The Impact of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) On Decreasing the Optical Efficiency of CSP Solar Power Plants-A case study: Eastern Morocco

Dust impact on concentrated solar power: A review

“…Soiling is an issue for solar energy applications in general, however, CSP technologies suffer from soiling problems more than PV [51]. The review of the literature shows that no previous review was dedicated to the effect of dust on CSP (unlike PV), and that very few research papers -and no review papers-were interested in both effects of suspended aerosols and deposited dust, or linked turbidity to reflectivity loss (like the studies of [18,46]), although both effects ought to be simultaneously investigated, since turbid skies accompany the deposition of dust on solar mirrors.…”

“…Even though this issue was reviewed for PV (like the recent review paper by Kazem et al [11]), no previous literature review was dedicated to the consequences of soiling on CSP plants, thus the present up-to-date paper. Also, no review (and few research papers like [18]) linked the impact of atmospheric extinction to soiling problems despite the proved relationship between the two phenomena. Finally, we highlight in our paper insights and recommendations about research necessities regarding the issue at hand.…”

“…The optical losses in CSP plants result from the cumulus of two overlapping phenomena: the reflectivity loss due to dust deposition and the attenuation (extinction) of DNI by suspended aerosols, aerosols' suspension results from the uplift of dust particles by wind, and dust deposition results from aerosols' settling, thus the atmospheric turbidity should also be evaluated when studying the risk of soiling in CSP sites because reflectivity and AOD are inversely proportional as reported by Raillani et al [18] (Morocco, 1 year) who confirmed decreasing reflectivity when AOD increases. This supports the proposition of Griffith et al [46] who recommended the monitoring of AOD around CSP plants to assess the risk of soiling, especially for plants near industrial zones.…”

“…Introducing measured real-time AOD data into models does not improve their accuracy [139]. High AOD values are correlated with low Ångström exponent α [111,181], thus large aerosols particles result in very hazy atmospheres and are responsible for most of the extinction [18]. The highest measured AOD range from 0.30 (China [133]) to 3.08 (India [111]).…”

“…However, the presence of water vapor and suspended atmospheric particles (aerosols) attenuates the solar radiation, and affects both PV and CSP technologies [13][14][15][16][17]. Also, the deposition of these particles on the collecting surfaces of the solar field provokes decreases in the reflectivity of solar mirrors and reduces the efficiency of thermal solar systems [18][19][20]. Therefore, being the common cause of the optical losses (extinction of irradiance and loss of reflectivity), aerosols are the most important factor that influences the exploitation of solar thermal energy (under clear-sky conditions).…”