Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Dust as an unalterable deteriorative factor affecting PV panel's

efciency: Why and how
Fardila Mohd Zaihidee a,n, Saad Mekhilef b, Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian c, Ben Horan c
a

Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Sultan Idris Education University, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
c
School of Engineering, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC, 3216, Australia
b

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 4 November 2014
Received in revised form
4 February 2016
Accepted 26 June 2016

Electricity generation from solar energy has a great potential since it relies mainly on an abundant and
clean source. However, there are many alterable and unalterable factors that can govern a PV module's
efciency. Dust is one of the location-dependent environmental factors that falls under the unalterable
factors group. It can degrade the efciency of a PV panel by causing physical damages, by attenuating the
incoming solar radiation and by causing temperature rise, which results in changes in panel's electrical
characteristics. Degree of degradation depends mainly on the deposition density, which is governed by
various factors. Dust accumulation of 20 g/m2 on a PV panel reduces short circuit current, open circuit
voltage and efciency by 1521%, 26% and 1535% respectively. This work reviews, elaborates and
summarizes the effects of dust on solar panel efciency and the factors governing dust deposition on PV
panel.
& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
PV panel
Dust
Efciency
Deposition

Contents
1.
2.
3.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Effects of dust scattering in the atmosphere on solar PV panel efciency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Effects of dust deposited on panel surface on solar PV panel efciency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.
Variation of experimental setup from previous works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.
Effects of dust deposition on panel surface light transmittance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.
Partial shading of panel with dust deposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.
Increment of panel temperature due to dust deposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.
Effects of dust deposition on PV panel output and efciency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Factors governing dust deposition on PV panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.
Dust properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.
Environment and weather conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.
PV module properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4.
PV installation design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. Conclusion and future work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1267
1268
1268
1268
1270
1272
1273
1273
1274
1274
1275
1276
1277
1277
1277
1277

1. Introduction
n

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: farrmz@yahoo.com (F.M. Zaihidee),
mehdis@deakin.edu.au (M. Seyedmahmoudian),
ben.horan@deakin.edu.au (B. Horan).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.06.068
1364-0321/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity demand in year 2050 is predicted to lie between

8 TW and 26 TW with an average growth of about 3.7517.81%.
Fossil fuel e.g. natural gas, coal and oil is still the dominating
source of worldwide energy supply (85.1% in 2008), where an

1268

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

increase in fossil fuel emissions between factor 5 and 35 is forecasted [1].

Transition towards power generation from renewable energy
sources such as solar, wind, hydropower, biomass and tidal energy
is driven by many factors which include increasing awareness of
environmental impacts (climate change and global warming) and
rapid growth in fuel price. Solar energy is considered as the most
promising renewable energy source due to its availability (natural,
abundant and free) and cleanliness (free from emission and noise)
[2]. Solar PV technology has shown the highest growth compared
to other renewable technologies due to dramatic price decline.
Between 2008 and 2011, reduction of 60% has been recorded in the
cost of PV modules per MW [1].
Solar photovoltaic (PV) cell is a device that converts energy
carried by optical electromagnetic radiation to electrical energy
using photovoltaic effect of semiconductors [3]. Due to inherent
material property of semiconductor, efciency of PV system is
limited within 1520% [4]. However, depends on module design,
installation and environment, each photovoltaic panel has different level of performance. Dust is one of the environmental factors
that should be considered in optimizing PV panel efciency. Kaldellis and Kokala [5] stated that solar radiation intensity on panel
surface is the main factor which affects a PV panel's output, but
soil and dirt can cause further degradation up to 15% of the efciency. The effects of dust on solar PV panel efciency can be
viewed from two different perspectives; effects of dust scattering
in the atmosphere and effects of dust deposited on the panel
surface.

