Dust particles may accumulate on PV panels due to natural causes or anthropogenic activities (Kaldellis and Kapsali 2011; Bodenheimer, Lensky, and Dayan 2019), such as vehicles, construction, sandstorm, pollution, airborne particles, bird dropping, etc. (Sharma and Chandel 2016; Park et al. 2011; Rieger et al. 2017; Kazmerski et al. 2016).
There are two interdependent parameters that effect on characterization of soiling accumulation on solar panels, the property of dust and the local environment. Sometimes soil patches such as leaves, bird droppings and dirt patches that block some cells of a PV module but not the whole, have a severe effect on PV modules.
In addition, many contaminants and dirt resulting from human activities are suspended in the air. All suspended atmospheric substances such as sand, dust, pollutants, smoke, dirt, pollen, etc. are expressed in most studies as dust and their accumulation on PV deteriorate these cells’ performance.
Accumulation of dust particles on solar PV systems blocks the sunlight and hence reduces its power to a large extent. It is assumed that “solar is the nearest future”; hence, dust from different fields such as constructional sites, agricultural land and industrial areas will affect solar systems in coming time.
The reduction in solar efficiency due to dust on PV panel is approximately 40%. In this context, various PV system cleaning methods are adopted currently (Kumar and Chaurasia 2014). The analysis under this category of the environmental effects is the most frequent and problematic one as compared to others.
“Energy Yield Loss Caused by Dust Deposition on Photovoltaic Panels.” Solar Energy 107: 576–604. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2014.05.030. Scopus, “Analyze Search Results,” vol. 2021, no. 30 June 2021. [Online].