Structural and physical properties of the dust particles in Qatar and their influence on the PV panel performance

Aïssa, Brahim; Isaifan, Rima J.; Madhavan, Vinod E.; Abdallah, Amir

doi:10.1038/srep31467

Cited by 85 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Qatar, located in the sun belt region of the world, receives about 9.4 h of sunshine daily and consequently receives a high amount of UV radiation [25,26]. It is also within the global dust belt, and thus, its atmosphere constantly has a large proportion of mineral desert dust aerosol particles that mostly absorb UV radiation [25,27]. Most of its mineral dust concentrations come through two wind regimes-the summer and the winter Shamal winds that blow from the deserts of Iraq, Syria, and the Arabian Peninsula [21,24].…”

Section: The Region Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The LER accounts for ground surface reflectance as well [35]. While a number of studies on UVI with satellite measurements have used LER of less than 0.1 to identify clear sky days [27,30], Qin et al, 2019, Herman et al, 2013, and O'Byrne et al 2013, showed that OMI LER over the Arabian desert region is higher due to higher surface reflectance of the desert [33,35,36]. Therefore, for this study over the Arabian Desert region, LER of less than 0.2 is used to represent clear sky days.…”

Section: Satellite-derived Uvi From Omi Auramentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

UV Index Forecasting under the Influence of Desert Dust: Evaluation against Surface and Satellite-Retrieved Data

et al. 2020

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Human exposure to healthy doses of UV radiation is required for vitamin D synthesis, but exposure to excessive UV irradiance leads to several harmful impacts ranging from premature wrinkles to dangerous skin cancer. However, for countries located in the global dust belt, accurate estimation of the UV irradiance is challenging due to a strong impact of desert dust on incoming solar radiation. In this work, a UV Index forecasting capability is presented, specifically developed for dust-rich environments, that combines the use of ground-based measurements of broadband irradiances UVA (320-400 nm) and UVB (280-315 nm), NASA OMI Aura satellite-retrieved data and the meteorology-chemistry mesoscale model WRF-Chem. The forecasting ability of the model is evaluated for clear sky days as well as during the influence of dust storms in Doha, Qatar. The contribution of UV radiation to the total incoming global horizontal irradiance (GHI) ranges between 5% and 7% for UVA and 0.1% and 0.22% for UVB. The UVI forecasting performance of the model is quite encouraging with an absolute average error of less than 6% and a correlation coefficient of 0.93. In agreement with observations, the model predicts that the UV Index at local noontime can drop from 10-11 on clear sky days to approximately 6-7 during typical dusty conditions in the Arabian Peninsula-an effect similar to the presence of extensive cloud cover.Atmosphere 2020, 11, 96 2 of 17 photokeratitis (inflammation of the cornea), and suppression of the immune system [1,[3][4][5]. Thus, it is important for people to control their exposure to UV radiation [1,6].The UV radiation on the Earth's surface is largely determined by the solar zenith angle, clouds, total ozone column, surface albedo, aerosols, earth-sun distance, and altitude [7]. Clouds poorly absorb UV radiation and in general, scatter UV radiation into the atmosphere [8,9]. Stratospheric ozone (ozone layer) predominantly absorbs UV radiation at wavelengths below 320 nm [10]. The extent of reflectivity from a surface affects UV surface irradiance with higher surface albedo enhancing the net UV surface irradiance due to multiple scattering of the reflected irradiance with the atmosphere. For example, a surface covered by snow (with albedo of 0.8) will increase UV irradiance at 320 nm by 1.5 times compared to snow-free, low albedo conditions [11]. Aerosols also affect the incoming UV irradiance. They usually decrease UV irradiance reaching the surface by scattering and absorption. A measurement campaign in Greece showed that UV irradiance decreased by 5-35% due to aerosols [12], and similar numbers of annual average aerosol attenuation of UV irradiance were obtained around the globe [13]. Desert dust intrusions also affect UV irradiance with differences larger than 30% in cloudless conditions in Santiago de Chile [14,15]. These differences in UV irradiance highlight the need for ground-based measurements to account for the attenuation of UV radiation in the troposphere which are not accounted for in satellite derived es...

