EUPVSec 2026: Assessing Ground Albedo in PV-Plants via Fisheye Camera and Satellite Images

Kurzfassung

Accurate modelling of a bifacial photovoltaic (PV) power plant can require spatially resolved albedo information within the partly-built area of the plant as several surface types (like bare soil and grass) are mixed frequently. We present a novel approach to combine highly-resolved satellite images and ground measurements to retrieve decimeter-resolution ground albedo maps which can exclude disturbances caused by the PV rows and their shadows. We demonstrate the approach and evaluate its potential using remotely sensed images with 0.2- to 0.5-m resolution of four plants in Germany and Spain. Our approach avoids errors in the estimated ground albedo in the range of -0.098 to 0.041 compared to a remotely sensed albedo with the resolution of MODIS and -0.08...+0.09 compared to a single albedometer placed within the solar field. These deviations, which are avoided by our approach, translate into avoided errors of -1.9...+2.1% in the PV yield modelled based on the albedo.