IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v131y2019icp829-840.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CFD prediction of dust pollution and impact on an isolated ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system

Author

Listed:
  • Lu, Hao
  • Zhao, Wenjun

Abstract

This paper numerically studied dust deposition behaviors and their influences on an isolated ground-mounted solar PV system. The shear stress transport k-ω turbulence model with user-defined function inlet profiles was established to predict turbulent air flow around solar PV system. Moreover, discrete particle model was employed to predict dust deposition rates on PV panel. After grid independent study and numerical validation with related experimental data, turbulent wind flow fields around solar PV system, dust deposition rates on PV panel with different dust diameters and wind velocities as well as their influences on the output efficiency for different types of PV modules were predicted and analyzed carefully. The results showed that dust deposition rate on PV panel first increases and then decreases when dust diameter increases. However, the dust deposition profiles are similar for different wind velocities. The highest deposition rate is 13.71% for 100 μm particles when UHp = 1.3 m/s (UHp is wind velocity at solar PV panel height) while is 14.28% for 150 μm particles when UHp = 2.6 m/s. The effects of interception, gravitation and mass inertia are the main mechanisms for dust deposition. Furthermore, dust deposition effect on PV output efficiency was predicted by a simplified model based on present computational fluid dynamics simulation and experimental measurement.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Hao & Zhao, Wenjun, 2019. "CFD prediction of dust pollution and impact on an isolated ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 829-840.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:131:y:2019:i:c:p:829-840
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.07.112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148118309091
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2018.07.112?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. 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.
    2. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V. & Leahy, M., 2010. "A review of computer tools for analysing the integration of renewable energy into various energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 1059-1082, April.
    3. Alajlan, Saleh A., 1999. "Photovoltaic grid-connection system as load-shaving tool in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 91-99, June.
    4. Beattie, Neil S. & Moir, Robert S. & Chacko, Charlslee & Buffoni, Giorgio & Roberts, Simon H. & Pearsall, Nicola M., 2012. "Understanding the effects of sand and dust accumulation on photovoltaic modules," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 448-452.
    5. Mani, Monto & Pillai, Rohit, 2010. "Impact of dust on solar photovoltaic (PV) performance: Research status, challenges and recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 3124-3131, December.
    6. Al-Sabounchi, Ammar M. & Al-Hammadi, Esmaeel & Yalyali, Saeed & Al-Thani, Hamda A., 2013. "Photovoltaic-grid connection in the UAE: Technical perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 39-43.
    7. Massi Pavan, A. & Mellit, A. & De Pieri, D. & Kalogirou, S.A., 2013. "A comparison between BNN and regression polynomial methods for the evaluation of the effect of soiling in large scale photovoltaic plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 392-401.
    8. Zaihidee, Fardila Mohd & Mekhilef, Saad & Seyedmahmoudian, Mehdi & Horan, Ben, 2016. "Dust as an unalterable deteriorative factor affecting PV panel's efficiency: Why and how," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1267-1278.
    9. Vadiee, Amir & Martin, Viktoria, 2013. "Thermal energy storage strategies for effective closed greenhouse design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 337-343.
    10. Sarver, Travis & Al-Qaraghuli, Ali & Kazmerski, Lawrence L., 2013. "A comprehensive review of the impact of dust on the use of solar energy: History, investigations, results, literature, and mitigation approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 698-733.
    11. Piliougine, M. & Cañete, C. & Moreno, R. & Carretero, J. & Hirose, J. & Ogawa, S. & Sidrach-de-Cardona, M., 2013. "Comparative analysis of energy produced by photovoltaic modules with anti-soiling coated surface in arid climates," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 626-634.
    12. Said, S.A.M., 1990. "Effects of dust accumulation on performances of thermal and photovoltaic flat-plate collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 73-84.
    13. Marzband, Mousa & Ghadimi, Majid & Sumper, Andreas & Domínguez-García, José Luis, 2014. "Experimental validation of a real-time energy management system using multi-period gravitational search algorithm for microgrids in islanded mode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 164-174.
    14. Lu, Hao & Lu, Lin & Wang, Yuanhao, 2016. "Numerical investigation of dust pollution on a solar photovoltaic (PV) system mounted on an isolated building," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 27-36.
    15. Kaldellis, J.K. & Kapsali, M., 2011. "Simulating the dust effect on the energy performance of photovoltaic generators based on experimental measurements," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 5154-5161.
    16. Adinoyi, Muhammed J. & Said, Syed A.M., 2013. "Effect of dust accumulation on the power outputs of solar photovoltaic modules," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 633-636.
    17. Kalogirou, Soteris A. & Agathokleous, Rafaela & Panayiotou, Gregoris, 2013. "On-site PV characterization and the effect of soiling on their performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 439-446.
    18. Bouaouadja, N. & Bouzid, S. & Hamidouche, M. & Bousbaa, C. & Madjoubi, M., 2000. "Effects of sandblasting on the efficiencies of solar panels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1-4), pages 99-105, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Conceição, Ricardo & González-Aguilar, José & Merrouni, Ahmed Alami & Romero, Manuel, 2022. "Soiling effect in solar energy conversion systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    2. Huang, Wenfeng & Zhou, Kun & Sun, Ke & He, Zhu, 2019. "Effects of wind flow structure, particle flow and deposition pattern on photovoltaic energy harvest around a block," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Kaiss, El-Cheikh Amer & Hassan, Noha M., 2024. "Optimizing the cleaning frequency of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems using numerical analysis and empirical models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    4. Zhao, Weiping & Lv, Yukun & Zhou, Qingwen & Yan, Weiping, 2021. "Collision-adhesion mechanism of particles and dust deposition simulation on solar PV modules," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 169-182.
    5. Zhao, Weiping & Lv, Yukun & Zhou, Qingwen & Yan, Weiping, 2021. "Investigation on particle deposition criterion and dust accumulation impact on solar PV module performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    6. Raillani, Benyounes & Salhi, Mourad & Chaatouf, Dounia & Bria, Abir & Amraqui, Samir & Mezrhab, Ahmed, 2023. "A new proposed method to mitigate the soiling rate of a photovoltaic array using first-row height," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    7. Raillani, Benyounes & Salhi, Mourad & Chaatouf, Dounia & Amraqui, Samir & Mezrhab, Ahmed, 2022. "Optimization of a porous wind barrier to reduce soiling and avoid shading losses of photovoltaic panels," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 510-523.
    8. Yang, Huadong & Wang, Hui, 2022. "Numerical simulation of the dust particles deposition on solar photovoltaic panels and its effect on power generation efficiency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P1), pages 1111-1126.
    9. Song, Zhe & Liu, Jia & Yang, Hongxing, 2021. "Air pollution and soiling implications for solar photovoltaic power generation: A comprehensive review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    10. Chiteka, Kudzanayi & Arora, Rajesh & Sridhara, S.N. & Enweremadu, C.C., 2021. "Influence of irradiance incidence angle and installation configuration on the deposition of dust and dust-shading of a photovoltaic array," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    11. Fan, Siyuan & Wang, Xiao & Cao, Shengxian & Wang, Yu & Zhang, Yanhui & Liu, Bingzheng, 2022. "A novel model to determine the relationship between dust concentration and energy conversion efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) panels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).

