Aeolian dust deposition on photovoltaic solar cells: the effects
of wind velocity and airborne dust concentration on cell performance
Solar Energy, 66 (4):
277 - 289 (1999)DOI: DOI: 10.1016/S0038-092X(99)00028-6
Abstract
Wind tunnel experiments were conducted to investigate the effect
of wind velocity and airborne dust concentration on the drop of photovoltaic
(PV) cell performance caused by dust accumulation on such cells.
Performance drop was investigated at four wind velocities and four
dust concentrations. I-V characteristics were determined for various
intensities of cell pollution. The evolutions of the short circuit
current, the open circuit voltage, the maximum power, the reduction
of solar intensity received by the cells, and the fill factor variation
with increasing cell pollution were examined. The deposition (and
accumulation) of fine aeolian dust on PV cells significantly affects
the performance of such cells. Wind velocity has an important impact
on cell performance drop, since the drop is larger in high winds
than in low winds. However, the wind also affects the sedimentological
structure of the dust coating on the cell, resulting in a higher
transmittance (of light) for coatings created during high winds.
The wind tunnel experiments indicate that the former effect is more
important than the latter, which means that, in general, the drop
in PV cell performance due to dust accumulation is larger as wind
speed increases. Airborne dust concentration also affects the drop
in PV cell performance, since high dust concentrations lead to a
higher accumulation on the cell. Contrary to wind speed, airborne
dust concentration does not seem to affect the sedimentological structure
of dust coatings (with respect to light transmittance) on PV cells.