TY - GEN
T1 - Effect of dust and weather conditions on photovoltaic performance in Doha, Qatar
AU - Guo, Bing
AU - Javed, W.
AU - Figgis, B. W.
AU - Mirza, T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 IEEE.
PY - 2015/8/17
Y1 - 2015/8/17
N2 - Photovoltaic (PV) power generation performance in desert environments is affected by surface soiling due to dust deposition. In this study, PV performance, ambient dust and weather conditions were measured continuously from June 1 through December 31, 2014 at a solar test facility in Doha, Qatar. Averaged over the seven months, the PV performance loss due to soiling was 0.0042+/-0.0080 per day for modules cleaned every sixth month, and 0.0045+/-0.0091 per day for modules cleaned every second month, in terms of a 'cleanness index' based on the PV module's temperature-corrected performance factor. The daily change in a PV module's cleanness index was negatively correlated with the daily average ambient dust concentration, positively correlated with wind speed, and negatively correlated with the relative humidity. A multivariable regression model was developed to quantitatively relate the daily change in PV module cleanness index with the dust concentration, wind speed, and relative humidity. From the results of this study, it is clear that dust deposition on PV panels can cause significant loss in PV power generation in Qatar. Additional research is needed to refine the mathematical PV power generation performance and the ambient environmental variables, so as to enable accurate simulation of PV solar power plant performance based on environmental data.
AB - Photovoltaic (PV) power generation performance in desert environments is affected by surface soiling due to dust deposition. In this study, PV performance, ambient dust and weather conditions were measured continuously from June 1 through December 31, 2014 at a solar test facility in Doha, Qatar. Averaged over the seven months, the PV performance loss due to soiling was 0.0042+/-0.0080 per day for modules cleaned every sixth month, and 0.0045+/-0.0091 per day for modules cleaned every second month, in terms of a 'cleanness index' based on the PV module's temperature-corrected performance factor. The daily change in a PV module's cleanness index was negatively correlated with the daily average ambient dust concentration, positively correlated with wind speed, and negatively correlated with the relative humidity. A multivariable regression model was developed to quantitatively relate the daily change in PV module cleanness index with the dust concentration, wind speed, and relative humidity. From the results of this study, it is clear that dust deposition on PV panels can cause significant loss in PV power generation in Qatar. Additional research is needed to refine the mathematical PV power generation performance and the ambient environmental variables, so as to enable accurate simulation of PV solar power plant performance based on environmental data.
KW - Dust deposition
KW - Photovoltaic systems
KW - Power system reliability
KW - Relative humidity
KW - Surface soiling
KW - Wind speed
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84953340866&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/SGRE.2015.7208718
DO - 10.1109/SGRE.2015.7208718
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84953340866
T3 - 2015 1st Workshop on Smart Grid and Renewable Energy, SGRE 2015
BT - 2015 1st Workshop on Smart Grid and Renewable Energy, SGRE 2015
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 1st Workshop on Smart Grid and Renewable Energy, SGRE 2015
Y2 - 22 March 2015 through 23 March 2015
ER -