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The accumulation of dust on the surface of photovoltaic (PV) modules reduces the intensity of the light transmitted through the cover glass, and therefore, the amount of energy generated by the solar cells. This issue, known as soiling. Affects PV systems worldwide, causing power losses as high as 70% in the worst scenarios This chapter presents an electro-optical investigation of the dust accumulated on the PV panel in the study area of Agadir-Morocco, by using a MOSFET transistor as load to truck the IV and PV characteristics of SX330J. For this purpose, Experiments of soiling effects on the performances of a PV panel have been performed using dust collected from two sites in the region of Agadir, Morocco: Adrar (AD) and Halieutic-Parc (HP). The results suggest that measuring the optical transmittance of the soiling accumulated on a PV glass can give enough information to quantify the impact of soiling on the energy production.
Materials and Renewable Energies Laboratory, University Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco
Lahoussine Bouhouch
Materials and Renewable Energies Laboratory, University Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco
Ismail Isknan
Materials and Renewable Energies Laboratory, University Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco
Ahmed Ihlal
Materials and Renewable Energies Laboratory, University Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco
*Address all correspondence to: abdellah.asbayou@rdu.uiz.ac.ma
1. Introduction
The production of electricity from solar PV has become an increasingly crucial source of energy [1], conversion of solar energy into electricity is required by means of solar PV cells. These photovoltaic cells are usually made from silicon, which remains the most technologically and industrially advanced field [2]. Among the environmental factors that can have a detrimental impact on the performance of PV cells is dust accumulation.
Dust accumulation on PV modules affects solar PV plants worldwide. In fact, the dirt deposited on the surface of the PV panels consists of mineral dust, aerosols, pollen, fungi and/or other contaminants [3]. The dust particles absorb, disperse, and reflect a proportion of the incident sunlight, thus reducing the intensity of light reaching the active part of the PV cell. Therefore, in some regions, a power degradation of more than 50% has been reported in the literature [3, 4].
Determining the physical properties of dust (e.g., size, geometry, weight, and type of pollutant) provides information’s on the degradation of PV module performances [5]. It is important to understand the relationship between the dust amount and its impact on the dispersion and transmission of sunlight. Several authors found that the accumulated dust on solar panel are dominated by the region [6]. In the literature, the authors [7] discern that the presence of dust on the surface of PV modules reduces their power by half if they are exposed for 6 months without cleaning. The dust accumulation process is directly related to the wind movement; depending on its strength and speed, it gradually covers the entire surface of the PV panel with several thin layers of dust [7, 8]. On the other hand, in southern Spain, a study of [8] reported that the daily energy losses due to dust were about 5% for 12 months, but in Cyprus, the authors [9] estimated a 13% power output decrease due to dust recorded during 12 months of data recording.
The degradation of the efficiency of solar panels is mainly due to the decrease in optical transmittance due to the accumulation of dust on the upper part of the PV panel’s [10]. The dust accumulation process is directly related to the wind movement; depending on its strength and speed, it gradually covers the entire surface of the PV panel with several thin layers of dust [7, 8, 11].
In this chapter, an electro-optical investigation of the dust accumulated on the PV panel in the study area of Agadir-Morocco has been presented, by using a MOSFET transistor as load to truck the IV and PV characteristics of SX330J. The experimental results was compared to the simulation, and good agreement was founded.
This chapter is organized as follows: After introduction, in Section 2; we present the study area. Then in Section 3; we give the methodology used in this investigation. Then, we present the electrical modeling and simulation of PV panel under dust in Section 4, the results and discussions in the Section 5. Finally, we conclude our chapter with a conclusion on our investigations, while proposing some perspectives, to further develop this work.
The region of Agadir, the district capital of Souss-Massa, is located on the southern Atlantic side of Morocco in the foothills of the Anti-Atlas. The area chosen for our investigations, is situated at the following geographical coordinates: 30°25′North, and 9°36′West. The type of dust targeted were collected from two sites in the plain of Souss-Massa, namely: the site of Adrar AD (30°25′37.6″ N, 9°32′24.1″ W) and the site of Halieutic-Park HP (30°24′48.4″ N, 9°24′04.5″ W) (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Moroccan solar energy field and experimental study sites.
The meteorological data were acquired from a station located in Agadir, University IBN ZOHR, Department of Geology, for a period of 6 months from 24/02/2021 to 06/09/2021. The representative data of irradiance, and ambient temperature are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Meteorological data of Agadir area between 24/02/2021 and 06/09/2021.
Besides the interesting solar potential ranging from 0.8 to 1.2 kWh/m2, the study area is hosting intensive industrial, touristic, and agricultural activities. Such activities are likely to contribute to the soiling of PV panels. In Figure 2, the average of temperature (green curves) in Agadir is respectively between 10°C and 45°C.
In order to study the electrical characteristics (I–V) of PV a panels, depending on the amount of the soiling accumulated on a PV glass, two soil samples were collected from the area of Agadir-Morocco in the Souss-Massa plain. The following experimental protocol was adopted. Upon collected, the dust samples were sieved to get a fine powder of less than 150 μm particles diameter. The particles were then placed on the solar module SX330J as a test panel. Table 1 shows the electrical parameters of the PV module supplied by the manufacturer.
