Dust and cleaning impact on the performance of photovoltaic: an outdoor experimental study. Issue 1 (31st December 2023) - Kazem, Hussein A.
ABSTRACT: Dust accumulation on photovoltaic modules (PVs) affects performance and reduces productivity. Many parameters specify the dust effect, and the degradation is different for PV technologies. In this study, four PV modules each with a 100 W rating were installed and tested horizontally in Sohar, Oman, for an entire year. Two monocrystalline (m-Si) and two polycrystalline (p-Si), one dusty and one kept clean. The measured power, voltage, and current show the degradation where the m-Si shows more reduction compared with p-Si. According to microscopic and XRD analysis, the dust particles have a size of 25–61 µm, and the main elements are SiO2 (55.7%) and CaO (30.0%). For m-Si and p-Si, power reductions were 19% and 14%, respectively. M-Si is more affected by dust than p-Si based on its I-V characteristics. After 55 days of dust accumulation, m-Si power degradation was found to be 40%. Furthermore, the highest power degradation was found in August. The m-Si efficiency, PV performance, capacity, and yield factors are 9.24–10.76%, 52.76–72.81%, 19.53, and 140.87 Wh/Wp, respectively. The results conclude that despite the dust accumulation still, the m-Si PV module shows promising behavior and characteristics in Oman.