The Effect of Dust on Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Mejia, Felipe A.; Kleissl, Jan; Bosch, J.L.

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2014.03.251

Cited by 132 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Dust deposits on solar panels are known to have a severe detrimental effect on the efficiency of photovoltaic systems (Goossens and Van Kerschaever, 1999;Hamou et al, 2014;Mejia et al, 2014;Rao et al, 2014;Sulaiman et al, 2014;Ilse et al, 2016), with its adverse effects depending on mineral composition and atmospheric conditions (Supplement B).…”

Section: Importance Of Mineral Dustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and chemical properties of deposited airborne particulates over the Arabian Red Sea coastal plain

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Mineral dust is the most abundant aerosol, having a profound impact on the global energy budget. This research continues our previous studies performed on surface soils in the Arabian Peninsula, focusing on the mineralogical, physical and chemical composition of dust deposits from the atmosphere at the Arabian Red Sea coast. For this purpose, aerosols deposited from the atmosphere are collected during 2015 at six sites on the campus of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) situated on the Red Sea coastal plain of Saudi Arabia and subjected to the same chemical and mineralogical analysis we conducted on soil samples. Frisbee deposition samplers with foam inserts were used to collect dust and other deposits, for the period December 2014 to December 2015. The average deposition rate measured at KAUST for this period was 14 g m −2 per month, with lowest values in winter and increased deposition rates in August to October. The particle size distributions provide assessments of < 10 and < 2.5 µm dust deposition rates, and it is suggested that these represent proxies for PM 10 (coarse) and PM 2.5 (fine) particle size fractions in the dust deposits.X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of a subset of samples confirms variable amounts of quartz, feldspars, micas, and halite, with lesser amounts of gypsum, calcite, dolomite, hematite, and amphibole. Freeze-dried samples were resuspended onto the Teflon ® filters for elemental analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), while splits from each sample were analyzed for water-soluble cations and anions by ion chromatography. The dust deposits along the Red Sea coast are considered to be a mixture of dust emissions from local soils and soils imported from distal dust sources. Airborne mineral concentrations are greatest at or close to dust sources, compared to those through medium-and long-range transport. It is not possible to identify the exact origin of deposition samples from the mineralogical and chemical results alone. These aerosol data are the first of their kind from the Red Sea region. They will help assess their potential nutrient input into the Red Sea, as well the impact on human health, industry, and solar panel efficiency. These data will also support dust modeling in this important dust belt source area by better quantifying dust mass balance and optical properties of airborne dust particles.

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Section: Importance Of Mineral Dustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and chemical properties of deposited airborne particulates over the Arabian Red Sea coastal plain

et al. 2017

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“…The results suggest that these reductions in power and efficiency were caused by decreasing the short circuit current of the PV module with dust accumulation; it seems that the dust particles disperse the sun rays falling on the PV module surface, thereby reducing the amount of power output. However, a larger reduction in efficiency was obtained by Mejia et al [36] during 108 days in the summer season. During this period, efficiency decreased from 7.2% to 5.6% as a result of the accumulated dust on the PV module.…”

Section: Dust Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 76%

Environmental Impacts on the Performance of Solar Photovoltaic Systems

et al. 2020

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This study scrutinizes the reliability and validity of existing analyses that focus on the impact of various environmental factors on a photovoltaic (PV) system’s performance. For the first time, four environmental factors (the accumulation of dust, water droplets, birds’ droppings, and partial shading conditions) affecting system performance are investigated, simultaneously, in one study. The results obtained from this investigation demonstrate that the accumulation of dust, shading, and bird fouling has a significant effect on PV current and voltage, and consequently, the harvested PV energy. ‘Shading’ had the strongest influence on the efficiency of the PV modules. It was found that increasing the area of shading on a PV module surface by a quarter, half, and three quarters resulted in a power reduction of 33.7%, 45.1%, and 92.6%, respectively. However, results pertaining to the impact of water droplets on the PV panel had an inverse effect, decreasing the temperature of the PV panel, which led to an increase in the potential difference and improved the power output by at least 5.6%. Moreover, dust accumulation reduced the power output by 8.80% and the efficiency by 11.86%, while birds fouling the PV module surface was found to reduce the PV system performance by about 7.4%.

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“…This area was divided in 14.55 m 2 PV façade and 12 m 2 roof panels. The simulation of the photovoltaic energy production with Ladybug included efficiency reduction factors such as shading, soiling [90], snow covering [91], as well as conversion losses.…”

Section: Photovoltaic Energy Production Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Building Information Modeling-Parametric Workflow Based Renovation Strategy for an Exemplary Apartment Building in Seoul, Korea

2018

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Apartments in South Korea have high maintenance costs and an average lifetime of 25 years due to poor construction qualities. The common apartment redevelopment strategy is completely demolishing the neighborhoods and then replacing them with new buildings. However, this research discusses the framework for the refurbishment of an existing building in Seoul using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and parametric tools. The virtual model of an exemplary existing building is constructed in a BIM environment. Parametric software is used to simulate the building’s environmental performance, in order to determine its energy demand for heating and cooling and the indoor comfort. In order to reduce the energy demand for heating and cooling, improve the indoor comfort, generate photovoltaic energy and extend the building’s lifetime, a modular building envelope renovation system is developed. Building simulation results of the improved building envelope are used to quantify the differences with the existing building. The research results illustrate significant improvements in energy performance, comfort and lifetime extension that can be achieved. Furthermore, a guideline for a streamlined building optimization process is provided, that can be transferred and used for the planning and optimization of other building renovation projects.

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The Effect of Dust on Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Cited by 132 publications

References 10 publications

Physical and chemical properties of deposited airborne particulates over the Arabian Red Sea coastal plain

Physical and chemical properties of deposited airborne particulates over the Arabian Red Sea coastal plain

Environmental Impacts on the Performance of Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Development of a Building Information Modeling-Parametric Workflow Based Renovation Strategy for an Exemplary Apartment Building in Seoul, Korea

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