IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v92y2016icp499-505.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Experimental study on the effect of dust deposition on solar photovoltaic panels in desert environment

Author

Listed:
  • Saidan, Motasem
  • Albaali, Abdul Ghani
  • Alasis, Emil
  • Kaldellis, John K.

Abstract

The accumulation of dust particles deteriorates the performance of solar cells and results in appreciable losses in the generated power due to the sun irradiance scattering effects on the surface of the solar panel. This study investigates the impact of dust accumulation on photovoltaic solar modules in Baghdad city in Iraq. For this purpose an experiment has been conducted to quantify losses caused by the accumulation of dust on the surface of three identical photovoltaic solar modules. The modules have been installed with direct exposure to weather conditions, in a well controlled experimental setup. Subsequently, measurements of dust accumulation on modules have been taken on daily, weekly and monthly basis. The dust density and size distribution of aerosol particles and fibers have been also investigated and measured by a highly sensitive aerosols measuring system. The dusted module and another similar clean module have been then exposed to constant radiation and constant temperature using a solar simulator as light source. The deposition of the dust on the surface of the photovoltaic solar modules showed a reduction in both the short circuit current (Isc) and the output power compared to the same parameters of the clean module. The average degradation rate of the efficiencies of the solar modules exposed to dust are; 6.24%, 11.8% and 18.74% calculated for exposure periods of one day, one week and one month. The experimental results are well compared with the calculations obtained by a theoretical model recently developed by the authors.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:92:y:2016:i:c:p:499-505
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.02.031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014811630132X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2016.02.031?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. Kaldellis, J.K. & Kokala, A., 2010. "Quantifying the decrease of the photovoltaic panels’ energy yield due to phenomena of natural air pollution disposal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 4862-4869.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Kaldellis, J.K. & Fragos, P. & Kapsali, M., 2011. "Systematic experimental study of the pollution deposition impact on the energy yield of photovoltaic installations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 2717-2724.
    6. 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.
    7. Kaldellis, John K. & Kapsali, Marina & Kavadias, Kosmas A., 2014. "Temperature and wind speed impact on the efficiency of PV installations. Experience obtained from outdoor measurements in Greece," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 612-624.
    8. 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.
    9. Anthony Patt & Stefan Pfenninger & Johan Lilliestam, 2013. "Vulnerability of solar energy infrastructure and output to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 121(1), pages 93-102, November.
    10. Mekhilef, S. & Saidur, R. & Kamalisarvestani, M., 2012. "Effect of dust, humidity and air velocity on efficiency of photovoltaic cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2920-2925.
    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. 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.
    2. 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).
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Darwish, Zeki Ahmed & Kazem, Hussein A. & Sopian, K. & Al-Goul, M.A. & Alawadhi, Hussain, 2015. "Effect of dust pollutant type on photovoltaic performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 735-744.
    6. 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).
    7. Fan, Siyuan & Wang, Yu & Cao, Shengxian & Sun, Tianyi & Liu, Peng, 2021. "A novel method for analyzing the effect of dust accumulation on energy efficiency loss in photovoltaic (PV) system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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).
    11. 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.
    12. Aritra Ghosh, 2020. "Soiling Losses: A Barrier for India’s Energy Security Dependency from Photovoltaic Power," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, May.
    13. Santhakumari, Manju & Sagar, Netramani, 2019. "A review of the environmental factors degrading the performance of silicon wafer-based photovoltaic modules: Failure detection methods and essential mitigation techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 83-100.
    14. Sun, Ke & Lu, Lin & Jiang, Yu & Wang, Yuanhao & Zhou, Kun & He, Zhu, 2018. "Integrated effects of PM2.5 deposition, module surface conditions and nanocoatings on solar PV surface glass transmittance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 4107-4120.
    15. Ghosh, Santosh & Yadav, Vinod Kumar & Mukherjee, Vivekananda, 2018. "Evaluation of cumulative impact of partial shading and aerosols on different PV array topologies through combined Shannon's entropy and DEA," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 765-775.
    16. 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.
    17. Jamil, Wan Juzaili & Abdul Rahman, Hasimah & Shaari, Sulaiman & Salam, Zainal, 2017. "Performance degradation of photovoltaic power system: Review on mitigation methods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 876-891.
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    20. Zeki Ahmed Darwish & Hussein A. Kazem & K. Sopian & M. A. Alghoul & Hussain Alawadhi, 2018. "Experimental investigation of dust pollutants and the impact of environmental parameters on PV performance: an experimental study," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 155-174, February.

    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:92:y:2016:i:c:p:499-505. 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.