IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v333y2023ics0306261922018116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A novel domino-like snow removal system for roof PV arrays: Feasibility, performance, and economic benefits

Author

Listed:
  • Zheng, Jianan
  • Liu, Wenjun
  • Cui, Ting
  • Wang, Hanchun
  • Chen, Fangcai
  • Gao, Yang
  • Fan, Liulu
  • Ali Abaker Omer, Altyeb
  • Ingenhoff, Jan
  • Zhang, Xinyu
  • Liu, Wen

Abstract

Snow accumulation on PV modules hinders normal power generation which is a challenge for the wide-scope application of photovoltaics in snowy regions. In this paper, a domino-like snow removal system (DSRS) based on photovoltaics self-heating (PVSH) was designed and investigated to overcome this application challenge. The domino-like snow removal strategy is first proposed, whose core idea is to use the energy from uncovered PV modules to accomplish snow removal in PV systems string by string. The process is almost free of utility power consumption and is suitable for both off-grid and grid-connected PV systems. The principle of PVSH is explained and its long-term effect on PV modules was first verified by comprehensive experiments. The entire process of snow removal is physically modeled. A novel circuit topology and control flow were designed to implement the domino-like snow removal strategy. The 1st generation prototype of the DSRS was manufactured and two-year outdoor experiments were conducted to validate the snow removal performance. Furthermore, the economic benefits of DSRS were analyzed through detailed installation cost calculations and conservative snow effect projections. The experimental results demonstrate that long-term PVSH does not contribute to the performance degradation of PV cells. The DSRS shows high snow removal efficiency with extremely low power consumption compared to similar methods, which has been tested to have outstanding adaptability in handling different types of snow under complex climatic conditions. In addition to a convenient and low-cost installation, the payback period of the DSRS varies between 2.99 and 4.3 years according to the scale of PV systems. So the 25-year return on investment (ROI) of DSRS can reach up to 857.2 %. This paper presents a systematic work around the feasibility, performance, and economic benefits of the domino-like snow removal system and confirms it is an excellent solution to removing snow on PV modules and has great potential to promote PV deployment where the snow covers for a few months in winter.