2. Effects of dust scattering in the atmosphere on solar PV

panel efciency
As solar radiation travels through the atmosphere, a signicant
amount of it is attenuated. This phenomenon is due to the fact that
solar radiation exhibits the properties of a light wave. It can be
absorbed by particles in the atmosphere, reected by water vapor,
air molecules, dust and other pollutants and scattered backward
[6]. Scattering dust decreases the direct component of solar radiation [7], hence increases the diffuse irradiance component [8,9].
Radiation attenuation depends on the pollutants nature and
amount [10]. Urban areas receive less global radiation compared to
rural areas [912]. Rainfall and wind can reduce the concentration
of suspended particles in the atmosphere [13,14].
The electrical behavior of PV modules depend on incident irradiance [10]. Under different levels of radiation, the electrical
characteristics of a PV cell are dened by its current-versus-voltage curve (IV Curve) and power-versus-voltage curve (PV
curve). When solar insolation on panel surface increases, more
power can be obtained, resulting in a better efciency [15,16]. On
the other hand, attenuated solar insolation due to reection by
dust will result in less efciency of a PV cell. Relationship between
solar insolation and output efciency had also been investigated
by Jiang, Lu [17] with their experiment. For solar radiation ranged
from 300 to 760 Wm
2, the output efciency reduction varied
from 4.4% to 11.6%.
Data collected from previous studies prove the theory, that dust
can cause reduction in solar radiation; global solar radiation in city
of Amman, Jordan decreased of up to approximately 5 MJ/m2 late
in spring between 1983 and 1988 due to sand storm weather
condition at that area [6] and signicant industrial aerosol or
photochemical smog in cities like Hong Kong and Central Mexico
City caused extremely large excess attenuation of solar radiation
[18].

3. Effects of dust deposited on panel surface on solar PV panel

efciency
3.1. Variation of experimental setup from previous works
Scattering dusts settle under inuence of gravity [19,20] or
eddy diffusion [20]. Many outdoor and indoor experiments have
been conducted to investigate how dust accumulation on PV panel
affects the efciency of the panel by utilizing different equipment,
samples and setups and by implementing different methods and
procedures. PV panels of different types were used as sample such
as mono-crystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon or thin lm. Glass was commonly used as surface material,
but alternatively, epoxy was also used. For experiments using
more than one PV panel/cell sample, their characteristics and
performance were ensured to match [5,2123].
Outdoor experiments were conducted to study the dust effect
under natural operating conditions and to investigate the seasonal
variation of the dust effect. This approach has its own disadvantages, whereby to minimize the error, output measurements
have to be carefully executed under similar environmental conditions where difference in e.g. temperature, irradiance, wind
speed and humidity is insignicant. In addition to that, the effect
of undesired complex phenomena e.g. high wind and sand storms
can be seen in erratic output results [21].
Researchers have become more interested in executing indoor
experiment in order to be able to control related parameters e.g.
irradiance and temperature [24], as well as to obtain more reliable
and accurate data [17]. With aid of sun simulator and pyranometer
or power monitor, sample will be irradiated indoor within certain
power and spectral range to match the spectral response interval
of PV cell used as well as to satisfactorily simulate the sun. Light
intensity from the sun simulator must be uniform over the entire
PV sample. In addition to that, cooling system should also be incorporated to the laboratory setup since sun simulators emit heat
energy, hence can cause undesired panel temperature increment
[24].
Simulation of natural dust deposition process is required for
indoor experiments. In previous works, this was done using various methods and equipment such as by using a dust generator
(Fig. 2) for injection and a fan for mixing with air (Fig. 1) [17], by
manual dust discharge from dust-cloud producer in wind tunnel
[25], by using sand dust blaster combined with diffuser [26], by
spraying the sample with water containing the pollutant [19,27],
by manual sieving and free fall from certain height in a tube or
strainer [2830] or by Monte Carlo approach [29]. This step allows
full control of particle concentration in the sample's environment
as an advantage against outdoor experiments. Different methods
and parameters in articial deposition process result in different
uniformity and clustering pattern despite same average deposition
density. However, this issue is usually ignored by researchers since
it occurs even by natural deposition. Clear comparison of aforementioned dust deposition methods were not thoroughly explained by the respective researchers but the usage of wind tunnel
has its own advantages. This approach allows the researcher to
study the effect of wind velocity on dust deposition density on
panel. Jiang, Lu [17], who used dust generator and fan in test
chamber (Fig. 1) also suggested improvement on air movement as
future works. The advantage of water spraying and manual free
fall method lies on their simplicity. On the contrary, Monte Carlo
method, which utilizes images of distributed dots to simulate dust
accumulation (Fig. 3), differentiate itself from other methods by
denying the nature of sand positions and the bounce effect of sand
particles upon initial deposition [29].
Another comfort of indoor test lies in ability to choose the
appropriate dust. The characteristics of the test dust used vary in

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

1269

Fig. 1. Dust deposition using dust generator and fan [17].

