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Review of yield increase of solar panels through soiling prevention, and a proposed water-free automated cleaning solution

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  • Deb, Dipankar
  • Brahmbhatt, Nisarg L.

Abstract

Solar Energy is available in abundance and can be easily extracted using solar cells along with regular maintenance of solar panels. However, the efficiency of solar cells which is fairly low, is further affected by factors such as orientation of the panel, shade, wind speed, ambient temperature, precipitation and dust deposition. Especially, the maintenance of solar panels is challenging on account of soiling. Presently, manual and water-based cleaning solutions are generally used to remove the debris accumulated on the panels. In this paper, a detailed review of soiling prevention methods is presented with a view to increase the energy capture from solar panels. The technical details of an indigenously developed automated water-free cleaning device to remove soiling over the solar panels, is then discussed. The energy capture over the course of a month for PV panels regularly cleaned using automated solar panel cleaning solution is compared with that of the energy capture using soiled panels in a local solar panel installation, and the increased yield is measured.

Suggested Citation

  • Deb, Dipankar & Brahmbhatt, Nisarg L., 2018. "Review of yield increase of solar panels through soiling prevention, and a proposed water-free automated cleaning solution," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3306-3313.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:82:y:2018:i:p3:p:3306-3313
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.10.014
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    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. Ramez Abdallah & Adel Juaidi & Salameh Abdel-Fattah & Mahmoud Qadi & Montaser Shadid & Aiman Albatayneh & Hüseyin Çamur & Amos García-Cruz & Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro, 2022. "The Effects of Soiling and Frequency of Optimal Cleaning of PV Panels in Palestine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    3. Haneen Abuzaid & Mahmoud Awad & Abdulrahim Shamayleh, 2024. "Photovoltaic Modules’ Cleaning Method Selection for the MENA Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Abdulsalam S. Alghamdi & AbuBakr S. Bahaj & Luke S. Blunden & Yue Wu, 2019. "Dust Removal from Solar PV Modules by Automated Cleaning Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-21, July.
    5. Rafi Zahedi & Parisa Ranjbaran & Gevork B. Gharehpetian & Fazel Mohammadi & Roya Ahmadiahangar, 2021. "Cleaning of Floating Photovoltaic Systems: A Critical Review on Approaches from Technical and Economic Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-25, April.
    6. Hassan Shaban & Essam H. Houssein & Marco Pérez-Cisneros & Diego Oliva & Amir Y. Hassan & Alaa A. K. Ismaeel & Diaa Salama AbdElminaam & Sanchari Deb & Mokhtar Said, 2021. "Identification of Parameters in Photovoltaic Models through a Runge Kutta Optimizer," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(18), pages 1-22, September.
    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. Wonkyun Jo & Namhyuk Ham & Juhyung Kim & Jaejun Kim, 2023. "The Cleaning Effect of Photovoltaic Modules According to Precipitation in the Operation Stage of a Large-Scale Solar Power Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Marcos García-López & Borja Montano & Joaquín Melgarejo, 2023. "The Influence of Photovoltaic Self-Consumption on Water Treatment Energy Costs: The Case of the Region of Valencia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-21, July.
    10. Rahbar, Kiyarash & Eslami, Shahab & Pouladian-Kari, Ramin & Kirchner, Lars, 2022. "3-D numerical simulation and experimental study of PV module self-cleaning based on dew formation and single axis tracking," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).

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