Effects on Dust Emission From an Inclined Flat Solar Panel

Abstract

Flat solar panels array is one of the typical geometries used in photovoltaic (PV) power plants. The presence of these inclined solar panels can significantly accelerate or decelerate wind speed and distort the wind velocity profiles near the ground when wind flows around, which leads to considerable changes in dust emissions determined by shear stress at ground surface. To understand the fundamental principle of the effects of a flat solar panel on the dust emission rate at ground surface, the incompressible viscous flow past an inclined flat plate with ground effect was numerically investigated based on finite volume method. Results indicate that the presence of an inclined plate has little impact on the ground when the gap between the plate and ground is larger than twice plate length at tilt angle of 25° and Reynolds number of 300. However, as the gap is decreased the vortex clusters behind the plate are flattened and restrained by the ground, which results in the change of the shear stress at the ground surface. Both the magnitude and the distribution of shear stress at the ground surface can be significantly changed by varying the distance between the plate and the ground. The results demonstrate the possibility to adjust the strength and distribution of surface shear stress hence change the dust emission rate on the ground by an inclined flat plate.