Optimization of cleaning frequency and dust accumulation effect on photovoltaic panels

Abstract

This Paper introduces a relation between Cleaning Intervals (m), Annual Energy Losses Cost cE (m), Annual Cleaning Cost Ccl (m) and the Total Annual Cost Ct (m) in the PV system. As the Dust accumulation reduces the solar transmittance of PV modules subsequently the PV modules will be affected negatively so this work is carried out to investigate the optimum cleaning frequency of PV modules cleaning through monitoring the soiling loss, soiling modeling was obtained in detail. Studying the effect of soiling density on angle of incidence (AOI) based on the obtained soiling rate and cleaning PV scenarios was also investigated with same steps. The main goal behind this study was to compare between the Annual Cleaning Cost and the Annual Energy Losses Cost to meet the optimized Cleaning rate with the minimum Energy Losses and Cost.