Parameters
Value
Pmax: Experimental maximum power (W)
30 W
Vmp: Maximum voltage (V)
16.8 V
Imp: Maximum current (A)
1.78 A
Isc: Short-circuit current (A)
1.94 A
Voc: Open-circuit voltage (V)
21.0 V
α: Temperature coefficient
(0.065 ± 0.015) %/°C
β: Temperature coefficient
−(80 ± 10) mV/°C
Temperature coefficient of power
−(0.5 ± 0.05) %/°C
Table 1.
PV panel SX330 parameters at STC (1000 W/m2 and 25°C).
Two analytical techniques were used to reach the electro-optic properties of the collected dust. JASCO V730 UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used to compare the evolution of optical transmittance of light (300–1100 nm) as a function of dust density. The electrical circuit proposed in this article is realized with an Arduino UNO board, as a unit of acquisition, control, and transfer of data (Ipv and Vpv), in real time, to a computer via the PLX-DAQ tool [12, 13]. The Arduino module generates a PWM signal, then this signal is injected to an RC filter to control the variation of the voltage VGS of the MOSFET [14].
The measurements of the current (Ipv) and the voltage (Vpv) at the output of the PV panel under test are performed using Arduino compatible current and voltage sensors. For the temperature of PV panel, it is measured by a thermocouple, while the irradiance is measured by the FI 109SM solarimeter (Figure 3).
Figure 3.
Realized test bench of PV panel under dust effect.
The assumptions of the work focus on:
Normal incidence of light is on the solar panel.
The size of the dust considered in the study is less than 150 μm.
The deposition of the dust is done mechanically in order to have a uniform distribution on the PV panel.
For the accuracy of the material used, the JASCOV-730 Spectrophotometry has excellent spectroscopic performance suitable even for research applications as well as educational. The advanced optical design features a wide wavelength range of 190–1100 nm, stray light less than 0.02% and a spectral bandwidth of 1.0 nm, enough to satisfy any pharmacopeia requirement, and can performs spectral measurements at scanning speed up to 8000 nm/min [15]. The instrument developed for the electrical acquisition of the voltage and current of the solar panel has been subjected to a calibration process based on a digital multimeter tester DGM-360 [16]. This instrument has a resolution on the voltage of 0.01 V in the range of 60 V–4 V, and on the current intensity a resolution of 0.001 A in the measurement range 6 A. The uncertainty given by the manufacturer is 0.02% [12].
In the literature, there are several models describing the electrical behavior of a PV cell. The one-diode and two-diode models are widely used to obtain the I–V characteristic of the PV cell or panel output [17]. However, as shown in Figure 4, the one-diode model is the simplest one, moreover it is improved by incorporating a series resistor Rs [18, 19] and an additional shunt resistor Rsh [20].
Figure 4.
One diode equivalent circuit of a PV cell.
The electrical current of the PV panel for the one diode model is given by:
Ipv=Iph−I0expVpv+RsIpvn1Vth−1−Vpv+RsIpvRshE1
Where Iph is the photo-generated current dependent on G solar radiation, and temperature according to the relationship:
Iph=Iph,ref+α0.∆TGtGrefE2
With:
a0 temperature correction coefficient for current (°C−1).
∆T = (T − Ta).
G solar irradiance on module plane (W/m2).
Gref = 1000 W/m2.
Iph,ref photo-generated current (A).
Ipv solar cell terminal current (A).
I0 reverse saturation current (A).
RS series resistance (W).
Rsh shunt resistance (W).
STC standard test conditions (Gref = 1000 W/m2, T = 25°C and AM = 1.5).
T cell or module operating temperature (°C).
Ta ambient temperature (°C).
Vpv solar cell output voltage (V).
Vth=kTq thermal voltage (V).
Figure 5 shows the block diagram of the experimental I–V curve plotter for PV modules using the IRF740 MOSFET transistor as electronic method. When the control voltage VGS is applied to its grid, it generates an output current Ipv variable quickly from 0 to Isc as well as a variable output voltage Vpv from Voc to 0 [21].
Figure 5.
Synoptic diagram of electronic charging technology.
The Arduino board generates a continuous signal by the pin Vcc = 5 V, then amplified with a DC/DC converter type Boost XL6009E1, then this signal is injected into an RC filter (R = 440 Ω, C = 4700 mF). This also requires the resistance RDS to evolve gradually [14]. The three MOSFET operating regimes that describe the relationship between ID as a function of VGS and VDS are [16]:
Blocking regime ID = 0 A, if:
VGS<VthE3
Ohmic regime, ID=K2VGS−VthVDS−VDS2, if
VGS–Vth>0&VGS–Vth>VDSE4
Saturation regime, ID=KVGS−Vth2, if
VGS–Vth>0&VGS–Vth<VDSE5
Where K is the constant of the device and Vth the control threshold voltage of the transistor. By changing the value of VGS within an appropriate range, the measurement points can vary between 0 and VOC.
with:
ID=IpvE6
Arduino UNO is an open-source module based on a microcontroller, used to generate the PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control signal. (PWM) is a technique used to control an analog circuit via a digital output, using the AnalogWrite function. This PWM signal is an electrical signal of maximum amplitude 5 V and constant frequency but with a variable duty cycle (Figure 6) [23].
