Photovoltaic panel type influence on the performance degradation due dust accumulation

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of the type of solar cell technology used on its outcomes degradation when dust accumulates on it. Therefore, in this study, practical tests were performed on the physical properties of accumulated dust in the University of Technology Campus-Iraq for a period of three months. After that, a practical study examined the effect of the type of photovoltaic unit used on the decrease in current, voltage, and energy resulting from the accumulation of this dust with specific mass fractions. The comparison was made between the Amorphous, Monocrystalline, Polycrystalline, and Organic PV modules. The accumulation of dust causes significant decreases in current and has a limited effect on the voltages of all modules studied, as a result, the electric power generated decrease from all the studied photovoltaic modules due to the accumulation of dust. The accumulation of dust had the greatest effect on the Amorphous PV cell, followed by polycrystalline, monocrystalline and finally organic at 42%, 36.3%, 32.9% and 25.7%, respectively. The study demonstrated that the best option is to use monocrystalline cells for the university site. The study also concluded that the choice of any PV technology for a station at any site should be preceded by a study of the effect of dust in that location in order to favor any technique that must be applied. Keywords: Dust accumulation; Amorphous, polycrystalline, monocrystalline; organic; PV module