Dust Deposition on Photovoltaic Modules: Its Effects on Performance

Numerical simulation of dust deposition characteristics of photovoltaic arrays taking into account the effect of the row spacing of photovoltaic modules

Accurate current–voltage (IV) characterization is essential for assessing photovoltaic (PV) module performance, yet conventional IV tracing requires physical contact and controlled conditions, limiting large-scale deployment. Electroluminescence (EL) imaging, while highly effective for detecting localized defects, remains largely qualitative and indirect in estimating actual PV module power loss. This study introduces a deep learning framework that directly predicts complete IV curves from EL images, transforming EL inspection into a quantitative, non-contact diagnostic tool. In this work, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) that learns the nonlinear mapping between paired EL images captured at 20% and 80% of the short-circuit current and the corresponding IV response. A total of 438 PV modules were used for model development, with performance evaluated on unseen data. The trained CNN reconstructs IV curves with high fidelity, achieving a validation accuracy of approximately 95% and low parameter deviations (<2% for key metrics such as maximum power point and fill factor). The model maintains consistent accuracy even when a single EL image is provided, supporting flexible field operation. Inference is rapid, requiring less than 0.5 s per PV module inspection, enabling real-time analysis.

We propose two-dimensional periodic conical micrograting structured (MGS) polymer films as a multifunctional layer (i.e., light harvesting and self-cleaning) at the surface of outer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) cover-substrates for boosting the solar power generation in silicon (Si)-based photovoltaic (PV) modules. The surface of ultraviolet-curable NOA63 MGS polymer films fabricated by the soft imprint lithography exhibits a hydrophobic property with water contact angle of ∼121° at no inclination and dynamic advancing/receding water contact angles of ∼132°/111° at the inclination angle of 40°, respectively, which can remove dust particles or contaminants on the surface of PV modules in real outdoor environments (i.e., self-cleaning). The NOA63 MGS film coated on the bare PET leads to the reduction of reflection as well as the enhancement of both the total and diffuse transmissions at wavelengths of 300-1100 nm, indicating lower solar weighted reflectance (RSW) of ∼8.2%, higher solar weighted transmittance (TSW) of ∼93.1%, and considerably improved average haze ratio (HAvg) of ∼88.3% as compared to the bare PET (i.e., RSW ≈ 13.5%, TSW ≈ 86.9%, and HAvg ≈ 9.1%), respectively. Additionally, it shows a relatively good durability at temperatures of ≤160 °C. The resulting Si PV module with the NOA63 MGS/PET has an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.26% (cf., PCE = 12.55% for the reference PV module with the bare PET) due to the mainly improved short circuit current from 49.35 to 52.01 mA, exhibiting the PCE increment percentage of ∼5.7%. For light incident angle-dependent PV module current-voltage characteristics, superior solar energy conversion properties are also obtained in a broad angle range of 10-80°.

The snow on the surface of Photovoltaic module will affect the module’s performance of system and reduce the output power. In order to study the surface of solar photovoltaic module snow process and the influence of photovoltaic conversion efficiency, this paper studies the snow process by numerical simulation of a series of different tilt angles of solar photovoltaic module surface, and explores the relationship between the amount of snow and tilt angle. This paper also studies the influence of photovoltaic module snow on photoelectric conversion efficiency by experiment. At the same time, we set up the photovoltaic snow and photoelectric conversion efficiency measurement platform and make experiment of the photovoltaic panel snow thickness on the influence of photovoltaic module efficiency to explore the relationship between the snow thickness and photovoltaic module generation efficiency. Through the analysis of numerical simulation and experimental results, targeted suggestions are put forward to improve the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic power stations under snow conditions, and they may provide reference for engineering practice.

By examining the effect of ambient temperature on photovoltaic (PV) module performance in Diyala Governorate, Iraq, this research intends to optimise solar energy utilisation in the region, contributing to a more sustainable future by dropping reliance on fossil fuels. The study precisely highlights that ambient temperature has a noteworthy negative influence on PV module performance. Particularly, an increase in the temperature of the PV module leads to energy losses due to a reduction in the generated voltage. In this research, a set of experiments was accomplished to appraise the outdoor performance of a polycrystalline PV module under the actual conditions of Diyala Governorate. The energy losses of the PV module are detailed and thoroughly analysed. The findings of this research indicate that the output power and average efficiency of the PV module in summer were found to be 130.8 W and 13.6%, respectively, in a comparison to 126.5 W and 14.1% in winter. This agrees to a maximum performance ratio of 82.5% in summer at 3:00 pm and 84% in winter at 9:00 am.

