Sensitivity of Solar Photovoltaic Panel Efficiency to Weather and Dust over West Africa: Comparative Experimental Study between Niamey (Niger) and Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

Abstract

Energy\rdemand is increasing while we are facing a depletion of fossils fuels, the main\rsource of energy production in the world. These last years, photovoltaic (PV)\rsystem technologies are growing rapidly among alternative sources of energy to\rcontribute to mitigation of climate change. However, PV system efficiency\rresearches operating under West African weather conditions are nascent. The\rfirst objective of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of common\rmonocrystalline PV efficiency to local meteorological parameters (temperature,\rhumidity, solar radiation) in two contrasted cities over West Africa: Niamey\r(Niger) in a Sahelian arid area and Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) in atropical humid area.\rThe second objective is to quantify the effect of dust accumulation on PV\refficiency in Niamey (Niger). The preliminary results show that PV efficiency\ris more sensitive to high temperature change especially under Niamey climate\rconditions (warmer than Abidjan) where high ambient temperatures above 33°C lead to an important decrease of PV efficiency.\rIncrease of relative humidity induces a decrease of PV efficiency in both areas\r(Niamey and Abidjan). A power loss up to 12.46% is observed in Niamey after 21\rdays of dust accumulation.