Effect of aerosols on performance of concentrator photovoltaics

Abstract

The performance of a concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) system under atmospheric condition was observed. On the basis of measurement data, the effect of aerosols on the system performance was investigated. In this study, visual range and air mass (AM) were used as indices for estimating the performance ratio (PR) of the CPV system. We found a strong correlation between visual range and average photon energy (APE). APE decreased with decreasing visual range owing to the Rayleigh scattering, and eventually the PR of CPV decreased. APE decreased with increasing AM. The travel distance of the light path through the aerosol increased with increasing AM; thus, a low APE was observed. These results indicate the possibility of estimating the APE and PR of the CPV system from environmental factors such as visual range and AM, which can be easily obtained.