Towards the choice of concentrated solar power and photovoltaic materials for Moroccan conditions

• Main Authors: Naamane, Sanae, Chbihi, Abdelouahed, Boukheir, Sofia, Mouadine, Mustapha, Tahri, Khadija, Bouaddi, Sahar, Bouhamidi, Moulay Hafid
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arid regions; Corrosion resistance; Degradation; Irradiance; Photovoltaic cells; Reflectors; Solar energy
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0029152

Solar energy is becoming a key solution to reduce the use of fossil energies for many countries which have a good amount of irradiance per year. However, good resources of irradiance are always optimal in regions with arid environment and aggressive climatic stresses. These factors are harmful for the efficiency of the solar systems, so they should be considered during the choice of the location and of the type of technology to use. In the present paper, a study of the degradation of different materials dedicated to solar energy is presented. Two types of reflectors for the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) are tested in the same real conditions of exposure. One type presents higher loss in term of reflectance while the second type backside paint is less resistant to the climate which could accelerate corrosion through the metal layer. Three photovoltaic (PV) panels are exposed to real conditions in two different climates. The following up of their electrical characteristics during ∼700 days has shown that the degradation of output power could reach 21%. In addition, the study showed that one PV panel is not behaving in the same way in the two different climate conditions.