Suggested Citation

  • Zheng, Jianan & Liu, Wenjun & Cui, Ting & Wang, Hanchun & Chen, Fangcai & Gao, Yang & Fan, Liulu & Ali Abaker Omer, Altyeb & Ingenhoff, Jan & Zhang, Xinyu & Liu, Wen, 2023. "A novel domino-like snow removal system for roof PV arrays: Feasibility, performance, and economic benefits," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:333:y:2023:i:c:s0306261922018116
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120554
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261922018116
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120554?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peng, Lele & Zheng, Shubin & Chai, Xiaodong & Li, Liming, 2018. "A novel tangent error maximum power point tracking algorithm for photovoltaic system under fast multi-changing solar irradiances," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 303-316.
    2. Fillion, R.M. & Riahi, A.R. & Edrisy, A., 2014. "A review of icing prevention in photovoltaic devices by surface engineering," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 797-809.
    3. Branker, K. & Pathak, M.J.M. & Pearce, J.M., 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic levelized cost of electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4470-4482.
    4. Ramirez Camargo, Luis & Nitsch, Felix & Gruber, Katharina & Dorner, Wolfgang, 2018. "Electricity self-sufficiency of single-family houses in Germany and the Czech Republic," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 902-915.
    5. Zhong, Teng & Zhang, Zhixin & Chen, Min & Zhang, Kai & Zhou, Zixuan & Zhu, Rui & Wang, Yijie & Lü, Guonian & Yan, Jinyue, 2021. "A city-scale estimation of rooftop solar photovoltaic potential based on deep learning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    6. Jackson, Nicole D. & Gunda, Thushara, 2021. "Evaluation of extreme weather impacts on utility-scale photovoltaic plant performance in the United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    7. Fouad, M.M. & Shihata, Lamia A. & Morgan, ElSayed I., 2017. "An integrated review of factors influencing the perfomance of photovoltaic panels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1499-1511.
    8. Shen, Lu & Li, Zhenpeng & Ma, Tao, 2020. "Analysis of the power loss and quantification of the energy distribution in PV module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    9. Sharma, Vikrant & Chandel, S.S., 2013. "Performance and degradation analysis for long term reliability of solar photovoltaic systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 753-767.
    10. Lukač, Niko & Žlaus, Danijel & Seme, Sebastijan & Žalik, Borut & Štumberger, Gorazd, 2013. "Rating of roofs’ surfaces regarding their solar potential and suitability for PV systems, based on LiDAR data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 803-812.
    11. Waqar Akram, M. & Li, Guiqiang & Jin, Yi & Chen, Xiao, 2022. "Failures of Photovoltaic modules and their Detection: A Review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    12. Chen, Han & Chen, Wenying, 2021. "Status, trend, economic and environmental impacts of household solar photovoltaic development in China: Modelling from subnational perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    13. Tiwari, G.N. & Mishra, R.K. & Solanki, S.C., 2011. "Photovoltaic modules and their applications: A review on thermal modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(7), pages 2287-2304, July.
    14. Buffat, René & Grassi, Stefano & Raubal, Martin, 2018. "A scalable method for estimating rooftop solar irradiation potential over large regions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 389-401.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gassar, Abdo Abdullah Ahmed & Cha, Seung Hyun, 2021. "Review of geographic information systems-based rooftop solar photovoltaic potential estimation approaches at urban scales," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    2. Lee, Minhyun & Hong, Taehoon & Jeong, Kwangbok & Kim, Jimin, 2018. "A bottom-up approach for estimating the economic potential of the rooftop solar photovoltaic system considering the spatial and temporal diversity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 640-656.
    3. Meng, B. & Loonen, R.C.G.M. & Hensen, J.L.M., 2022. "Performance variability and implications for yield prediction of rooftop PV systems – Analysis of 246 identical systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    4. Shan, Chuan & Sun, Kangwen & Ji, Xinzhe & Cheng, Dongji, 2023. "A reconfiguration method for photovoltaic array of stratospheric airship based on multilevel optimization algorithm," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    5. Zhang, Chen & Li, Zhixin & Jiang, Haihua & Luo, Yongqiang & Xu, Shen, 2021. "Deep learning method for evaluating photovoltaic potential of urban land-use: A case study of Wuhan, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    6. Özdemir, Samed & Yavuzdoğan, Ahmet & Bilgilioğlu, Burhan Baha & Akbulut, Zeynep, 2023. "SPAN: An open-source plugin for photovoltaic potential estimation of individual roof segments using point cloud data," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    7. Han, Youhua & Liu, Yang & Lu, Shixiang & Basalike, Pie & Zhang, Jili, 2021. "Electrical performance and power prediction of a roll-bond photovoltaic thermal array under dewing and frosting conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    8. Novak, Milan & Vohnout, Rudolf & Landkamer, Ladislav & Budik, Ondrej & Eider, Markus & Mukherjee, Amrit, 2023. "Energy-efficient smart solar system cooling for real-time dynamic weather changes in mild-climate regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    9. Primož Mavsar & Klemen Sredenšek & Bojan Štumberger & Miralem Hadžiselimović & Sebastijan Seme, 2019. "Simplified Method for Analyzing the Availability of Rooftop Photovoltaic Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-17, November.
    10. Royo, Patricia & Ferreira, Víctor J. & López-Sabirón, Ana M. & Ferreira, Germán, 2016. "Hybrid diagnosis to characterise the energy and environmental enhancement of photovoltaic modules using smart materials," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 174-189.
    11. Lee, Minhyun & Hong, Taehoon & Jeong, Jaewook & Jeong, Kwangbok, 2018. "Development of a rooftop solar photovoltaic rating system considering the technical and economic suitability criteria at the building level," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 213-224.
    12. Yildirim, Deniz & Büyüksalih, Gürcan & Şahin, Ahmet Duran, 2021. "Rooftop photovoltaic potential in Istanbul: Calculations based on LiDAR data, measurements and verifications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    13. Song, Chenchen & Guo, Zhiling & Liu, Zhengguang & Hongyun, Zhang & Liu, Ran & Zhang, Haoran, 2024. "Application of photovoltaics on different types of land in China: Opportunities, status and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    14. Garcia-Heller, Veronica & Paredes, Stephan & Ong, Chin Lee & Ruch, Patrick & Michel, Bruno, 2014. "Exergoeconomic analysis of high concentration photovoltaic thermal co-generation system for space cooling," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 8-19.
    15. Vimpari, Jussi & Junnila, Seppo, 2017. "Evaluating decentralized energy investments: Spatial value of on-site PV electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1217-1222.
    16. Zhixin Zhang & Min Chen & Teng Zhong & Rui Zhu & Zhen Qian & Fan Zhang & Yue Yang & Kai Zhang & Paolo Santi & Kaicun Wang & Yingxia Pu & Lixin Tian & Guonian Lü & Jinyue Yan, 2023. "Carbon mitigation potential afforded by rooftop photovoltaic in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    17. Paxis Marques João Roque & Shyama P. D. Chowdhury & Zhongjie Huan, 2021. "Improvement of Stand-Alone Solar PV Systems in the Maputo Region by Adapting Necessary Parameters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    18. Mateo, C. & Hernández-Fenollosa, M.A. & Montero, Á. & Seguí-Chilet, S., 2022. "Ageing and seasonal effects on amorphous silicon photovoltaic modules in a Mediterranean climate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 74-88.
    19. Li, Yue & Luo, Hao & Cai, Hua, 2023. "Photovoltaic-battery powered bike share stations are not necessarily energy self-sufficient," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    20. Orioli, Aldo & Di Gangi, Alessandra, 2016. "Five-years-long effects of the Italian policies for photovoltaics on the energy demand coverage of grid-connected PV systems installed in urban contexts," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 444-460.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:333:y:2023:i:c:s0306261922018116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.