    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. Lu, Hao & Zhao, Wenjun, 2018. "Effects of particle sizes and tilt angles on dust deposition characteristics of a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 514-526.
    2. Lu, Hao & Lu, Lin & Wang, Yuanhao, 2016. "Numerical investigation of dust pollution on a solar photovoltaic (PV) system mounted on an isolated building," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 27-36.
    3. Conceição, Ricardo & González-Aguilar, José & Merrouni, Ahmed Alami & Romero, Manuel, 2022. "Soiling effect in solar energy conversion systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Karim Menoufi, 2017. "Dust Accumulation on the Surface of Photovoltaic Panels: Introducing the Photovoltaic Soiling Index (PVSI)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-12, June.
    5. Lu, Hao & Zhang, Li-Zhi, 2019. "Influences of dust deposition on ground-mounted solar photovoltaic arrays: A CFD simulation study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 21-31.
    6. Pan, Anjian & Lu, Hao & Zhang, Li-Zhi, 2019. "Experimental investigation of dust deposition reduction on solar cell covering glass by different self-cleaning coatings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 645-653.
    7. Hammad, Bashar & Al–Abed, Mohammad & Al–Ghandoor, Ahmed & Al–Sardeah, Ali & Al–Bashir, Adnan, 2018. "Modeling and analysis of dust and temperature effects on photovoltaic systems’ performance and optimal cleaning frequency: Jordan case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2218-2234.
    8. Klugmann-Radziemska, Ewa, 2015. "Degradation of electrical performance of a crystalline photovoltaic module due to dust deposition in northern Poland," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 418-426.
    9. Chanchangi, Yusuf N. & Ghosh, Aritra & Sundaram, Senthilarasu & Mallick, Tapas K., 2020. "Dust and PV Performance in Nigeria: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    10. Saidan, Motasem & Albaali, Abdul Ghani & Alasis, Emil & Kaldellis, John K., 2016. "Experimental study on the effect of dust deposition on solar photovoltaic panels in desert environment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 499-505.
    11. Figgis, Benjamin & Ennaoui, Ahmed & Ahzi, Said & Rémond, Yves, 2017. "Review of PV soiling particle mechanics in desert environments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 872-881.
    12. Yu Jiang & Lin Lu, 2016. "Experimentally Investigating the Effect of Temperature Differences in the Particle Deposition Process on Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Modules," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-9, October.
    13. Babatunde, A.A. & Abbasoglu, S. & Senol, M., 2018. "Analysis of the impact of dust, tilt angle and orientation on performance of PV Plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1017-1026.
    14. Song, Zhe & Liu, Jia & Yang, Hongxing, 2021. "Air pollution and soiling implications for solar photovoltaic power generation: A comprehensive review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    15. Ewa Klugmann-Radziemska, 2020. "Shading, Dusting and Incorrect Positioning of Photovoltaic Modules as Important Factors in Performance Reduction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-12, April.
    16. Yao, Wanxiang & Kong, Xiangru & Xu, Ai & Xu, Puyan & Wang, Yan & Gao, Weijun, 2023. "New models for the influence of rainwater on the performance of photovoltaic modules under different rainfall conditions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    17. You, Siming & Lim, Yu Jie & Dai, Yanjun & Wang, Chi-Hwa, 2018. "On the temporal modelling of solar photovoltaic soiling: Energy and economic impacts in seven cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1136-1146.
    18. Sarver, Travis & Al-Qaraghuli, Ali & Kazmerski, Lawrence L., 2013. "A comprehensive review of the impact of dust on the use of solar energy: History, investigations, results, literature, and mitigation approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 698-733.
    19. Fan, Siyuan & Wang, Yu & Cao, Shengxian & Zhao, Bo & Sun, Tianyi & Liu, Peng, 2022. "A deep residual neural network identification method for uneven dust accumulation on photovoltaic (PV) panels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    20. Erdenedavaa, Purevdalai & Akisawa, Atsushi & Adiyabat, Amarbayar & Otgonjanchiv, Erdenesuvd, 2019. "Observation and modeling of dust deposition on glass tube of evacuated solar thermal collectors in Mongolia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 613-621.

    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:renene:v:131:y:2019:i:c:p:829-840. 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.