Investigation of soiling effects for east/west vertical bifacial and north/south tilted monofacial photovoltaic farms

Abstract

The output energy produced by the photovoltaic system strongly depends upon the amount of solar radiation harvested by the photovoltaic panels. Varying the tilt of photovoltaic panels at the optimal angle and/or cleaning the photovoltaic panels at regular intervals are some of the techniques that could enhance the photovoltaic system performance albeit at the cost of increased labor and water budget. Here, we explore a farm-level study to investigate the effect of different tilt angle adjustment schedules on the performance of conventional north/south ([Formula: see text]) tilted monofacial photovoltaic farms. We further compare the performance of optimally tilted [Formula: see text] photovoltaic farms with that of east/west ([Formula: see text]) faced vertical bifacial photovoltaic farms for various dry periods for Lahore, Pakistan. We show that for a dry period of one month, the performance of [Formula: see text] tilted farm is decreased by [Formula: see text]40 kWh/m[Formula: see text] as compared to that for [Formula: see text] farm that exhibits a performance degradation of [Formula: see text]3 kWh/m[Formula: see text]. Further, [Formula: see text] farm performs better than [Formula: see text] vertical farm if the cleaning is performed on (or before) fortnightly basis. Further, if cleaning is delayed for one month, then [Formula: see text] vertical farm performs better than [Formula: see text] tilted farm. The results presented in this work are beneficial for the development of [Formula: see text] faced vertical bifacial farm in dusty climates and regions with scarce water supply.

Soiling impact and cleaning techniques for optimizing photovoltaic and concentrated solar power power production: A state-of-the-art review

“…For this reason, it is not easy to determine the optimal inclination angle as it is strongly influenced by the soiling effect and other factors. 91,92…”

The future of the shale industry in light of the fluctuations in global oil prices

“…For this reason, it is not easy to determine the optimal inclination angle as it is strongly influenced by the soiling effect and other factors. 91,92 Dust deposition and its impact on PV panels were investigated by Jaszczur et al. 93 They demonstrated that successful mitigation of dust from PV surfaces occurs in the case of high-intensity rain, while in the case of low rainfall, it affects PV panels negatively.…”