Fig. 2. Dust generator RBG 1000, PALAS (left) used by Jiang, Lu [17] and its schematic diagram (right).

Fig. 3. Distributed circular dots in Monte Carlo approach [29].

terms of its size, volume by size, specic weight and chemical

components. The test dust is selected based on area on study such
as urban areas (limestone, cement and carbon) [24,27], deserts
(natural soil) [25] and tropical areas [19]. Alternative to articial
test dust, Goossens and Van Kerschaever [25] and El-Shobokshy
and Hussein [24] prepared their own test dust from loess and
limestone rocks respectively. With this approach, using same experimental setup, test dust can be conveniently varied to study the
effect of different known particle properties on the output. Additional procedure is required to analyse naturally collected dust and
its deposition pattern e.g. mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction [21], particle size analysis [24,26,31] and morphology analysis
using microscope e.g. scanning electron microscope [28,32].
To obtain the relation between panel performance and dust
deposition density, the accumulated dust on the surface must be
measured. Several different methods were implemented for this
purpose such as comparing the sample's weight before and after
the exposure [17,19,21,25,28,29,33], by using weight difference of
a dried wet sponge/cotton pieces used to clean the panel surface
after exposure to dust [5,22,24,27,34] or by weighing the articial
dust prior to applying it onto the samples [32]. Precision weighing
balance used by afore-mentioned researchers has accuracy of between 0.001 and 1 mg. Weighing process was executed in controlled condition. Transfer of sample to and from the balance
should be done carefully to ensure accurate results in terms of
weight as well as particle distribution analysis, if any. Usage of wet

1270

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

sponge or cotton pieces as medium to weigh the accumulated dust

requires dehumidication process prior and after dust collection,
which takes normally 24 h to ensure complete water evaporation.
Appels, Muthirayan [32] implemented method of dust weighing
prior to application and had to ensure all weighted dust is deposited on the sample by avoiding having residue at sieve and by
utilizing anti-static surrounding cover during application process.
Experimental setup also varied in terms of sample's tilt angle,
orientation, location, climate condition for outdoor experiments
and controlled environment for indoor experiments e.g. wind
speed, humidity and temperature, reference irradiance for solar
simulator, cleaning frequency and exposure period. Variations in
material, size and shape of test chambers for indoor experiments
are also noticeable, in order to obtain certain criteria e.g. transparency, anti-static and ignorable light reection effect [17].
Focusing on investigating the effect of dust on light transmittance, glass and plastic sheet were also used as samples, other
than PV panels. Transmittance of the sample was measured either
by using pyranometer/solarimeter [19,21,33] or spectrometer
[28,32,35] prior to and after dust exposure. On the other hand,
when PV panels were utilized as samples, a different procedure
was executed to estimate transmittance reduction. It was done
rstly by obtaining IV-characteristics for the sample for various
light intensities as reference. Result after exposure to dust was
used to locate on the curves to read the corresponding intensity,
hence, to calculate the intensity difference from a reference intensity value [24,25].
The relationship between dust deposition, surface transmittance and the solar PV system output was obtained either by reproducing similar deposition on both glass samples (for transmittance measurement) and solar panels (for output measurement) [32], by exposing both glass and PV samples to same environment over an equal period [21] or by using a sensitivity
constant to determine the actual irradiance value from its voltage
output [36]. Certain methodological issue can rise in order to accurately relate light transmittance reduction to power output of a
PV panel, for example, it is impossible to perfectly reproduce same
degree of deposition on multiple samples. Furthermore, exposing
multiple samples to same environment does not ensure equal
deposition. Another method implemented to relate dust deposition density and surface transmittance to PV sample's output was
modication of PV's spectral response data from reliable sources
with experimental transmittance curves. Dust deposition density
dependent spectral transmittance curves resulted from the executed experiments (Fig. 4) were modied by multiplying them
with the IEC standard spectral response data for different PV

Fig. 4. Transmittance reduction at different level of dust deposition density and

wavelength as experimentally obtained by Qasem, Betts [30].

