Influence of Wind and Rainfall on the Performance of a Photovoltaic Module in a Dusty Environment

Borislav Stankov (), Angel Terziev, Momchil Vassilev and Martin Ivanov
Additional contact information
Borislav Stankov: Faculty of Power Engineering and Power Machines, Technical University of Sofia, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
Angel Terziev: Faculty of Power Engineering and Power Machines, Technical University of Sofia, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
Momchil Vassilev: Faculty of Power Engineering and Power Machines, Technical University of Sofia, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
Martin Ivanov: Faculty of Power Engineering and Power Machines, Technical University of Sofia, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-29

Abstract: This study presents an analysis of the influence of weather conditions on the performance of a multicrystalline silicon photovoltaic module, which operates under constant resistive load and is situated near a limestone quarry. The quarry is a significant source of dust, and hence the focus of the study is on the weather factors influencing the presence of soiling on the module’s surface. The analysis encompasses a three-week period, during which the global horizontal irradiance and wind speed were recorded at 10-min intervals by an on-site weather station. The current, voltage, and back temperature of the module were also measured. Supplementary weather data were obtained from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the NASA POWER databases. The primary objective is to assess whether any influence of the observed weather conditions on the presence of soiling can be inferred from the recorded data. The contribution is in part intended to test how different techniques can be used to extract useful information on the weather-related effects from somewhat limited data, assembled from various sources, while dealing with the underlying uncertainties. The analysis indicates a persistent deterioration of the module’s performance because of soiling and its subsequent improvement due to a favourable weather event.

Keywords: solar; photovoltaics; multicrystalline silicon; soiling; weather; wind; rainfall; pvlib (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3394/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/14/3394/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:14:p:3394-:d:1432696

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().