Performance study of photovoltaic modules considering natural dust impact on high altitude

Abstract

In this present era, solar modules have become a popular energy conducting element. Thus, Dhaka city is not behind in this sector as it can be seen in every building’s rooftop containing PV modules. However, Dhaka city is so polluted and therefore it can be seen that PV modules become dusty quickly. It is a major concern in the Middle east and there is energy loss for this reason. The purpose of this study is to compare the output between two PV modules, where one is a dusty module and another is a clean module. Moreover, in this study how dust particles affect the module at different altitudes is another concern. Here the dust particles on the modules store heat from the sun and this affects the output, also affects the short circuit current when dust particles make shadows in the module. Two modules were checked properly in indoor conditions before conducting the outdoor experiment to know the condition of those and to get the PV graph. After that outdoor experiment was conducted on a regular basis to get the continuous data and finally the comparison graph shows the results and effects, how dust affects the module’s power output. Empirical method was used to calculate the solar irradiance and finally, solar incident energy was calculated from that.