Mars Soiling Sensor™

Gostein, Michael; Faullin, Stan; Miller, Keith J.; Schneider, Jason; Stueve, Bill

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2018.8547767

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Also, as mentioned, novel maintenance-free soiling detectors quantify the soiling accumulated on a PV glass to estimate the soiling losses of PV modules [15,16]. Gostein et al [27] demonstrated an high correlation between the soiling losses estimated by MARS and the losses measured on a PV cell, both covered by PV glass coupons artificially deposited with three different types of dusts were placed on top of them. Korevaar et al [28] compared the measurements of DustIQ with the soiling ratio measured by a soiling station in Morocco, showing a good correlation between the two profiles over a short period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlating photovoltaic soiling losses to waveband and single-value transmittance measurements

Micheli

Caballero

Férnández

et al. 2019

Energy

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This paper presents the results of an investigation on the spectral losses of photovoltaic (PV) soiling. The transmittance of a glass coupon exposed to natural soiling outdoors in Jaén, southern Spain, has been measured weekly and used to estimate the soiling losses that various types of photovoltaic materials would experience if installed in the same location. The results suggest that measuring the hemispherical transmittance of the soiling accumulated on a PV glass coupon can give enough information to quantify the impact of soiling on energy production. Each PV technology is found to have a preferred spectral region, or a specific single wavelength, for which the transmittance through a PV glass coupon could be used for the best estimation of soiling losses. Overall, considering the average spectral transmittance between the extreme wavelengths of the material-specific absorption band, or the transmittance of soiling at a single wavelength between 500 and 600 nm yields the best estimations for different PV technologies. The results of this work can lead to innovative approaches to detect soiling in the field and to estimate the impact of spectral changes induced by soiling on PV energy production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlating photovoltaic soiling losses to waveband and single-value transmittance measurements

Micheli

Caballero

Férnández

et al. 2019

Energy

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“…Typically, they are designed to need no water or cleanings, to require no or limited maintenance, and to have no moving parts. Kipp&Zonen's DustIQ ( Korevaar et al., 2017 ) and Atonometrics' Mars Soiling Sensor ( Gostein et al., 2018a ) have been the first two commercial OSM devices. In the DustIQ detector ( Figure 13 A), a monochromatic light is emitted on the back of a soiled glass, and the reflection is measured with a photodiode and used to estimate the soiling losses.…”

Section: Soiling Monitoring Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring photovoltaic soiling: assessment, challenges, and perspectives of current and potential strategies

et al. 2021

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Soiling is the process whereby dirt, dust, and organic/inorganic contaminants deposit on the surface of a photovoltaic (PV) module. It causes significant economic losses and can have a substantial impact on the expansion of photovoltaic technologies for energy generation. The first step to address soiling adequately is monitoring, as soiling mitigation has to be tailored to the specific conditions of each PV system and no universally valid strategy exists. The main focus of this study is to assess the current state of the art in soiling monitoring, in order to help the community better understand the needs and the challenges in this area. The potentials and the limitations of each monitoring method are discussed thoroughly in the paper, with the support of original experimental data. An estimation of the future soiling monitoring market trends is also presented, with a forecasted need for tens of thousands of new soiling monitors every year.

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“…There are numerous soling sensor concepts, including two-sensor systems (at PV-cell or module level), where one of the sensors is cleaned regularly (manually or automatically), and more recent developments toward maintenance-free sensors. 50,[102][103][104][105][106] In CSP, it is recommended to monitor soiling on a daily basis by handheld devices 107 that are operated by solar field technicians. One of the challenges here is to select the minimal number of measurement points to sufficiently predict the average solar field cleanliness.…”

Section: Pv Module Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Assessment of Soiling Losses and Mitigation Strategies for Solar Power Generation

Ilse

Micheli

Figgis

et al. 2019

Joule

278

123

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Soiling consists of the deposition of contaminants onto photovoltaic (PV) modules or mirrors and tubes of concentrated solar power systems (CSPs). It often results in a drastic reduction of power generation, which potentially renders an installation economically unviable and therefore must be mitigated. On the other hand, the corresponding costs for cleaning can significantly increase the price of energy generated. In this work, the importance of soiling is assessed for the global PV and CSP key markets. Even in optimized cleaning scenarios, soiling reduces the current global solar power production by at least 3%-4%, with at least 3-5 billion V annual revenue losses, which could rise to 4%-7%, and more than 4-7 billion V losses, in 2023. Therefore, taking into account the underlying physics of natural soiling processes and the regional cleaning costs, a techno-economic assessment of current and proposed soiling mitigation strategies such as innovative coating materials is presented. Accordingly, the research and development needs and challenges in addressing soiling are discussed.

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Mars Soiling Sensor™

Cited by 25 publications

References 3 publications

Correlating photovoltaic soiling losses to waveband and single-value transmittance measurements

Correlating photovoltaic soiling losses to waveband and single-value transmittance measurements

Monitoring photovoltaic soiling: assessment, challenges, and perspectives of current and potential strategies

Techno-Economic Assessment of Soiling Losses and Mitigation Strategies for Solar Power Generation

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