Effect of Glass and Plastic Covers on the Performance of Solar Photovoltaic Cells in the Presence of Mud

Abstract

With climate change resulting from the use of fossil fuel sources  and the increasing use of energy,  the sources of renewable energy is growing interest in, which includes direct use of the radiation from the sun through photo-voltaic cells. Photovoltaic solar cell covers in Sudan are exposed during the year to many environmental factors such as rainfall and dust accumulation in summer, autumn and winter, which weaken the performance of solar cells, as well as the shades of trees and tall buildings which   affect the efficiency of these cells in the morning and afternoon. This paper aims to evaluate the effect of mud on the performance when one use glass and plastic covers for solar photovoltaic cells . Four different covers were installed on the photovoltaic solar cells, namely polycarbonate (PC), polymethylmethacrylate   (PMMA), solar glass and ordinary glass for a study to assess their quality for resistance to mud. Experimental work shows that the drop rate of the maximum power and the  drop rate of efficiency are 47%, 60%, 49%, and 46% for PC cover, PMMA cover, solar glass cover, and classic glass cover respectively.  Thus it is not recommended to use PMMA coating as mud insulation for solar photovoltaic cells.