This central idea of this research is to investigate how voltage, current, power output and efficiency of polycrystalline photovoltaic (PV) modules installed in a Guinea Savanna and Mangrove Swamp is affected by temperature, relative humidity and irradiance. The study locations are Calabar (mangrove swamp) and Ogoja (guinea savanna), in Cross River State, Nigeria. Two polycrystalline PV modules of exact specification mounted on a platform one-metre-high above the ground were used. A digital solar power meter (SM206) and a digital solar flux meter (MS 6616) was used to monitor and measure solar power and solar flux reaching the PV modules. A digital hygrometer and thermometer (KT-908) were used to monitor and measure the relative humidity and ambient temperature level at the height of installation and a digital multimeter (M880C+) accompanied with a temperature sensor was used to monitor voltage, current and panel temperature values from the modules. Analysis of the collected data reveals that the efficiency of the modules were not constant throughout the day. However, a higher voltage production and efficiency level was obtained for the PV module installed in Ogoja than that installed in Calabar under their respective levels of relative humidity, temperature and irradiance.
The accumulation of dust on solar panels affects the transmittance of solar panel glazing which leads to the degradation of its efficiency due to low levels of irradiance reaching the cells. In this work, the response of polycrystalline silicon solar panels toward dust in a natural dusty environment was experimentally investigated at a location in Calabar close to the Calabar river. The experimental measurements were carried out in real-time outdoor conditions where human activities take place. An automatic dust wiping/cleaning mechanism to ensure the panel surface was kept clean was deployed in the study. An intelligent maximum power point (MPP) trackers for tracking the maximum power points of the panels were also utilized for this work. Results obtained revealed that the accumulation of dust on polycrystalline solar panel adversely affects its power output and efficiency. From the results, it was also revealed that the average panel temperature of the photovoltaic system with the automatic dust wiping mechanism was 5.300C lower than the other system without the mechanism. This lower panel temperature led to an increase of 16%, 32.5%, 43.40% and 43.37% in average voltage, average current, average power and average efficiency respectively over the dusty panel. It was demonstrated that solar panel efficiency plummets as panel temperature rises due to heat dissipation caused by the accumulation of dust.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.