A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Robust Performance Loss Rate Calculation for Photovoltaic Systems in High Latitude Locations; 
Authors: Karttunen, Lauri; Anttalainen, Väinö; Jouttijärvi, Sami; Karhu, Juha A.; Huerta, Hugo; Ranta, Samuli; Lindfors, Anders V.; Miettunen, Kati
Publisher: Wiley
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Progress in Photovoltaics
Article number: pip.70130
ISSN: 1062-7995
eISSN: 1099-159X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.70130
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.70130
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/526903093
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Photovoltaic (PV) production grows rapidly in the Nordics, but literature on calculating long-term PV performance losses remains limited in these conditions, leading to inaccurate yield estimations and economic losses. To fill this knowledge gap, this contribution (1) shows typical PV performance characteristics, (2) obtains performance loss rates (PLRs) from multiple systems, and (3) assesses the best practices of PLR calculation under these conditions. For these objectives, we compared various methods for all steps of PLR calculation, including data filters, performance metrics, aggregation intervals, and statistical models for five systems (with 2.5–6 years of data) across Finland, from 60° to 67° N. Dark winters and snow coverage caused gaps and anomalies to the performance time series during wintertime, resulting in unrealistic PLRs. Excluding these anomalies with performance threshold filter improved the results. As the different methods can drastically affect the PLR value, an ensemble method consisting of an assessment of average PLR with over 700 calculation approaches was validated to be essential in identifying robust PLRs. Using this ensemble method, the system PLR estimates ranged from −−0.41%/year to −−2.65%/year. The data and codes are made publicly available, contributing to open access of PV datasets and allowing wider application of the PLR methodology.
Keywords:
High latitudes, Performance loss rate, Performance metric, Photovoltaic performance, snow coverage
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |
Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported by Turun Yliopisto, City of Salo, Turun yliopiston tutkijakoulu, and Strategic Research Council (358542, 358543, and 359141).