Soiling-induced transmittance losses in solar PV modules installed in Kathmandu Valley

Abstract

Renewable energy sources are fast emerging as more reliable supplement of conventional energy sources. Among the various renewable sources, solar energy is most sought after in today's world. Solar PV modules when installed in outdoor environments suffer from various factors which are generally unaccounted in laboratory testing. Energy generation from solar collectors is primarily dependent on the amount of incident radiation on their surfaces. Soiling on modules is known to reduce the transmittance of incident rays to solar cell and cause significant output power degradation. Soiling is closely associated with the various factors such as module tilt angle, site-specific climate, outdoor exposure period, humidity, wind speed, dust characteristics and material properties. This experimental work is aimed to study the transmittance losses encountered by solar PV modules and the corresponding power degradation. The experimental results show an alarming reduction in transmittance as high as 69.06% over the dry study period experiencing no rain. The power of dusty solar module decreases by 29.76% compared to the module cleaned on daily basis. Dust deposition density on the PV module accounted to 9.6711 g/m 2 over the study period.

Effects of soiling on photovoltaic (PV) modules in the Atacama Desert

“…For comparison, annual energy losses due to soiling measured elsewhere are typically in the range of 1–7% 26 , 28 – 35 . However, in the case of northern Africa and the Middle East 36 – 38 , reported energy losses due to soiling are comparable to those measured in the northern coastal part of the Atacama Desert.…”

The Effect of Different AR Nanostructures on the Optical Performance of Organic–Inorganic Halide Perovskite Semiconductor Solar Cell

“…Solar photovoltaic (PV) is the most sought after renewable energy source in today's world [1], with crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells accounting for about 90% of the market share [2]. However, their power conversion efficiency has remained relatively constant from 1999 to 2014 at ~ 25% and reaching 26.1% in 2018 [3,4].…”

Study of Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) & Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Composite Film Modified Using Silica and Polybutylene Terephthalate(PBT) As a Transparent, Hydrophobic, Self-Cleaning Cover

“…It becomes a nuisance especially in dust-prone cities, where the applications include street lightning, rendering timely maintenance difficulty and costly. In a dust-prone city like in the Kathmandu valley, soiling induced transmittance losses up to 69.06% and a power loss of 29.76% owing to a dust deposition density of 9.6711 g/m 2 over a study period of 5 months in the dry season [3].…”