Mitigation of dust on PV panels that operate light posts using a wind shield, mechanical vibrations and AN antistatic coating

Abstract

The objective of this research is to minimize dust accumulation on PV panels operating street light posts, in order to maximize the time between successive maintenance and reduce the maintenance costs. A novel technique is proposed to mitigate dust on PV panels that operate light posts, and that is adding a windshield to the panel, which obstructs the dust carried by the wind to reach and settle on the PV panel. 1D and 2D shields were implemented, and their influence on the performance of PV panels were tested outdoors in Cairo, Egypt, and the results were compared to those of a PV panel that is not shielded. Also, the influence of using an antistatic coating and vibrating the panel in addition to the dust shield on the performance of the panel have been examined. The 2D shield obstructs the wind in the North-South and East-West directions, while, the 1D shield obstructed the wind just in the North-South direction only. The results show that the 2D shield assisted in the accumulation of dust on the PV surface compared to the non-shield panel, while the 1D shield had a better performance. Using a mechanical vibrator together with a 1D shield has decreased the accumulation of dust to a very good extent, such that the drop in efficiency exceeded the maintenance limit of 10 %, after 5 weeks of operation, while in case of a 1D shield without mechanical vibrations, the limit was exceeded in 3 weeks. However, applying the antistatic coating together with the 1D shield while vibrating the panel preserved the efficiency of the panel, such that the drop in efficiency did not exceed the maintenance limit during the experiment duration of 6 weeks.