Fig. 5. Spectral response data for crystalline silicon PV module without dust deposition (CSiC) and modied data for module with dust deposition of 4.25 mg/
cm2 (C-Si-D1), 14 mg/cm2 (C-Si-D2), 19 mg/cm2 (C-Si-D3) and 30 mg/cm2 (C-Si-D4)
[30].

Fig. 6. Spectral response data for thin lm PV modules (a-Si, CdTe, CIGS) without
dust deposition (a-Si-C, CdTe-C, CIGS-C) and modied data for module with dust
deposition of 4.25 mg/cm2 (a-Si-D1, CdTe-D1, CIGS-D1), 14 mg/cm2 (a-Si-D2, CdTeD2, CIGS-D2), 19 mg/cm2 (a-Si-D3, CdTe-D3, CIGS-D3) and 30 mg/cm2 (a-Si-D4
CdTe-D4, CIGS-D4) [30].

technologies (Figs. 5 and 6) [28,30].

3.2. Effects of dust deposition on panel surface light transmittance
Light transmittance is dened as the ratio of intensity of light
that can pass through a material or sample to the intensity of light
that can pass without it [37,38]. Similar to dust suspended in the
atmosphere, deposited dust can scatter the incoming radiation,
redirect some of the incoming diffuse component of the sunlight
[39] or absorb them, which decreases the light intensity (extinction of light) [26]. Among other factors, solar PV system efciency
also relies on the percentage of solar radiation transmitted
through the cover glass and reaches the collection surface.
Dust accumulation has been proven to result in reduction of
surface transmittance. An exponential relationship was concluded;
as the dust deposition on glass surface increases, the reduction of
transmittance increases at a progressively decreasing rate until its
upper limit. When the limit has been reached, the effect of dust
deposition
density
on
glass
transmittance
vanishes
[21,25,33,40,41]. Similar exponential relationship was also discovered experimentally by Al-Hasan [26] in terms of both light
transmittance and reectance caused by deposited dust. Supporting this argument, free area on sample i.e. area not covered by
particles is proved to be decreasing exponentially with increasing
amount of accumulated dust [29]. From previous works, deposition density of approximately 5 g/m2 and 16 g/m2 reduced the

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

1271

In contrary, indoor experiment by Al-Hasan [26] resulted in an

increase of transmittance reduction as tilt angle increases, which
was probably because light source position was xed and neither
cleaning mechanism (simulation of rainfall) nor wind blow were
incorporated. In this case, the relationship between transmittance
and incidence angle of light beam was studied. As incidence angle
increases, transmittance decreases slowly, then rapidly until it
reaches zero at 90, where light beam is parallel to sample surface
[36,42]. Zero transmittance can be reached at incidence angle less
than 90 at higher dust accumulation, where the areas between
the particles are totally shaded by the particles themselves. The
correction factor of radiation at different incidence angle due to
dust deposition was dened by Eq. (2).
Fig. 7. Summary of the relationship between dust deposition density and surface
transmittance.

transmittance by approximately 1124% and 3853% respectively

[19,21,33].
Elminir, Ghitas [21] also predicted the correlation between dust
deposition density and transmittance reduction quantitatively,
which under certain consideration, can be generally used. Mastekbayeva and Kumar [19] represented the relation between dust
deposition density and transmittance reduction mathematically as
in Eq. (1), however, is only restricted to panels with low-density
polyethylene glazing.

= 23.27 ln d 23.5 for 5 d 15

(1)

Solar radiation absorbed by the collector can also be estimated

by applying dirt correction factor (DC) to the total incident radiation, where DC is dened as ratio of transmittance of contaminated surface to transmittance of clean surface. Depending on
various factors e.g. installation design, location and exposure
period, recorded value of dirt correction factor lies between
0.7 and 0.925 [19,33]. Fig. 7 shows the summary of the relationship between dust deposition density and surface transmittance
obtained by afore-mentioned researchers. (Table 1).
Transmittance reduction due to dust deposition decreases as
tilt angle increases, due to decrease in dust deposition on surface
[21,33]. Quantitatively, maximum reduction (27.62%) was observed
at sample installed at tilt of 0 and minimum (4.94%) at sample of
90 tilt angle. In case of samples which were never cleaned
throughout the experiment, the result worsen up to 52.54%
transmittance reduction for sample installed horizontally with
dust deposition density of 7.36 g/m2 more than the density of the
cleaned sample of similar installation design [21]. Hegazy [33]
proved a signicant transmittance degradation for samples installed at smaller tilt angles ( o40) and rapid decrement of
degradation as tilt angle was further increased. An outdoor study
on tilted glass samples showed that transmittance reduction at the
lower portion of the glass is more than the upper portion, since in
certain cases, rainfall does not clean the sample completely,
causing the dust from upper part to be resettled on the lower part
[35].

