Development of Novel Model for the Assessment of Dust Accumulation on Solar PV Modules

Abstract

The power generation capability of the photovoltaic (PV) system crucially depends on the soiling of the modules, especially for a hot arid desert in a semi-tropical region. This article focuses to develop a robust and accurate model to estimate PV power loss due to soiling. The proposed article aims to analyze the performance of the newly installed PV system. This involves assessment of reduction in PV power generation due to various derating factors, especially dirt derating factor <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$({{K}_d}).$</tex-math></inline-formula> In addition, the impact of dirt, dust, and soiling on the system is studied and a robust empirical model has been developed. Moreover, a simpler model considering module temperature <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$({{T}_{\text{mod}}})$</tex-math></inline-formula> has been developed to estimate the power loss due to dirt and dust accumulated on the modules. This article further compares the performance of the two developed models using performance indices. The performance indices, such as root mean squared error and mean absolute percentage error, are admissible with 0.57% and 4.71%, respectively.