Figure 6.
Boost DC/DC converter XL6009E1 [22].
The signal at the output of the DC/DC converter type Boost is injected into an RC filter, resistance R ≈ 110 W [24] and capacity of C ≈ 4700 mF [24], installed in series to vary the VGS control voltage of the MOSFET, and finally trace the I-V & P-V characteristics of the solar PV panel.
According to Figure 7, the expression of the control voltage VGS(t) of the MOSFET is given by:
5. Simulation of the I-V characteristic with MATLAB/Simulink
To simulate the I-V characteristic of a PV panel, under MATLAB/Simulink using the MOSFET electronic load method shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Simulation circuit under Matlab/Simulink.
block 1 in the previous Figure 8 is to measure the current intensity in the circuit, block 2 a voltmeter, block 3 the PV panel (SX 330J), and block 4 represents the plotting of I-V and P-V curves, and finally block 5 represents the MOSFET used as a variable load controlled by block 6.
Concerning the dust of the Agadir-Morocco site, the variations of the optical transmittance T(%) with the Wavelength, measured by the spectrophotometer JASCO V-730 for the samples dust collected from the two areas (HP and AD) are presented in Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Optical transmittance of (HP) and (AD) dust.
In this section, an amount of dust of 1.75 g/m2, 3.45 g/m2, 6.77 g/m2, was collected from the two areas previously mentioned. The type of soil in the Adrar area (AD) is different from the type of soil in the Halieutic-Park area (HP). These results show the impact of soiling on the optical transmittance. A net drop off in the optical transmittance is observed depending on the origin of dust.
6.2 Electrical characterization and soiling effect
To understand the variation effect of the amount of the dust from (HP) to (AD) site, we considering the Figure 10, we found that for the same value of dust density, the current intensity delivered by the PV panel, in the case of (HP) dust area, is higher than the current intensity delivered by the PV panel in the case of (AD) dust. In addition, the drop off in the density of the dust lead to a remarkable decrease in the current intensity. For both areas (HP and AD), in Figure 11, the calculated Er between experimental and simulated results is less than 15%.
Figure 10.
I-V characteristics of SX-330 J panel.
Figure 11.
Relatives error between experimental and simulated I-V curves.
The drop in power output caused by the accumulation of dust on the photovoltaic module surface is a big issue as reported by several authors [25, 26, 27]. Figures 12–14 shows the evolution of the maximum power recorded on a PV module SX330J soiled at various dust densities: 1.75, 3.45, 6.77 g/m2 (Figure 15).
Figure 12.
P-V curve, simulated and experimental under 1.75 g/m2 of dust.
Figure 13.
P-V curve, simulated and experimental under 3.45 g/m2 of dust.
Figure 14.
P-V curve, simulated and experimental under 6.77 g/m2 of dust.
Figure 15.
Dust density effect on maximum power under dust type of AD and HP.
The salient feature of our investigations is a clear decline of the maximum power output. Pmax decreases non-linearly with dust density. Our results are in good agreements with several works published by other authors [25, 26]. The maximum power Pmax of our solar panel drop off from 30 W to only 17 W when the dust density is around 6.77 g/m2 in the case of (HP) dust, and as weak as 14 W in the case of the (AD) dust. The observed behavior is correlated to the difference of dust distribution. Indeed, the size and distribution of the dust have a major effect on the degradation of PV performance, as small particles tend to block more sunlight radiation, with less space, and therefore contribute more to the deterioration of PV performance [28]. This can be explained by the fact that smaller particles are more uniformly distributed than larger particles [29], resulting in greater light scattering, especially at low intensities [30]. The huge loss (more than 50% in our case) of the generated PV power is a key factor of uncertainty and risk for solar production. As reported by several authors, less than 10% loss is the threshold for the need of cleaning. Such operation is inescapable for the recovery of the power [31, 32].
In the present chapter, for the first time, a comprehensive model was proposed for the PV module. This model has a very high strength in prediction of the electrical characteristics of the dusty PV module. The developed model was verified under different operating conditions of the PV module and then was used to predict the electrical performances of the dusty PV module in the region of Agadir, Morocco. The results show that this model can reasonably predict the module performances under different weather conditions. However, this study is still open as some other factors like humidity, wind speed, particle material, and PV module type need further investigation in the near future in order to approach a complete modeling. This study is highly useful in dusty regions and can help the PV designer to predict the power of the PV module with a reasonable accuracy.
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Written By
Abdellah Asbayou, Lahoussine Bouhouch, Ismail Isknan and Ahmed Ihlal
Submitted: 16 December 2022Reviewed: 27 December 2022Published: 17 February 2023
Open access peer-reviewed chapter
