Photovoltaic cleaning frequency optimization under different degradation rate patterns

Leonardo Micheli, Marios Theristis, Diego L. Talavera, Florencia Almonacid, Joshua S. Stein and Eduardo F. Fernández

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 166, issue C, 136-146

Abstract: Dust accumulation significantly affects the performance of photovoltaic modules and its impact can be mitigated by various cleaning methods. Optimizing the cleaning frequency is essential to minimize the soiling losses and, at the same time, the costs. However, the effectiveness of cleaning lowers with time because of the reduced energy yield due to degradation. Additionally, economic factors such as the escalation in electricity price and inflation can compound or counterbalance the effect of degradation on the soiling mitigation profits. The present study analyzes the impact of degradation, escalation in electricity price and inflation on the revenues and costs of cleanings and proposes a methodology to maximize the profits of soiling mitigation of any system. The energy performance and soiling losses of a 1 MW system installed in southern Spain were analyzed and integrated with theoretical linear and nonlinear degradation rate patterns. The Levelized Cost of Energy and Net Present Value were used as criteria to identify the optimum cleaning strategies. The results showed that the two metrics convey distinct cleaning recommendations, as they are influenced by different factors. For the given site, despite the degradation effects, the optimum cleaning frequency is found to increase with time of operation.

Keywords: Soiling; Cleaning frequency; Optimization; Photovoltaics; Degradation rate; Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:166:y:2020:i:c:p:136-146

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.11.044

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