Hi Kind helpers,
For my industrial design thesis, I'm working on a concentrated solar energy (>CPV) construction, to be integrated in urban areas/buildings (glass roofs, with integrated Fresnel lens).
The construction would be applied in large public spaces (shopping malls, trainstations etc.). In the case of this CPV construction, the PV/solar panel, is hung inside, and is never exposed to exterior dirt/soil/bird droppings. While there's some literature on exterior soiling of PV and optics, I'm having a hard time estimating how much of an impact dust can have on the efficiency of PV in larger interior spaces.
Is there a specific 'estimation method' that I can use, to estimate how much dust will fall per surface area (& height?), based on the volume of a place and maybe how many people pass through per x amount of time? Would love to hear if there's a good way to do this, without actually experimenting. Related literature is also very welcome of course.
Thanks in advance.
Dear Mathijs Pieters ,
because the dust deposition on the glass surface of your modules is coming from interior contamination, then I think it is hard to give the rate of deposition of dust on the glass surface. You need to make experimental investigations. In order to speed up the experiment you can suck the air by a pump and let it pass through a filter. The you measure the pumped air and weigh the trapped duct from which you can estimate the the thickness of the deposited layer under free fall conditions.
Best wishes
the glass plates were never cleaned during the experiment duration of 1 month to allow dust to accumulate.
Therefore, For moderately dusty places, weekly cleaning of the glass covers of solar panels is strictly recommended as part of the maintenance routine, but equipment should be cleaned immediately after a dust storm to retain nominal operating efficiency.
For the methodology, I advise to read the following papers and you will find the answer:
Sarver, T., Al-Qaraghuli, A., & Kazmerski, L. L. (2013). A comprehensive review of the impact of dust on the use of solar energy: History, investigations, results, literature, and mitigation approaches. Renewable and sustainable energy Reviews, 22, 698-733.
Costa, S. C., Diniz, A. S. A., & Kazmerski, L. L. (2018). Solar energy dust and soiling R&D progress: Literature review update for 2016. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, 2504-2536.
Mani, M., & Pillai, R. (2010). Impact of dust on solar photovoltaic (PV) performance: Research status, challenges and recommendations. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 14(9), 3124-3131.
Also, the attached papers contain methods, results and analysis.
Thank you all. But these are papers focussing on exterior dust and soiling. The location of the construction in my case, won't be in hot, dusty area's. I'm curious about interior environments and the amount of dust falling in that case (shopping malls etc.), because as I said, the PV is not exposed to the outside environment.
Dear Mathijs Pieters ,
because the dust deposition on the glass surface of your modules is coming from interior contamination, then I think it is hard to give the rate of deposition of dust on the glass surface. You need to make experimental investigations. In order to speed up the experiment you can suck the air by a pump and let it pass through a filter. The you measure the pumped air and weigh the trapped duct from which you can estimate the the thickness of the deposited layer under free fall conditions.
Best wishes
From 1990 to 1995 I made dust measurements in indoor industries in Austria. Any prediction is rather impossible, as the deposition depends on the kind of use in the building. My recommendation for this issue could be: Have a look to the planned area for the PV cells. There may be some horizontal areas of the construction of the roof and there it would be good to check the real deposition of dust. Directly under the roof, there may be a reduced deposition.
And one hint for the plannings: PV cells get warm in sunshine. Think about the airflow around the cells and lenses, maybe some lamella can serve as a trap for dust.
Karl Prodinger Thank you for the good suggestions. I'll take them into consideration. These kinds of forums are such a valuable tool for scientific input from across the world! Thanks everyone else for the input.
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