Effect of Dust on the Efficiency of Solar PV Panel in Khartoum

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study of deposited dust particles effect on the electrical performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Due to limited conventional resources (fossil fuels) renewable energy turns to be the best alternative as a source of clean energy. Enhancing the efficiency of PV panels has been presenting a significant part of the clean energy technology developments. Accumulation of dust on solar PV panels is a natural process. External resistance caused by light obstruction material, due to dust, reduces solar photovoltaic performance. Studies show that accumulated dust can reduce solar panel systems efficiency, however, the percentages depend totally on the environment conditions of the system site. Therefore, outdoor experiments were conducted, using two silicon mono-crystalline panels (washed before each measurement and unwashed panel) exposed to natural sun light for three months at the national energy research center (NERC), Soba, Khartoum state, Sudan. The results show that dust deposition reduces the efficiency of the solar PV panels in a range from 4.3% to 16.8%.