Modeling and Analysis Framework for Investigating the Impact of Dust and Temperature on PV Systems’ Performance and Optimum Cleaning Frequency

Al‐Kouz, Wael; Al‐Dahidi, Sameer; Hammad, Bashar; Al-Abed, Mohammad A.

doi:10.3390/app9071397

Cited by 48 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Additionally, for the specific application in Saudi Arabia in general, but Al Khobar in particular, the enclosed trough with saltwater condenser suffers much less from sand, dust, humidity, salt and extreme temperatures than PV. PV in Saudi Arabia in general and Al Khobar in particular dramatically suffer from the above issues, [47][48][49] that are preventing the uptake of this technology. The panels collect much less solar energy, being quickly covered by a layer of dust, that is converted to less electricity also because of the high temperature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

2020

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The paper proposes the validation of the latest System Advisor Model (SAM) vs. the experimental data for concentrated solar power energy facilities. Both parabolic trough, and solar tower, are considered, with and without thermal energy storage. The 250 MW parabolic trough facilities of Genesis, Mojave, and Solana, and the 110 MW solar tower facility of Crescent Dunes, all in the United States South-West, are modeled. The computed monthly average capacity factors for the average weather year are compared with the experimental data measured since the start of the operation of the facilities. While much higher sampling frequencies are needed for proper validation, as monthly averaging dramatically filters out differences between experiments and simulations, computational results are relatively close to measured values for the parabolic trough, and very far from for solar tower systems. The thermal energy storage is also introducing additional inaccuracies. It is concluded that the code needs further development, especially for the solar field and receiver of the solar tower modules, and the thermal energy storage. Validation of models and sub-models vs. high-frequency data collected on existing facilities, for both energy production, power plant parameters, and weather conditions, is a necessary step before using the code for designing novel facilities. National Electricity Market data tell us that even installed capacity of 18.1 GW sometimes is not enough to deliver 0.2 GW to the grid in cases, for example, of low wind after sunset), the coupling of concentrating solar power with molten salt thermal energy storage is extremely attractive, as it may produce fully dispatchable energy.While the concentrating solar power solar tower coupled with thermal energy storage has so far performed badly in the real world, the concentrating solar power parabolic trough with thermal energy storage is already delivering good performances, [8][9][10][11][12], even if still less than the predictions. Solar photovoltaic works with annual average ε about 0.27-0.29, but with much larger than the capacity factor high-frequency standard deviations, for coefficients of variability in excess of unity [15]. While in the virtual reality of model computations concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage may achieve much larger and more uniform ε, with average ε well in excess of 0.5, also addressing the issues of lack of production during night times, and drastically reduced production with clouds, with dramatically reduced standard deviations, the best real-world experience has so far delivered an annual average ε of about 0.36 (Solana). By contrast with photovoltaic, concentrating solar power, especially the solar tower, suffers from cloud coverage, and this may considerably affect the accuracy of the models.As concluded in [8][9][10][11][12], the concentrating solar power parabolic trough has the potential, once a satisfactory design will be industrialized, to deliver the same or better than photovoltaic costs of electricity with...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

2020

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“…The initial cost incurred for the installations of the proposed mechanism was around 5336.22 USD. Additionally, considering reasonable and acceptable values of cleaning costs of 0.212 USD/kWp in the MENA region during the study period [13], some research [17] implied that, if the hand cleaning could be carry out on an hourly basis in each day of a year, the cost incur for the hand cleaning would be 0.212 × 10 × 365 = 7738 USD/kWp (assuming that the cleaning is carried out 10 h/day-it is indeed known that the dust accumulation will be relevant on certain days of the year, but this is only for clarification purposes). In addition, one should also consider the fact that the proposed cleaning mechanism requires a predetermined schedule of maintenance interventions, for example, the wiper blade should be checked every six months and replaced once a year (which would cost around 56-89 USD), the rubber squeegee and the metal frames should be checked to avoid problems such as streaking, skipping, chattering, etc.…”

