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The Research

Influence of Dirt Accumulation and the Performance of PV Solar Panels

Shown in Table 1 is the output power of different loads and cases (layers of light obstruction) for light radiation of 310 W/msq : i.e the higher light intensity. It is shown that the electrical power output was reduced significantly (by up to 83%) when external resistances obscured the light path of the solar panel. The experiment was done by using a clean panel and a panel covered in talcum, dust, sand and moss. For light radiation of 310 W/msq

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Results

The output power of the solar panel was reduced by between 9% and 31% due to the effects of presence of talcum, between 60% and 70% due to dust, between 70% and 80% due to sand and between 77% and 83% due to moss.  This implies that regular cleaning would be very important in order to ensure worthiness of adopting the readily known high-cost of solar PV technology.

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Conclusion

This study shows that opaque particles tremendously affect the performance of solar PV, in particular moss, which could reduce the power by up to 83%. To overcome these problems, a proper maintenance operation for the solar panels would be necessary. 

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References

The International Conference on Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy, Environment and Sustainability  TMREES14

Science Direct Energy Procedia 50 (2014) 50 - 56

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