Dust particle properties and its influence on PV panel performance

• Main Authors: Gowtham, Vedulla, Geetha, Anbazhagan, Chandar, S. Prakash
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Commercialization; Design optimization; Dust; Dust control; Electric power loss; Induced voltage; Optical properties; Photoelectric effect; Photovoltaic cells; Voltage drop
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0156897

Industry and academics have recently performed intensive R&D to considerably improve the transformation efficiency of commercialized photovoltaic modules. The geographic position and placing design of photovoltaic systems planned at optimizing photovoltaic energy output are essentially determined by their geological region and model to optimize sun disclosure. Even if these aspects are addressed effectively, there are some still other issues it negatively impacts PV system performance, such as temperature-induced voltage drops, which results in solar power loss, and dust buildup (soiling). The optical characteristics of PV modules are primarily affected by dust collection, which reduces the generated photocurrent output. The importance of quantifying the dust accumulation by measuring the related losses in optical becomes paramount. Dust particle structure and physicochemical properties in an educational institute located at Chennai, Tamil Nadu were investigated in this work. UV-Vis is used to characterize Particles of dust gathered directly from photovoltaic panels deployed in selected plant. The power output data from selected location by NREL and the real time monitored data from the chosen plant are compared to prove the presence of losses due to dust.