Economical evaluation of PV system losses due to the dust and pollution

Abstract

The continuously increasing number of Photovoltaic (PV) plants has stimulated the research in order to increment their overall efficiency. Usually, the efforts have been focused on the research of innovative materials and in general on the optimization of the photovoltaic conversion. Pollution due to the traffic, to the industrial activities or to the residential heating can reduce the efficiency of the PV plant. However, this phenomenon has been rarely investigated. It is important to highlight that these losses may have a significant impact in PV module and plant performances thus reducing the financial incomes in a nonnegligible way. This paper present and discuss a method which allows to choose the optimal maintenance interval for a PV plant. The method, starting from the costs related to the cleaning of the panels, compares them to the economic losses due to the decrease of the efficiency

Comparison of Performance Measurements of Photovoltaic Modules during Winter Months in Taxila, Pakistan

“…From the statistical hypothesis test, the maximum power showed decrement with the dust accumulation on panel surface. A theoretical model was proposed by Cristaldi et al [20] to predict the impact of dust from economical point of view. The mathematical model takes into account both the cost due to reduction of the energy production and the maintenance operation cost.…”

PV System Predictive Maintenance: Challenges, Current Approaches, and Opportunities

“…These online portals allow solar energy system homeowners real-time access to energy production. Another smaller percentage of PV system owners might invest in a maintenance plan [10] or contact an installer as needed if they sense an issue exists. In either case, the installer/electrician will conduct a manual diagnostic on the individual components that costs an average of $500 per visit.…”

Modeling of Soiling Derating Factor in Determining Photovoltaic Outputs

“…Other than that, the estimation of f dirt can also be performed by comparing the energy yield or output of a PV system for the cleaned PV module condition and the dusty module condition. This has been carried out in the studies in [20], [21], [23]- [26]. In these studies, the estimation of f dirt is done through the monitoring and output power or energy yield record of the following.…”