This research was carried out to investigate the effects of cooling on Photovoltaic (PV) module performance in a tropical region. A Photovoltaic module system was set up in an outdoor environment to expose it to real life operating conditions at the Quadrangle, Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria (7°24´7.0632´´N, 3° 55´ 2.3268´´E), where all the measuring devices were connected to extract all data that determine the power generated by the PV. The experiment was repeated under water cooling condition. Time series analysis was performed on the data collected from the experimental set up. The results indicated that under water cooling condition, the temperature decreased maximally by 𝟐𝟒. 𝟏℃. This leads to a percentage increase of 𝟏𝟎. 𝟎𝟔% of the open circuit voltage, the maximum power delivered by the PV module also increases by 𝟗. 𝟖𝟑% and this effectively increases the conversion efficiency of the PV module by 𝟗. 𝟖𝟑%. The cooling arrangement maintains the temperature to a certain limit, between 𝟑𝟎. 𝟔°𝑪 and 𝟑𝟒. 𝟓°𝑪thereby avoiding long term thermal degradation. The result of this work further corroborated the results of works done from the temperate region. Keywords : Conversion Efficiency, Performance, Photovoltaic Module, Thermal Degradation.

A user-friendly and accurate machine learning tool for the evaluation of the worldwide yearly photovoltaic electricity production

Study of a dust deposition mechanism dominated by electrostatic force on a solar photovoltaic module

Analysis of long-term performance and reliability of PV modules under tropical climatic conditions in sub-Saharan

Herein, the voltage and current output characteristics of a laser photovoltaic (PV) module applied to a wireless power transmission system using a laser beam are analyzed. First, an experiment is conducted to obtain the characteristic data of the voltage and current based on the laser output power of the laser PV module, which generates the maximum power from the laser beam at a wavelength of 1080 nm; subsequently, the small-signal voltage and current characteristics of the laser PV module are analyzed. From the analysis results, it is confirmed that the laser PV module has a characteristic in which the maximum power generation point varies according to the power level of the laser beam. In addition, similar to the solar cell module, it is confirmed that the laser PV module has a current source and a voltage source region, and it shows a small signal resistance characteristic having a negative value as the operating point goes to the current source region. In addition, in this paper, by reflecting these electrical characteristics, a method for designing the controller of a power converter capable of charging a battery while generating maximum power from a PV module is proposed. Since the laser PV module corresponds to the input source of the boost converter used as the power conversion unit, the small-signal transfer function of the boost converter, including the PV module, is derived for the controller design. Therefore, by designing a controller that can stably control the voltage of the PV module in the current source, the maximum power point, and voltage source regions defined according to the output characteristics of the laser PV module, the maximum power is generated from the PV module. Herein, a systematic controller design method for a boost converter for laser wireless power transmission is presented, and the proposed method is validated based on the simulation and experimental results of a 25-W-class boost converter based on a microcontroller unit control.

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are among the most efficient, environmentally benign, and long-lasting systems. The amount of solar radiation impacting these modules that is converted to electricity is quite little. The remaining radiation is transformed into heat, which causes the PV module to overheat and lose efficiency. This experiment examines the effects of changing several operating parameters on the performance of PV modules, including irradiation intensity, and cooling fluid mass flow rate. To reduce cell temperature, a heat exchanger was placed on the PV module’s back surface. For PV modules, findings indicate that as solar cell temperature rises by 1.2°C, the module’s electrical efficiency falls by 5.64%. Meanwhile for PVT, as the temperature of module rises by 1.2°C, the electrical efficiency similarly drops by roughly 0.22%. The solar cell temperature rises by 0.7°C and the output power rise by 2.26W, yet the efficiency falls by 0.25%. In conclusion, the performance of PV modules is greatly influenced by temperature of the solar cell, intensity of solar radiation, and mass flow rate of cooling fluids.

