Impact of dust on solar photovoltaic (PV) performance: Research status, challenges and recommendations

Mani, Monto; Pillai, Rohit

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2010.07.065

Cited by 851 publications

(356 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Nevertheless, one aspect that needs to be considered in cleaning activities is a study to investigate the best time to undertake the cleaning activities since dust deposition depends on environmental conditions such as rainfall, wind, relative humidity and temperature (Elminir et al, 2006;Mani and Pillai, 2010;Sarver et al, 2013). In addition further work is needed on designing SHS that are accessible for cleaning while being safe from vandalism as well as training villagers on conducting regular maintenance.…”

Section: Discussion On the Value Of Cleaning Solar Modulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned previously, the performance degradation of PV modules is temporary as a result of dust deposition on the module's glass cover (Mani and Pillai, 2010) and permanent caused by non-dust related factors such as yellowing, delamination, bubbles, cracks in the cells, defects in the anti-reflective coating and burnt cells (Munoz et al, 2011). Therefore, in this research, the losses are classified into 2 groups that represent the two kinds of performance degradation.…”

Section: Determining the Contribution Of Dustmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In addition to location, dust accumulation is affected by the PV's tilt angle (Mani and Pillai, 2010;Qasem et al, 2012;Sarver et al, 2013). Elminir et al (2006) in their experiments in Egypt reported that the difference of transmittance reduction for tilt angle of 0 o (dust accumulation maximum) and 90 o (dust accumulation minimum) is 21.3%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Energy produced by a PV module deployed outdoors depends greatly on PV materials and solar insolation (Mani and Pillai, 2010). Over time, the electrical energy output will decrease, commonly due to causes such as humidity, thermal cycling, ultra-violet radiation, and moisture ingress (Quintana et al, 2002) that lead to some permanent degradation, namely corrosion, discoloration, delamination, and breakage and cracking cells (Munoz et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over time, the electrical energy output will decrease, commonly due to causes such as humidity, thermal cycling, ultra-violet radiation, and moisture ingress (Quintana et al, 2002) that lead to some permanent degradation, namely corrosion, discoloration, delamination, and breakage and cracking cells (Munoz et al, 2011). Besides these internal factors, one environmental factor that significantly reduces the energy produced by a PV module temporarily is dust (Mani and Pillai, 2010). The PV performance could be recovered to its maximum capacity by cleaning activities performed manually, automatically and naturally (Sayyah et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The contribution of dust to performance degradation of PV modules in a temperate climate zone

et al. 2015

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This research investigates the contribution of dust to the long-term performance degradation of various photovoltaic (PV) modules that have been operating for almost eighteen years without any cleaning procedures at the Renewable Energy Outdoor Testing Area (ROTA), Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. A solar module analyser was used to assess the PVs'electrical performance, while a combination of spectrophotometer, scanning electron microscope, electron dispersive spectroscope and X-ray diffraction were used to exam the properties of the dust on the panels. The study found that the degradation of the PV modules' power output, ranged from 19% to 33%. The degradation is mostly due to non-dust related factors such as corrosion, delamination, and discoloration, which account about 71% to 84%, although the contribution of dust is still significant at 16% to 29%. Anova analysis shows that the dust has a fairly uniform impact on the performance degradation of all PV technologies at ROTA. This is in line with the results of spectral transmittance curves for different dust density samples that essentially flat over the wavelength range of the PV modules. An investigation of the properties of dust revealed that dust particles deposited on PV modules' surface at ROTA were dominated by fine particles built of large amounts of quartz (SiO 2 ), followed by calcium oxide (CaO) and some minors of feldspars minerals (KAlSi 3 O 8 ), which are the main factors in transmittance losses that affect PV module performance.

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Section: Discussion On the Value Of Cleaning Solar Modulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Determining the Contribution Of Dustmentioning

confidence: 97%