IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i2p904-d1034261.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Soiling Modelling in Large Grid-Connected PV Plants for Cleaning Optimization

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Redondo

    (Department of Automática, Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica e Informática Industrial, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid, Spain
    Department of Operation & Maintenance Improvement, Enel Green Power Iberia, 28042 Madrid, Spain)

  • Carlos A. Platero

    (Department of Automática, Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica e Informática Industrial, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid, Spain)

  • Antonio Moset

    (Department of Operation & Maintenance Solar Iberia, Enel Green Power Iberia, 28042 Madrid, Spain)

  • Fernando Rodríguez

    (Department of Operation & Maintenance Improvement, Enel Green Power Iberia, 28042 Madrid, Spain)

  • Vicente Donate

    (Department of Operation & Maintenance Solar Iberia, Enel Green Power Iberia, 28042 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

Soiling of PV modules is an issue causing non-negligible losses on PV power plants, between 3 and 4% of the total energy production. Cleaning is the most common way to mitigate soiling. The impact of the cleaning activity can be significant, both in terms of cost and resources consumption. For these reasons, it is important to monitor and predict soiling profiles and establish an optimal cleaning schedule. Especially in locations where raining is irregular or where desert winds carry a high concentration of particles, it is also important to know how precipitation and dust events affect the soiling ratio. This paper presents a new model based on environmental conditions that helps the decision-making process of the cleaning schedule. The model was validated by the analysis of five large grid-connected PV plants in Spain over two years of operation, with a total power of 200 MW. The comparison between the model and soiling sensors at the five locations was included. Excellent results were achieved, the mean difference between sensors and model being 0.71%.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Redondo & Carlos A. Platero & Antonio Moset & Fernando Rodríguez & Vicente Donate, 2023. "Soiling Modelling in Large Grid-Connected PV Plants for Cleaning Optimization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-13, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:2:p:904-:d:1034261
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/2/904/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/2/904/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saheli Sengupta & Aritra Ghosh & Tapas K. Mallick & Chandan Kumar Chanda & Hiranmay Saha & Indrajit Bose & Joydip Jana & Samarjit Sengupta, 2021. "Model Based Generation Prediction of SPV Power Plant Due to Weather Stressed Soiling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Lisa B. Bosman & Walter D. Leon-Salas & William Hutzel & Esteban A. Soto, 2020. "PV System Predictive Maintenance: Challenges, Current Approaches, and Opportunities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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).
    6. 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.
    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. Fabian Zuñiga-Cortes & Juan D. Garcia-Racines & Eduardo Caicedo-Bravo & Hernan Moncada-Vega, 2023. "Minimization of Economic Losses in Photovoltaic System Cleaning Schedules Based on a Novel Methodological Framework for Performance Ratio Forecast and Cost Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Abdulla, Hind & Sleptchenko, Andrei & Nayfeh, Ammar, 2024. "Photovoltaic systems operation and maintenance: A review and future directions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 195(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. Abdulla, Hind & Sleptchenko, Andrei & Nayfeh, Ammar, 2024. "Photovoltaic systems operation and maintenance: A review and future directions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    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. Micheli, Leonardo & Muller, Matthew & Theristis, Marios & Smestad, Greg P. & Almonacid, Florencia & Fernández, Eduardo F., 2024. "Quantifying the impact of inverter clipping on photovoltaic performance and soiling losses," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Gowtham Vedulla & Anbazhagan Geetha & Ramalingam Senthil, 2022. "Review of Strategies to Mitigate Dust Deposition on Solar Photovoltaic Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-28, December.
    6. Hanifi, Hamed & Pander, Matthias & Zeller, Ulli & Ilse, Klemens & Dassler, David & Mirza, Mark & Bahattab, Mohammed A. & Jaeckel, Bengt & Hagendorf, Christian & Ebert, Matthias & Gottschalg, Ralph & S, 2020. "Loss analysis and optimization of PV module components and design to achieve higher energy yield and longer service life in desert regions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    7. Wu, Yubo & Du, Jianqiang & Liu, Guangxin & Ma, Danzhu & Jia, Fengrui & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Jin, 2022. "A review of self-cleaning technology to reduce dust and ice accumulation in photovoltaic power generation using superhydrophobic coating," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1034-1061.
    8. 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.
    9. Micheli, Leonardo & Fernandez, Eduardo F. & Aguilera, Jorge T. & Almonacid, Florencia, 2020. "Economics of seasonal photovoltaic soiling and cleaning optimization scenarios," MPRA Paper 104104, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Honey Brahma & Shraiya Pant & Leonardo Micheli & Greg P. Smestad & Nabin Sarmah, 2022. "Effect of Environmental Factors on Photovoltaic Soiling: Experimental and Statistical Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, December.
    11. 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.
    12. Yousef Alharbi & Ahmed Darwish & Xiandong Ma, 2023. "A Comprehensive Review of Distributed MPPT for Grid-Tied PV Systems at the Sub-Module Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-23, July.
    13. Asah, Stanley T. & Baral, Nabin, 2018. "Technicalizing non-technical participatory social impact assessment of prospective cellulosic biorefineries: Psychometric quantification and implications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 462-472.
    14. Rodrigo, Pedro M. & Gutiérrez, Sebastián & Micheli, Leonardo & Fernández, Eduardo F. & Almonacid, Florencia, 2020. "Optimum cleaning schedule of photovoltaic systems based on levelised cost of energy and case study in central Mexico," MPRA Paper 104173, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. 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.
    16. Amor Hamied & Adel Mellit & Mohamed Benghanem & Sahbi Boubaker, 2023. "IoT-Based Low-Cost Photovoltaic Monitoring for a Greenhouse Farm in an Arid Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-21, April.
    17. Duberney Murillo-Yarce & José Alarcón-Alarcón & Marco Rivera & Carlos Restrepo & Javier Muñoz & Carlos Baier & Patrick Wheeler, 2020. "A Review of Control Techniques in Photovoltaic Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    18. Laura Essak & Aritra Ghosh, 2022. "Floating Photovoltaics: A Review," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-18, August.
    19. 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).
    20. Simone Pedrazzi & Giulio Allesina & Alberto Muscio, 2018. "Are Nano-Composite Coatings the Key for Photovoltaic Panel Self-Maintenance: An Experimental Evaluation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-13, 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:16:y:2023:i:2:p:904-:d:1034261. 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.