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Section: The Region Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Satellite-derived Uvi From Omi Auramentioning

confidence: 99%

UV Index Forecasting under the Influence of Desert Dust: Evaluation against Surface and Satellite-Retrieved Data

et al. 2020

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“…Recently, several works have reported on the characterization of airborne particulate matter in this area [11][15] [16], but there is considerable lack on the identification of the sources of these particles [12] [14]. Aissa et al [16] had characterized dust samples collected in Doha-Qatar during the summer. It was found that calcite dominates the dust composition with 58% atomic content.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigations on Deposited Dust Fallout in Urban Doha: Characterization, Source Apportionment and Mitigation

Al-Thani¹,

Koç²,

Isaifan³

2018

eer

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This preliminary study investigates and reports on the sources, characterization and possible mitigation of dust fallout in urban Doha, Qatar. Nine samples were collected from three different sites in close vicinity to the Solar Test Facility (STF) in west Doha during the winter of 2016 in Doha. The morphology and size distribution of the samples were analyzed using scanning electron and optical microscopy imaging techniques. It was found that the particulate matter had different shapes with an average particle size of 7.38 μm. The mass concentration of the elements, in order from greatest to smallest, was: Ca, Si, Fe, Mg, Al, Ti, K, Na, S, and Cl. The enrichment factor showed extremely high ratios of Cl and S, while Ca had significant enrichment value. The sources of PM samples were identified to be mainly of natural origin (around 60%) with the balance attributed to anthropogenic sources. The natural sources were related to soil/crustal matter, marine salt and desert dust while the anthropogenic sources were mainly due to transportation and construction activities, which have been experiencing dramatic increase during the past decade in Doha along with its rapid economic development. To this end, several possible mitigation strategies to abate urban PM and its harmful effects were also proposed considering the local living and cultural conditions in Qatar.

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“…A large market for photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) using mirrors is to be located in desert regions: while these regions represent more than 30% of the total earth land surface, the annual solar energy in such regions is typically two times higher than the average annual radiation in central Europe. The major limitation for PV electricity production in desert is the soiling due to sandstorm and dust accumulation at the PV module surface, which can reduce the power output of a power plant by up to 28% in only 7 days, thus requiring frequent cleaning of the surface of the PV modules or CSP mirrors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field test and electrode optimization of electrodynamic cleaning systems for solar panels

Faes

Petri

Champliaud

et al. 2019

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Soiling is the major cause of power loss of photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) in desert areas. Electrodynamic cleaning system (EDS) is an automatic and water‐free integrated cleaning system for mirrors or solar panels, which uses pulsed electric fields to remove dust off their surface. The first EDS field test over a long period on PV modules is reported here and shows a clear effect on soiling reduction in real conditions in Saudi Arabia. A total of 458 days of measurements is analyzed, and depending on the considered periods, performance losses due to soiling (soiling rate) can vary from −0.06%/day to −0.41%/day for a reference module, while the relative soiling rate reduction using an EDS can be up to 95.7% with an average of 32.1%. Cost calculations demonstrate an added value of the modules equipped with the EDS between 2.6 and 5.2 ¢/Wp compared with usual cleaning system, which is nearly between 10% and 20% of the module price. In addition, extended indoor tests of various electrode designs of EDS for heliostat dedicated to CSP or PV applications show a high cleaning efficiency of up to 98% with front glass thickness of more than 1 mm. A good specular reflectivity, only 4% lower than the bare reference mirror, is obtained with patterned sputtered silver in a spiral electrode design. High reliability of two types of electrode deposition is demonstrated after 200 cycles between −40°C and +85°C.

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Structural and physical properties of the dust particles in Qatar and their influence on the PV panel performance

Cited by 85 publications

References 23 publications

UV Index Forecasting under the Influence of Desert Dust: Evaluation against Surface and Satellite-Retrieved Data

UV Index Forecasting under the Influence of Desert Dust: Evaluation against Surface and Satellite-Retrieved Data

Investigations on Deposited Dust Fallout in Urban Doha: Characterization, Source Apportionment and Mitigation

Field test and electrode optimization of electrodynamic cleaning systems for solar panels

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