Quantifying Energy Gain in Bifacial vs Monofacial PERC Modules on a 2 MWp Reservoir-Based Floating PV System

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems are considered a solution for land scarcity which benefit from water-based cooling, yet their overall efficiency remains limited. Utilizing bifacial modules that capture irradiance from both the front and rear surfaces offers a promising solution to mitigate these efficiency shortfalls. This study compares two 2 MWp FPV systems, monofacial and bifacial PERC, simulated in PVsyst 8.0 for a reservoir site in South Korea. All design parameters were kept identical to isolate rear-side effects. Annual energy yield reached 2196 MWh for the bifacial system vs 2150 MWh for the monofacial reference, giving specific yields of 1096 and 1074 kWh kWp −1 and a bifacial gain (BG) of 2.0%. The bifacial array achieved a higher annual performance ratio (PR) (0.834 vs 0.817) and exhibited slightly lower PV-array and system loss fractions, particularly during high-irradiance months when rear-side collection offset elevated thermal losses. These results confirm that bifacial modules outperform monofacial designs and are well-suited for deployment in future FPV installations. Future work should focus on optimizing albedo conditions, evaluating long-term degradation effects, and validating simulation results through field performance monitoring.