Yves Poissant, Ph.D
Scientist by training with more than 25 years of experience in the field of solar photovoltaic energy, Yves Poissant is a research manager and senior specialist in solar photovoltaic technologies within the Renewable Energy Integration group at the CanmetENERGY research center at Varennes. It manages a portfolio of research, development and demonstration activities related to photovoltaic (PV) solar energy, including the technical-economic aspects of PV systems in Canada and their large-scale integration into electrical networks, including Arctic communities. He is co-chair of the CSA committee on standards and components for solar PV systems and represents Canada on the International Energy Agency's international collaboration steering committee on photovoltaic systems.
His role consists of:
- Act as spokesperson for the ministry on general issues relating to photovoltaic solar energy
- Plan research activities
- Monitor results, budget and schedule
- Present activity reports to funding organizations
- Develop key partnerships with other government agencies, product manufacturers, developers and utilities
- Develop project proposals
- Revise standards and codes relating to solar photovoltaic technology
- Present the group's activities at regional, national and international conferences
Current research and/or projects
- Testing, Characterization and Support for Variable Renewables and Smart Grid
- Improving technology-grid interface and interoperability to support grid modernization
- Variable energy resources and electrified and grid-active neighborhoods, communities and cities
- Low-carbon regional and national power grids and energy systems
Research and/or project statements
- Develop, publish and apply generic methods and models to calculate the contribution that solar PV energy could make to the energy transition.
- Evaluate the performance and durability of PV systems and new photovoltaic technologies in Canada and quantify the impact of snow and different environmental factors on solar electricity production.
- Contribute to the adoption of international standards and the updating of standards relating to photovoltaic solar energy as well as its integration into electrical networks.
- Develop and test inverter control algorithms to support the operation of electrical networks.
- Develop pathways for decarbonization of electricity generation in remote communities.
- Conduct research and develop solutions enabling large-scale integration of variable renewable energies on Canadian electricity grids.
Professional activities / interests
- Canadian delegate on the executive committee of the International Energy Agency's collaborative program on Photovoltaic Power Systems (IEA PVPS)
- Vice-chair of the CSA TC2303 national committee on standards for PV systems and components
- Canadian expert on working group 2 of the TC82 technical committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission developing international standards for photovoltaic solar modules
Education and awards
PhD in Materials Science - specialization in Photovoltaics, École Polytechnique de France
DEA in Energetics - Materials science specialty, École Normale Supérieure de Grenoble, France
Honours Applied Physics, University of Waterloo, Canada
International experience and/or work
- Head of the Canadian delegation to the IEC TC82 meeting on international standards for photovoltaic systems and components, Busan, South Korea, 2014.
- Participation as a Canadian expert to Task 2 of the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Program (IEA PVPS) related to the performance of photovoltaic systems.
Key publications
Y. Poissant, S. Pelland, and D. Turcotte, “A comparison of energy rating methodologies using field test measurements,” 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Valencia, Spain.
Y. Poissant, D. Thevenard, & D. Turcotte. (2004, August). Performance monitoring of the Nunavut Arctic College 3.2 kWh grid-connected Photovoltaic system. In SESCI 2004 Conference, Waterloo, Canada.
Y. Poissant, L. Couture, L. Dignard-Bailey, D. Thevenard, P. Cusack, H. Oberholzer (2003, June). Simple test methods for evaluating the energy rating of PV modules under various environmental conditions. In Proceedings of ISES 2003.
C. Baldus-Jeursen, Y. Poissant, E. Knaggs, P. Mckay, “National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Canada 2023,” Downloadable report from IEA PVPS.
D. Mayer, L. Wald, Y. Poissant, and S. Pelland, “Performance Prediction of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems Using Remote Sensing,” Report IEA-PVPS T2-07:2008
Baldus-Jeursen, C., Côté, A., Deer, T., & Poissant, Y. (2021). Analysis of photovoltaic module performance and life cycle degradation for a 23 year-old array in Quebec, Canada. Renewable Energy, 174, 547-556.
Gagné, A., Turcotte, D., Goswamy, N., & Poissant, Y. (2016). "High resolution characterisation of solar variability for two sites in Eastern Canada". Solar Energy, 137, 46-54.
D. W. McKenney, S. Pelland, Y. Poissant, R. Morris, M. Hutchinson, P. Papadopol, K. Lawrence, K. Campbell, “Spatial insolation models for photovoltaic energy in Canada,” Sol. Energy, vol. 82, no. 11, pp. 1049–1061.
C. Baldus-Jeursen et al., "Snow Losses for Photovoltaic Systems: Validating the Marion and Townsend Models," in IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 610-620, July 2023.
S. Pelland and Y. Poissant, “An evaluation of the potential of building integrated photovoltaics in Canada,” 31st Annual Conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada, Montréal, Canada.
S. Pelland, D. W. McKenney, Y. Poissant, R. Morris, K. Lawrence, K. Campbell, and P. Papadopol, “The development of photovoltaic resource maps for Canada,” 31st Annual Conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada, Montréal, Canada.
Ninad, N., Turcotte, D., & Poissant, Y. (2020). Analysis of PV-diesel hybrid microgrids for small Canadian arctic communities. Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 43(4), 315-325.