Vortex generators as a passive cleaning method for solar PV panels

This work discusses the numerical investigation of dust deposition behaviour on solar PV panels. Moreover, installing vortex generators (VGs) as a passive cleaning method on the PV panels is introduced and analysed. Multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed to predict t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of sustainable energy 2022-11, Vol.41 (10), p.1499-1520
Main Authors: Dagher, M. Mekawy, Kandil, Hamdy A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air flow
Cairo
CFD
Cleaning
Computational fluid dynamics
Computer applications
Deposition
Dust
dust deposition
Fluid dynamics
Hydrodynamics
Panels
passive cleaning
Photovoltaic cells
Reduction
Solar PV panels
Vortex generators
Wind direction
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This work discusses the numerical investigation of dust deposition behaviour on solar PV panels. Moreover, installing vortex generators (VGs) as a passive cleaning method on the PV panels is introduced and analysed. Multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed to predict the influence of VGs on both the air flow fields and the dust deposition on the basis of the environmental properties of Cairo, Egypt. The dust deposition reduction is predicted for different dust particle sizes and for different VGs sizes to find the optimum VG size that causes the highest reduction. It is found that installing VGs is effective for dust particles that are smaller than 50 µm. The results show that installing VGs will result in a deposition reduction of about 35%. It is concluded that installing VGs is effective in reducing the dust deposition when wind direction is from north, south, east, or west.
ISSN:1478-6451
1478-646X
DOI:10.1080/14786451.2022.2062359