Solar PV soiling mitigation by electrodynamic dust shield in field conditions

The air borne dust deposited on the surface of photovoltaic module influence the transmittance of solar radiations from the photovoltaic modules glazing surface. This experimental work aimed to investigate the effect of dust deposited on the surface of two different types of photovoltaic modules (monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon). Two modules of each type were used and one module from each pair was left exposed to natural atmosphere for three months of winter in Taxila, Pakistan. Systematic series of measurements were conducted for the time period of three months corresponding to the different dust densities. The difference between the output parameters of clean and dirty modules provided the information of percentage loss at different dust densities. The dust density deposited on the modules surface was 0.9867 mg/cm2 at the end of the study. The results showed that dust deposition has strong impact on the performance of photovoltaic modules. The monocrystalline and polycrystalline modules showed about 20% and 16% decrease of average output power, respectively, compared to the clean modules of same type. It was found that the reduction of module efficiency (?clean ? ?dirtv) in case of monocrystalline and polycrystalline module was 3.55% and 3.01%, respectively. Moreover the loss of output power and module efficiency in monocrystalline module was more compared to the polycrystalline module.

Most of the energy used today comes from fossil fuels. The constant exploitation of fossil fuels creates an adverse effect on the environment. With the trend of an increase in energy demand in recent years, there is a widespread utility of sustainable energy sources to meet the energy demands. So, the use of sustainable energy sources is the need of the hour. Among the sustainable energy sources, solar energy is the prominent non-polluting energy that can be used for the cause. Photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules are being used to obtain electricity from solar energy. For high power applications, PV arrays are used in place of PV modules. But PV arrays suffer from Partial shading (PS) due to the presence of building shade, nearby trees, birds' droppings, electric poles, etc. PS affects the PV modules negatively which reduces the overall efficiency of the array. To enhance the PV array efficiency, reconfiguration techniques are being widely used. In this paper, five different array configurations such as Series (S), Series-Parallel (SP), Total Cross Tied (TCT), Bridge Link (BL) and Honeycomb (HC) are considered for analysis. Six cases of shading conditions are considered for investigation using a 5×5 PV array. For PV array modelling KC200GT PV module parameters have been used and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink software. The performance of PV array has been analysed considering maximum power, shading loss (SL), mismatch loss (ML) and fill factor (FF).

Dust accumulation on photovoltaic (PV) modules significantly reduces their performance, especially in desert environments. Cleaning can be costly or not feasible. This paper presents a comprehensive study of PV modules performance in a desert environment, focusing on the impact of dust on power output reduction at various tilt angles to determine the optimal angle in uncleaned conditions. Seven pairs of PV modules were installed on the roof of the Faculty of Engineering in Jeddah City at angles of 0°, 15°, 25°, 45°, 60°, 70°, and 90°. The output power of both the cleaned and dusty modules was recorded over a 12-month period. The results show that dust accumulation, tilt angle, and rain significantly reduce power. The optimal tilt for maximum average output power varies with the seasonal position of the sun and the amount of dust on the module’s surface. After 183 days of dust accumulation without rain, the power reduction for the dusty modules reached 80.4%, 75.6%, and 60.2% at tilt angles of 0°, 15°, and 25°, respectively. In the rainy period, the highest performance of the dusty modules was observed at a 45° tilt angle, with a power reduction of 5.9%. Conversely, during the dry period and throughout the year, the tilt angle that generated the highest power output was 25°, with power reduction of, respectively, 28.7% and 20.7%. These findings provide valuable insights into the impact of dust and tilt on PV module performance and contribute to the development of predictive models and optimization strategies for solar panel systems in harsh desert conditions. This research highlights the importance of strategic tilt selection to enhance the performance and longevity of PV installations in desert environments. • Power yields of clean and dusty PV modules were measured over a year in a desert. • Dust accumulation led to power losses up to 80.4% during extended dry periods. • A 25° angle showed best year-round performance, balancing dust reduction and solar capture. • Insights are provided for optimizing PV tilt angles in harsh desert environments.