Self-Powered Autonomous Electrostatic Dust Removal for Solar Panels by an Electret Generator.

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

This study seeks to determine the effects of partial shading on the power output of solar panels and to test the effectiveness of bypass diodes in minimizing these effects. The first part of the study focuses on determining the effect of partial shade on the energy output of a solar panel. The second part of this study is aimed at establishing the effect that partial shade has on solar panel power output. In this study, partial shade was found to reduce the amount of energy generated by solar panels when compared to the solar panel in fully exposed conditions. After conducting experiments and reviewing scholarly works, this study concludes that partial shading does decrease the power produced by the solar panels, thus reducing the amounts of energy produced. Moreover, this research establishes that bypass devices are effective in mitigating these effects, which can improve the performance of the solar panel arrays, increasing the overall efficiency of solar panel systems. This research may offer support for the creation of new solar panel technologies that are more effective and efficient and can better endure the effects of partial shading, ultimately resulting in a global adoption of solar energy as a workable and sustainable energy source.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels account for a major portion of the smart grid capacity. On the other hand, the accumulation of solar panels dust is a significant challenge for PV-based systems. The accumulation of solar panels dust results in a significant reduction in the amount of energy produced. Because of the country’s low wind velocity and rainfall, frequent cleaning of solar panels is necessary either by manual or automated means. Cleaning activities should only be initiated when absolutely essential to reduce maintenance costs and increase the power output of solar panels that have been projected to be affected by dust accumulation. In this paper, we develop a deep belief network model to detect the dust particles in the solar panels installed as a large unit. The study takes into account various input metrics that includes solar irradiance, temperature level, and dust level on the panels. These metrics are used for the estimation of the level of dust present in the atmosphere and how often the panels can be cleaned at regular intervals. The simulation is conducted to test the efficacy of the model in cleaning the panels. The results are estimated in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F-measure. The results of the simulation show that the proposed model achieves higher accuracy rate of more than 99% than other methods.

Although fossil fuels are still readily available, their use is becoming less and less common. Solar energy produced by panels on the roof can be used as a source of power. Semiconductor-based solar panel technology can absorb photons from sunshine and transform them into ecologically beneficial electrical energy. Of course, a control device that regulates the electrical energy charging system is required when using solar cells as a power source to charge a battery. This device is typically referred to as a charge controller. The DC-DC converter of the buck type with a Ziegler Nichols-based Proportional Integral Differential (PID) control approach utilizing Arduino Uno is the control system utilized in this solar cell battery charging. The buck converter reduces and stabilizes the solar panel's output voltage following the requirements for charging the accumulator. For charging batteries, a set point voltage of 13.8 V is employed. By testing the converter with both static and dynamic loads, the research that has been done can produce results. The 35 Watt lamp static load test results with a fixed voltage source show that the set point voltage is 13 V and that it takes 28 s to attain a steady condition. When applied to dynamic loading using a battery charge of 12 V/7.5 Ah with a 20 WP solar panel source during hot, partly cloudy weather, the charging efficiency is 68 percent. A steady state of about 28 s may be claimed to be a satisfactory control system response.

Polycrystalline Photovoltaic Panels are a device that plays a role in converting photon energy from sunlight into electrical energy. Installing photovoltaic panels outdoors can result in dust buildup on their surfaces, potentially affecting the panel's output power because the light that can be converted into electrical energy is limited due to being covered by dust. An experiment was carried out by sprinkling 3 grams of sand and brick dust measuring less than 425 µm on the panel. Based on measurements and analysis, panels without treatment show the highest voltage, current and output power values of 12.69 V, 0.28 A and 3.55 W respectively. Meanwhile for panels with sand dust, the voltage values are 12, 19 V, current 0.244 A, and output power 2.97 W. Panels with brick dust recorded the lowest voltage values of 11.84 V, current 0.211 A, and output power 2.49 W. There was a decrease in the values of voltage, current, and output power on panels without treatment compared to panels exposed to dust. Panels with sand dust produce higher output power compared to panels exposed to brick dust, due to the different characteristics of sand dust which is coarser with larger particles compared to brick dust which has a finer texture and smaller particles. As a result, the larger sand dust particles cause less panel surface area covered by dust compared to brick dust, so that more sunlight can be converted into electrical energy.

