Analysis of Dust Deposition in Highland Areas for the Effect of Photovoltaic Modules Performance

Abstract

When PV modules are exposed to the outdoors for a long time, the module glass surface is prone to lower module conversion efficiency due to dust deposition, as well as jeopardize the normal operation of the modules. By researching the characteristics of dust deposition in the Yunnan plateau region, the performance of PV modules under plateau climate was analyzed, the transmittance of PV modules under different deposition densities was calculated, the effect of different deposition densities on the performance of PV modules was tested, and the output performance of the modules under actual operating conditions was compared. The dust deposition density on the PV module surface was 0.957 g/m2 over one month. The density of dust deposition will reach 2.016 g/m2 in half a month without considering the weather conditions. The irradiance had a significant effect on the transmittance, and the change in transmittance of clean glass at (550–850) and (850–1050) W/m2 was 4.56 and 0.57%, respectively. The effect of dust deposition on PV modules power and current had a decreasing linear relationship. One month of dust deposition resulted in a 7.161% drop in output power and a 6.618% drop in output current. This has important implications for the selection of suitable dust removal cycles in highland areas and the reduction of operating costs.