Section: Experimental Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Al-Kouz et al [13] proposed a computational model to investigate the effects of dust and temperature on the performance of a photovoltaic system using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) [14] and Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) [15] models. They found that the optimized model predicts a conversion efficiency yielding an R 2 of 91.4%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, a literature review was done on the effect of natural dust and artificial dust on the performance of the photovoltaic system. The factors affecting the dust and its performance were discussed; it was shown clearly in their studies that there is a need for optimization, forecasting, and understanding of solar PV functioning, specifically unexplored factors such as soiling [13]. Additionally, an investigation on the performance losses due to dust through a dynamic study into the I-V characteristics of panels and their performance under varying soiling conditions was conducted by Rao et al [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of Existing Photovoltaic System with Cooling and Cleaning System: Case Study at Al-Khobar City

2019

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There is no denial that renewable energy is considered to be the most cost-competitive source of clean power in many parts of the world. Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 aims at achieving the best by using different sources of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind energy, and others. The use of solar energy in particular for power generation will decrease the dependency on oil, and thus, decrease the greenhouse gasses. Solar panels efficiency tends to decrease with the accumulation of dust on their surface. Thus, a cleaning process requires assigning and employing labor, which increases the cost of running as well as high cost of machinery. The current study focuses on assessing and designing a simple auto self-cleaning system in order to improve the efficiency of the solar panel. The results showed that for the Al-Khobar region, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the efficiency of the solar panels after cleaning was increased from 6% to an average of 12% at nominal temperature of 27 °C. In addition, the average power output was increased by 35% during the day time. In addition, the normal efficiency of the solar panels before cooling was between 10% to 15% at 42 °C. After cooling, the temperature of solar cells decreased to 20 °C and the efficiency increased by 7%. Moreover, the output power was increased by 31% with maximum efficiency of 32% at noon time.

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“…These researches are based on real experimental data included, solar panel back surface temperature, open circuit voltage, short circuit current and output electrical power to determine the actual module efficiency at ambient temperature variations. Kazem and Chaichan [22] and Al-Kouz et al, [23] carried out experimental works to evaluate the impact of PV module temperature on module efficiency beside to other environmental influences such as dust accumulation, humidity and wind speed. Their results have revealed a significant effect of temperature on the cell efficiency relative to other variables.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Evaluation of Polycrystalline Photovoltaic Module based on Varying Temperature for Baghdad City Climate

Hamad

2020

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The impact of the solar photovoltaic cell temperature on module output performance parameters is investigated experimentally under conditions of Baghdad city climate in the present study. The tests are conducted using a test rig for Polycrystalline silicon solar panel with rated capacity 300W and equipped with measuring devices. Test conditions are based on three months duration, June, July and August of year 2019 through the period from 8AM to 4PM per day. This period represents the highest ambient temperatures through summer months in Baghdad city in Iraq. The results have shown that, under the test conditions for cell temperature with range 45-65°C a significant reduction in the output power, efficiency and fill factor with module temperature rise were observed. The loss in the open circuit voltage and output power of the photovoltaic module was about-0.104/°C and-1.3/°C respectively. The reductions in the current and voltage at maximum output power with temperature increasing were about-5.24% and-5.45% respectively. The drops in the efficiency and fill factor of the photovoltaic module due to the module temperature increase were 9.62% and 12.96% respectively compared to that at standard conditions. The temperature coefficient of the maximum power was-0.52% for the solar photovoltaic module under test conditions.

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Modeling and Analysis Framework for Investigating the Impact of Dust and Temperature on PV Systems’ Performance and Optimum Cleaning Frequency

Cited by 48 publications

References 59 publications

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

Assessment of Existing Photovoltaic System with Cooling and Cleaning System: Case Study at Al-Khobar City

Performance Evaluation of Polycrystalline Photovoltaic Module based on Varying Temperature for Baghdad City Climate

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