Effect of different PV modules surface energies and surface types on the particle deposition characteristics and PV efficiency

The particle deposition behavior of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and its effect on PV efficiency were numerically investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. The surface flow field of PV modules using the shear stress transfer (SST) k-ω model with a user-defined function (UDF) for the development of entrance boundaries is predicted. A UDF coupled discrete phase model (DPM) that takes into account wall bounce and hydrophobic properties is used to predict particulate deposition in the flow field. Mesh independence and average pressure coefficients are verified. The effects of particle diameter, boundary type, surface energy and surface type on particle deposition of PV panel and PV efficiency are investigated. The results show that the smaller the surface energy γ, the smaller the particle deposition rate. At dp = 150 μm, γ = 0.001J/m2, it showed that the most significant reduction of 427.3 % in particle deposition rate compared to the trap boundary type, and γ = 0.001J/m2 showed a 210 % reduction in particle deposition rate compared to γ = 0.1J/m2. However, at dp ≤ 50 μm, the change in surface energy has little effect on the deposition rate. The effect of convex PV modules on particle deposition is more obvious at low surface energy (γ ≤ 0.001J/m2) compared to planar. The reduction in PV efficiency caused by particle deposition at different surface energies is predicted using an empirical model of PV output reductions developed by the researcher.