Determination of the Soiling Impact on Photovoltaic Modules at the Coastal Area of the Atacama Desert

Douglas Olivares, Pablo Ferrada, Jonathan Bijman, Sebastián Rodríguez, Mauricio Trigo-González, Aitor Marzo, Jorge Rabanal-Arabach, Joaquín Alonso-Montesinos, Francisco Javier Batlles and Edward Fuentealba
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Douglas Olivares: Centro de Desarrollo en Energías Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta #02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile
Pablo Ferrada: Centro de Desarrollo en Energías Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta #02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile
Jonathan Bijman: Centro de Desarrollo en Energías Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta #02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile
Sebastián Rodríguez: Centro de Desarrollo en Energías Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta #02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile
Mauricio Trigo-González: Centro de Desarrollo en Energías Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta #02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile
Aitor Marzo: Centro de Desarrollo en Energías Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta #02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile
Jorge Rabanal-Arabach: Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta 1270300, Chile
Joaquín Alonso-Montesinos: Departamento de Química y Física, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Francisco Javier Batlles: Departamento de Química y Física, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Edward Fuentealba: Centro de Desarrollo en Energías Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta #02800, Antofagasta 1271155, Chile

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: With an elevation of 1000 m above sea level, once the coastal mountain range is crossed, the Atacama Desert receives the highest levels of solar radiation in the world. Global horizontal irradiations over 2500 kWh/(m 2 year) and a cloudiness index below 3% were determined. However, this index rises to 45% in the coastal area, where the influence of the Pacific Ocean exists with a large presence of marine aerosols. It is on the coastal area that residential photovoltaic (PV) applications are concentrated. This work presents a study of the soiling impact on PV modules at the coastline of Atacama Desert. The current–voltage characteristics of two multicrystalline PV modules exposed to outdoor conditions were compared, while one of them was cleaned daily. Asymptotic behavior was observed in the accumulated surface dust density, over 6 months. This behavior was explained by the fact that as the glass became soiled, the probability of glass-to-particle interaction decreased in favor of a more likely particle-to-particle interaction. The surface dust density was at most 0.17 mg·cm −2 per month. Dust on the module led to current losses in the range of 19% after four months, which in turn produced a reduction of 13.5% rel in efficiency.

Keywords: soiling; glass; PV modules; module temperature; current–voltage characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (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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