scenarios by shading and orientation variance representative for residential systems in Norway were modelled to assess power optimizer´s ability to mitigate mismatch losses by shading and orientation variance. A deployment strategy was implemented to find the optimum deployment ratio. The shortest payback period for all the cases simulated was achieved by a 1:4 deployment ratio, having 4 solar shingles serially connected per optimizer. Tigo and SolarEdge power optimizers were compared for technical and economic feasibility comparison.
The Tigo power optimizer outperformed SolarEdge for all simulation variants and proved to effectively mitigate mismatch losses by both shading and orientation variance. However, the monetized value of the recouped energy is increasingly mitigated by the added cost of utilizing more power optimizers. It was found that better cost-to-benefit ratio of the power optimizers is achieved by using lower deployment ratios, i.e. increasing the amount of solar shingles per optimizer. Based on the results, it is concluded that utilizing power optimizers in solar shingle systems can be technically and economically feasible for certain cases of shading and orientation variance in residential systems in Oslo, Norway.