IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i14p4271-d594489.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Photovoltaic Cleaning Optimization: A Simplified Theoretical Approach for Air to Water Generator (AWG) System Employment

Author

Listed:
  • Lucia Cattani

    (SEAS SA, Société de l’Eau Aérienne Suisse, Technical Office, Via dell’Industria 13/A, 6826 Riva San Vitale, Switzerland)

  • Paolo Cattani

    (Freelancer Engineer and Developer, Via Piermarini 4/L, 26900 Lodi, Italy)

  • Anna Magrini

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy)

Abstract

Photovoltaic panel efficiency can be heavily affected by soiling, due to dust and other airborne particles, which can determine up to 50% of energy production loss. Generally, it is possible to reduce that impact by means of periodic cleaning, and one of the most efficient cleaning solutions is the use of demineralized water. As pauperization of traditional water sources is increasing, new technologies have been developed to obtain the needed water amount. Water extracted from the air using air to water generator (AWG) technology appears to be particularly suitable for panel cleaning, but its effective employment presents issues related to model selection, determining system size, and energy efficiency. To overcome such issues, the authors proposed a method to choose an AWG system for panel cleaning and to determine its size accordingly, based on a cleaning time optimization procedure and tailored to AWG peculiarities, with an aim to maximize energy production. In order to determine the energy loss due to soiling, a simplified semiempirical model (i.e., the DIrt method) was developed as well. The methodology, which also allows for energy saving due to an optimal cleaning frequency, was applied to a case study. The results show that the choice of the most suitable AWG model could prevent 83% of energy loss related to soling. These methods are the first example of a design tool for panel cleaning planning involving AWG technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucia Cattani & Paolo Cattani & Anna Magrini, 2021. "Photovoltaic Cleaning Optimization: A Simplified Theoretical Approach for Air to Water Generator (AWG) System Employment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:14:p:4271-:d:594489
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/14/4271/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/14/4271/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lamsal, Dipesh & Sreeram, Victor & Mishra, Yateendra & Kumar, Deepak, 2019. "Output power smoothing control approaches for wind and photovoltaic generation systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Anna Magrini & Lucia Cattani & Marco Cartesegna & Lorenza Magnani, 2017. "Water Production from Air Conditioning Systems: Some Evaluations about a Sustainable Use of Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Hasila Jarimi & Richard Powell & Saffa Riffat, 0. "Review of sustainable methods for atmospheric water harvesting," International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 253-276.
    4. 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.
    5. Micheli, Leonardo & Theristis, Marios & Talavera, Diego L. & Almonacid, Florencia & Stein, Joshua S. & Fernandez, Eduardo F., 2020. "Photovoltaic Cleaning Frequency Optimization Under Different Degradation Rate Patterns," MPRA Paper 105008, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 07 Oct 2020.
    6. Micheli, Leonardo & Theristis, Marios & Talavera, Diego L. & Almonacid, Florencia & Stein, Joshua S. & Fernández, Eduardo F., 2020. "Photovoltaic cleaning frequency optimization under different degradation rate patterns," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 136-146.
    7. Ilse, Klemens K. & Figgis, Benjamin W. & Naumann, Volker & Hagendorf, Christian & Bagdahn, Jörg, 2018. "Fundamentals of soiling processes on photovoltaic modules," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 239-254.
    8. R Quentin Grafton & Long Chu & Paul Wyrwoll, 2020. "The paradox of water pricing: dichotomies, dilemmas, and decisions," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(1), pages 86-107.
    9. 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.
    10. Mithhu, Md. Mahamudul Hasan & Rima, Tahmina Ahmed & Khan, M. Ryyan, 2021. "Global analysis of optimal cleaning cycle and profit of soiling affected solar panels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    11. 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.
    12. Lucia Cattani & Anna Magrini & Paolo Cattani, 2021. "Water Extraction from Air: A Proposal for a New Indicator to Compare Air Water Generators Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-21, January.
    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. Lucia Cattani & Anna Magrini & Valentina Leoni, 2022. "Energy Performance of Water Generators from Gaseous Mixtures by Condensation: Climatic Datasets Choice," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Lucia Cattani & Paolo Cattani & Anna Magrini & Roberto Figoni & Daniele Dondi & Dhanalakshmi Vadivel, 2023. "Suitability and Energy Sustainability of Atmospheric Water Generation Technology for Green Hydrogen Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-20, September.

    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. 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. 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.
    3. Isaacs, Stewart & Kalashnikova, Olga & Garay, Michael J. & van Donkelaar, Aaron & Hammer, Melanie S. & Lee, Huikyo & Wood, Danielle, 2023. "Dust soiling effects on decentralized solar in West Africa," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Heinrich, Matthias & Meunier, Simon & Samé, Allou & Quéval, Loïc & Darga, Arouna & Oukhellou, Latifa & Multon, Bernard, 2020. "Detection of cleaning interventions on photovoltaic modules with machine learning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    6. Hachicha, Ahmed Amine & Al-Sawafta, Israa & Said, Zafar, 2019. "Impact of dust on the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems under United Arab Emirates weather conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 287-297.
    7. 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).
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    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. Fabiana Lisco & Farwah Bukhari & Soňa Uličná & Kenan Isbilir & Kurt L. Barth & Alan Taylor & John M. Walls, 2020. "Degradation of Hydrophobic, Anti-Soiling Coatings for Solar Module Cover Glass," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-15, July.
    13. Huang, Pengluan & Hu, Guoqiang & Zhao, Xiaodong & Lu, Luyi & Ding, Honggang & Li, Jianlan, 2022. "Effect of organics on the adhesion of dust to PV panel surfaces under condensation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    14. Chanchangi, Yusuf N. & Ghosh, Aritra & Micheli, Leonardo & Fernández, Eduardo F. & Sundaram, Senthilarasu & Mallick, Tapas K., 2022. "Soiling mapping through optical losses for Nigeria," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 995-1008.
    15. 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).
    16. 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.
    17. Dahlioui, Dounia & El Hamdani, Fayrouz & Djdiaa, Abdelali & Martínez López, Teodoro & Bouzekri, Hicham, 2023. "Assessment of dry and wet cleaning of aluminum mirrors toward water consumption reduction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 248-255.
    18. 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).
    19. Tuhibur Rahman & Ahmed Al Mansur & Molla Shahadat Hossain Lipu & Md. Siddikur Rahman & Ratil H. Ashique & Mohamad Abou Houran & Rajvikram Madurai Elavarasan & Eklas Hossain, 2023. "Investigation of Degradation of Solar Photovoltaics: A Review of Aging Factors, Impacts, and Future Directions toward Sustainable Energy Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-30, April.
    20. Pankaj Borah & Leonardo Micheli & Nabin Sarmah, 2023. "Analysis of Soiling Loss in Photovoltaic Modules: A Review of the Impact of Atmospheric Parameters, Soil Properties, and Mitigation Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-26, December.

    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:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:14:p:4271-:d:594489. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.