Dust accumulation on solar panels is a mjor operational challenge faced by the photovoltaic industry. Removing dust using water-based cleaning is expensive and unsustainable. Dust repulsion via charge induction is an efficient way to clean solar panels and recover power output without consuming any water. However, it is still challenging to remove particles of ≈30µm and smaller because Van der Waals force of adhesion dominates electrostatic force of repulsion. Here, the study proposes nano-textured, transparent, electrically conductive glass surfaces to significantly enhance electrostatic dust removal for particles smaller than ≈30µm. We perform atomic force microscopy pull-off force experiments and demonstrates that nano-textured surfaces reduce the force of adhesion of silica micro-particles by up to 2 orders of magnitude compared to un-textured surfaces from 460 to 8.6 nN. We show that reduced adhesion on nano-textured surfaces results in significantly better dust removal of small particles compared to non-textured or micro-textured surfaces, reducing the surface coverage from 35% to 10%. We fabricate transparent, electrically conductive, nano-textured glass that can be retrofitted on solar panel surfaces using copper nano-mask based scalable nano-fabrication technique and shows that 90% of lost power output for particles smaller than ≈10µm can be recovered.

The country of Iraq tops the list of countries in solar activity and therefore has the most important renewable energy sources, which we desperately need to fill the acute shortage of electrical energy. The availability of this source coincides with a significant rise in temperature in most of its regions and a wide range of days of the year. Where temperatures play a key role in wind activity and the provocation of dust storms, which urgently requires a field study to find out the impact of these factors on the performance of photovoltaic solar modules. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the performance of the solar module under the influence of dust accumulation, temperature and wind speed. A group symmetric of monocrystalline silicon solar modules have been experimented to see how these factors affect the performance of the modules. The results showed that there is a clear impact by the heat factor and dust accumulation on the performance of solar modules, but the wind factor is the least influential and what can be concluded is that Iraq, especially the city of Baghdad, is an ideal place to invest solar energy in the production of electrical energy.

Design of a two dimensional automated solar tracking system is discussed in this paper. The objectives of the proposed work are to design an automated tracking technique using Light Dependent Resistance (LDR), and solar panel power output to position the solar panel to absorb maximum energy. For positioning the solar panel two stepper motors are used those are controlled using National Instruments (NI) motion assistant and with the program written using Support Vector Machine (SVM) on LabVIEW. The controller is designed using SVM with the inputs as the solar panel output, LDR sensor output and target being the position of solar panel which yields maximum output from solar panel. SVM after being trained, validated, and tested is implemented to control the position of solar panels through two stepper motors. The system was tested and results showed the proposed technique has fulfilled its mentioned objectives.

Solar Photovoltaic Panels are considered as one of the most powerful alternative renewable and sustainable energy sources. However, a major challenge is the effect of dust accumulation on the photovoltaic panels in natural outdoor environment as it reduces the transmissivity of the light on the surface of the solar panels. For many small communities, the decision of implementing mono or polycrystalline PVs should consider economic aspects. This study is a case study that is held at The British University in Egypt at El Sherouk city to study the effect of different parameters such as dust accumulation, water cooling and coating on the performance of both mono- and poly-crystalline panels at El-Sherouk City. The effects of high temperature and dust accumulation on different solar panels placed in natural outdoor conditions at El-Sherouk City are studied and the electrical performance of the solar panels is represented by measuring several characteristic parameters of dusty and cooled PV panels compared to cleaned and non-cooled panels. The effect of the tilt angle on the accumulation of dust on the surface of the solar panels is, also, studied. The mono-crystalline solar panels are installed at tilt angles 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60° for one month without cleaning, by any method. The results shows that the power reduction percentage is 17%,20%,25%,27% and 30% for tilt angles 60°,45°,30°,15° and 0°; respectively. Tilt angles 15° and 30° show to be optimal for the installation of the PV solar system, as they produce the highest amount of output power. It is found from the study that the accumulation of dust on the surface of different types of solar panels can reduce the efficiency by 30%. While the high temperature can reduce the efficiency by up to 10 %.

Collision-adhesion mechanism of particles and dust deposition simulation on solar PV modules

Development of large scale solar power station is a vital step to counter energy crisis in Pakistan. This study is carried out to perform detailed analysis of solar energy harvested from installed solar system (Quid-e-Azam Solar Park Bahawalpur) having DC ratings 100 MW and comparing it with systems designed with different softwares keeping all important parameters same to ensure to reliability of designing. Keeping in view the outcomes of this study it can be concluded that output of solar panels is highly dependent upon various factors like air temperature, wind speed, daily average solar irradiance, humidity etc. Temperature above 25 °C can affect the efficiency 10% to 16% of rated power output. Ambient temperature is always less than module temperature so wind is helpful to draw heat away from panel. Humidity also has inverse relation on performance of solar panels. All results and outcomes are discussed accordingly.

