Dust accumulation on solar photovoltaic panels: An investigation study on power loss and efficiency reduction

Abstract

This study mainly focuses on understanding the properties of dust particle deposition (cement, brick powder, white cement, fly ash, and coal) on a solar PV panel under dry conditions in an indoor environment to record the percentage efficiency reduction profile. For the experimental study, a solar PV panel is manually drifted at three different tilted angles (0?, 15?, and 30?) with respect to five different dust samples taken to replicate dry conditions. To maintain optimal power storage by ensuring maximum ray reflection as the angle of inclination of the solar PV panel changes. It entails long-term postoperative improvement of the solar PV module by increasing feasibility and meeting user needs. From the experiment result, it is observed that percent of power loss of each dust particle is measured accurately such as cement (0.067), brick (0.190), white cement (0.163), fly ash (0.164), and coal (0.177), consolidated for three different tilt angles. Similarly, percent of power efficiency of each dust particle is measured accurately for three different tilt angles such as cement (76.689%), brick (61.822%), white cement (52.792%), fly ash (59.859%), and coal (75.381%), respectively.