Solar panels and 'reflective' grass

I was interested to read in today's Guardian that BP are researching the most reflective kinds of grass to plant underneath solar panels; panels that pick up on top and underneath. The story points out that "bifacial panels can increase electricity output by almost 15% – but this can be much higher if the ground beneath the panel is particularly reflective".

Although the story doesn't mention it, regular readers and fans of infrared photography will know that grass (as well as other foliage) strongly reflects near-infrared light due to the retro-reflective effect of those wavelengths travelling through plant cells. Chlorophyl is transparent to near-infrared radiation. The effect is the same one that makes snow appear white, which is why infrared photos and snowy scenes can be confused.

The Solarquotes blog in 2017 looked at the proportion of solar radiation that a solar panel can exploit. Their context was about UV but if you scroll down the page you'll see a diagram that shows that a silicon solar panel will make use of radiation between 400 and 1100 nanometres. Since visible light extends from about 400 nm to about 650 nm you can see that including near-infrared more than doubles the available energy bandwidth.

All this makes planting grass underneath bi-directional solar cells a logical thing to do. That reflective grass is not just fun for infrared photography then ... or grazing!