Natural soiling of photovoltaic cover plates and the impact on transmission

Boyle, L.; Flinchpaugh, Holly; Hannigan, Michael P.

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2014.12.006

Cited by 94 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This relationship is shown to be valid between 0 and 10 g/m 2 of accumulated dust, and may apply to more highly soiled samples. More research is needed to ensure that the transmission loss is generalizable to other locations, although a previous study has examined this (Boyle et al 2015). Using this type of equation could result in much better predictions of energy loses due to soiling, but requires an estimate of the mass of deposited PM.…”

Section: Background and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This site was surrounded by active farmland and native grasslands, with one freeway passing 2 km to the east. More information about these two sites was presented previously (Boyle et al 2015).…”

Section: General Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two types of glass plates were used, one a tempered glass and one a low iron glass coated with a transparent conductive oxide; no difference in deposited mass was observed between the two types of plates (Boyle et al 2015). The tempered glass samples typically weighed around 117 g, and the low iron glass samples typically weighed around 79 g. The plates were thoroughly cleaned, and stored in cleaned glass petri dishes with aluminum foil covers.…”

Section: Deposited Pm and Effective Deposition Velocitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Masses of samples were found by weighing the samples before and after deployment using the same method as the Teflon filters. Mass accumulation was found by subtracting the post masses from the pre masses, correcting for noise in the scale by subtracting the difference in the simultaneously weighed control samples as described in previous work (Boyle et al 2015). The mass accumulation rate was calculated by…”

Section: Deposited Pm and Effective Deposition Velocitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of PM dry deposition on solar energy harvesting systems: Measurement–model comparison

Boyle

Flinchpaugh

Hannigan

2016

Aerosol Science and Technology

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Soiling of solar energy systems, or the accumulation of particulate matter on their surface, can cause significant losses in energy conversion efficiency. However, predicting these losses is still not done, as no methods exist. Field measurements of mass accumulation and airborne PM 10 were conducted for more than one year at two sites in the Front Range of Colorado with the objective of developing soiling prediction models. For this study, only dry deposition was examined. The two sites, despite having different PM 10 concentrations, have indistinguishable average effective deposition velocities of 2 cm/s, although a large spread in the data was noted. These results are similar to results found in other deposition studies. The observed effective deposition velocities indicate that coarse particles are a dominant player in mass accumulation, and sampled airborne size distributions support this hypothesis. Using a model to calculate dry deposition yielded better agreement with deposition than a simple average deposition velocity data fit. This model combined with other research and models can be used for estimating average soiling rates and is most useful over long time scales especially months to years or longer.

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Section: Background and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Deposited Pm and Effective Deposition Velocitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Deposited Pm and Effective Deposition Velocitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of PM dry deposition on solar energy harvesting systems: Measurement–model comparison

Boyle

Flinchpaugh

Hannigan

2016

Aerosol Science and Technology

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“…Field samples were collected on 10 cm × 10 cm × 0.48 cm soda-lime glass coupons as described in [6] and [14]. The coupons were cleaned and then weighed with a Sartorius analytical balance (accuracy = 0.0001 g) after equilibrating at a temperature of 25 ± 2 • C and relative humidity of 35% ± 15% for a minimum of 24 h. Coupons were deployed at Commerce City, CO, USA, for 2-4 weeks at tilt angles of 0 • and 40 • .…”

Section: B Outdoor Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of a Minimum Detectable Soiling Level to Affect Photovoltaic Devices by Natural and Simulated Soils

Burton

Boyle

Griego

et al. 2015

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Soil accumulation on photovoltaic (PV) modules presents a challenge to long-term performance prediction and lifetime estimates due to the inherent difficulty in quantifying small changes over an extended period. Low mass loadings of soil are a common occurrence but remain difficult to quantify. In order to more accurately describe the specific effects of sparse soil films on PV systems, we have expanded upon an earlier technique to measure the optical losses due to an artificially applied obscurant film. A synthetic soil analog was sprayed onto glass coupons at very brief intervals with a high-volume, low-pressure pneumatic sprayer. Light transmission through the grime film was evaluated using a quantum efficiency test stand and UV/vis spectroscopy. A 0.1-g/m 2 grime loading was determined to be the limit of mass measurement sensitivity, which is similar to some reports of daily soil accumulation. Predictable, linear decreases in transmission were observed for samples with a mass loading between 0.1 and 0.5 g/m 2 . A similar change was observed for soiled coupons from an outdoor monitoring station. Collected soil from the field coupons was analyzed to develop a compositional analog for indoor studies. Natural and synthetic soils produced similar decreases in transmission.

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Dust Accumulation and Photovoltaic Performance in Semi-Arid Climate: Experimental Investigation and Design of Cleaning Robot

Azouzoute

Ydrissi

Zitouni

et al. 2021

Advanced Technologies for Solar Photovoltaics Energy Systems

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Natural soiling of photovoltaic cover plates and the impact on transmission

Cited by 94 publications

References 18 publications

Assessment of PM dry deposition on solar energy harvesting systems: Measurement–model comparison

Assessment of PM dry deposition on solar energy harvesting systems: Measurement–model comparison

Quantification of a Minimum Detectable Soiling Level to Affect Photovoltaic Devices by Natural and Simulated Soils

Dust Accumulation and Photovoltaic Performance in Semi-Arid Climate: Experimental Investigation and Design of Cleaning Robot

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