Experimental Analysis of Soiling Loss on PV Module in Cement Plant Environment †

The soiling phenomenon occurs when photovoltaic panels are covered with layers of dust resulting in the reduction of radiation reaching the panels, thus reducing PV performance. This research focuses on the PV performance degradation due to soiling and the chemical composition of dust particles. Four types of dust samples having different physical, chemical, and optical properties were collected for experimental analysis. Three of them were coal, cement, and iron oxide, which are extensively used in cement plants, collected to investigate the impact of darker color dust on albedo and hence on the transmission of sunlight, and the fourth sample was named as panel dust, collected from solar plates installed at a cement plant. The experimental results show that the transmission of sunlight strongly depends on particle size distribution. Fine particles increase the transmission loss and degrade the performance of the solar cell more than larger ones, as these particles leave no empty spaces between grains and hence do not allow sunlight to reach the solar cell, while randomly accumulated larger particles leave voids between grains, allowing light to penetrate. Moreover, albedo and a higher quantity of iron oxide in dust boost the absorption of sunlight and play a significant role in the scattering and attenuation of solar irradiance.