One of the current technologies widely used to extract the earth’s renewable energy is solar modules, which harness energy from the sun; however, their operating conditions and their energy storage capacities vary greatly under different weather conditions. The high-speed Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) presents a promising prospective solution for solar energy storage and utilization. Accurately modeling FESS can lead to its efficient design and control. In this paper, a fully integrated FESS, with comprehensive photovoltaic (PV) system, has been modeled to simulate the overall energy harvesting capabilities, power output, and efficiency. The solar module has been modeled using the one-diode solar cell model technique to predict the overall system efficiency and determine the most efficient time of day for switching between the FESS’s charging (morning time) and discharging mode (night time). To validate the developed model using experimental data, four 250 Wp Ankara Solar PV modules and a Balance of System (BOS) were installed. The solar irradiance, wind speed, cell temperature, solar module, FESS output voltage and current were logged during the system’s operation. The theoretical model predicted that the energy output for the test day was 4.80 kWh, while the experimental analysis showed that the solar modules produced 4.68 kWh, only 2.5% percentage difference. The theoretical and experimental power curves followed the same trends throughout the day, which assures that the model could accurately predict the daily energy output of the solar array. The efficiency of the solar module was determined to be 15.3%. The solar module simulation serves as a repeatable replication of the actual solar module source, which enables convenient, low-cost estimation of the solar module-FESS system under different environmental conditions. The developed solar module was integrated with a brushless DC motor and flywheel models to simulate the FESS response. Relative to the input solar energy input of 4.68 kWh, the daily energy stored in a flywheel was 3.51 kWh, giving the overall solar-module-FESS system an efficiency of 74.7%. After the experimental setup completion of FESS, the integrated solar module-FESS model will be tested for its overall power output and efficiency against the traditional solar module-battery-system.

Ефективність системи автономного електроживлення, побудованої на основі використання сонячної енергії, істотно залежить від орієнтування сонячних панелей такої системи відносно Сонця. Мета роботи - провести порівняльний аналіз різних способів орієнтування сонячних панелей системи автономного електроживлення стаціонарного пункту управління та визначити найбільш ефективний з цих способів. В статті проводиться аналіз основних способів орієнтування за Сонцем сонячних панелей. Розглядаються стаціонарні і мобільні способи монтажу сонячних панелей та проводиться їх порівняння с точки зору простоти виконання та ефективності функціонування. За результатами проведеного в статті аналізу найбільш ефективним являється спосіб із застосуванням сонячного трекеру. Сонячний трекер забезпечить автоматичне орієнтування сонячних панелей за Сонцем як по азимуту, так й по висоті протягом всього року та часу доби. Результати статті можуть бути використані під час проектування та побудови автономних систем електроживлення стаціонарних об'єктів

Maximum power tracking for solar panel has been explored since long time ago for increasing solar panel output. Various methods have been implemented from combinational based algorithm to intelligent system, including the use of fuzzy logic. This paper demonstrates the implementation of fuzzy logic on the arduino microcontroller system. A maximum power tracking prototype is developed, and experimental assessments are conducted. Arduino uno is used for the microcontroller, small scale mechanic is developed driven by two electric motors, and 13V solar cell is used as the object. The assessments show that fuzzy logic algorithm is successfully implemented in arduino, the solar panel output is enhanced up to x% and the solar panel efficiency is up to x%.

The accumulation of dust on the solar cells panels worsens the situation and lowers the efficiency of the solar cells day by day especially in the regions known by their high rate of dust, low frequency and intensity of rain. The accumulated dust on the solar cells panel blocks the cells from the sun’s rays and act as a screening effect as shown by the calculated spectral transmittance of dust which decreases the performance of the solar cells over time until the cell panels are cleaned manually or by rain. The tilt angle of the solar cell panels affects considerably the amount of accumulated dust on the surface of the panels. The study focuses on the effects of dust accumulation on photovoltaic solar panels in Jazan region. The effect is tested in outdoor measurements and it was found that regular dust accumulation reduces the solar cells efficiency by about 10% for an exposure time of 16 weeks. Moreover the tilted panel with an angle of 30° receives more dust than the panel tilted by 50° which means higher efficiency loss for the lower tilted panel. The efficiency loss is significant of large of annual monetary losses. This study can be considered as a reference to predict the level of degradation of any photovoltaic system that might be installed in the Jazan region and also to estimate the real cost include the cost of the solar panel cleaning.