b( ) = 1Q eAc ( )

(2)

Qe and Ac() are particle extinction efciency and total area

covered respectively, which have their own derivations [26]. In
addition to shadowing effects, angle of incidence also determines
the amount of reected light by the particles that can be partially
recovered by the panel [36]. Above arguments conclude that the
effects of dust on solar PV panel efciency for xed modules and
modules with solar tracking have to be considered separately.
Dust properties also determine its effect on panel's surface
transmittance. Finer particles settle in a more distributed manner
on panel surface, hence, minimizing the gap for light to pass
through. Fig. 8 shows the degree of transmittance reduction for
three particles diameter, as theoretically obtained by Mazumder,
Horenstein [41] using Eqs. (3) and (4) for (No)i concentration of
particle with diameter di and extinction efciency of (Qext)i. Experimentally, El-Shobokshy and Hussein [24] proved the aforementioned theory (Fig. 9).

I /I0 = exp( NAp Q ext )

NA p Q ext =

(3)
2

i ( No)i( di/2) ( Q ext )i

(4)

Furthermore, different optical characteristics of particles e.g.

absorption ability can result in variation of transmittance reduction. Carbon particulates, which are extra-ne and can absorb
solar radiation effectively, are proven to have a relatively worse
deterioration effect (Fig. 9) [24,26]. Different types of particles
have different degree of transparency, as shown in Fig. 10. Further
study to quantitatively prove the effects of transparency degree on
surface transmittance was also proposed [31]. Transmittance reduction up to 0.9% lower (Fig. 11) was also recorded on glass
samples with self-cleaning coatings e.g. TiO2, since rainfall washed
dust off more effectively. However, the ideal coating thickness is
yet to be determined in further study in order to obtain maximum
transmittance over time [35].
Appels, Muthirayan [32] concluded that, for mono- and polycrystalline panel, the percentages of surface transmittance and
solar panel output power decrement are approximately the same.
Transmittance reduction contributed by dust is spectrally dependent [28,43]. Reduction of transmittance due to dust deposition

Table 1
Comparison of variables, dust density range and reduction of surface transmittance between different sources as shown in Fig. 7.
No.

Source

Variables

Dust density range (mg/cm2)

Surface transmittance reduction

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Mazumder, Horenstein [1]

Zang and Wang [2]
Hegazy [3]
Elminir, Ghitas [4]
Al-Hasan [5]
Mastekbayeva and Kumar [6]
Goossens and Van Kerschaever [7]

Particle size
Incident angle
Tilt angle
Tilt angle, orientation
Incident angle, light wavelength
Surface cover
Wind speed, airborne dust concentration

010
02.5
01
01
00.5
02
025

Up to 100%
Up to 100%
Less than 35%
Less than 24%
Up to 100%
Less than 40%
Less than 80%

1272

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

Fig. 11. Transmittance reduction for glass slides without TiO2 coating and with
TiO2 coating of 40 nm and 60 nm thick [35].

Fig. 8. Transmittance reduction calculated for surface accumulated with particles

of diameter 2, 20 and 40 mm [41].

Fig. 9. Percentage of transmittance reduction for surface accumulated with particles of diameter 5, 10, 50, 60 and 80 mm [24].

was recorded to be more severe at shorter wavelengths [28]. In

contrary, Al-Hasan [26] proved that as dust deposition increases,
more light is reected, where the reectance increment is more at
longer wavelengths than at shorter ones. These contradictory
conclusions are probably due to usage of dust with different nature (color, size) in both experiments, which affects the degree of
scattering, absorption and reectance of incoming radiation.
3.3. Partial shading of panel with dust deposition
As consequences of transmittance reduction, deposited dust on
panel surface can lead to partial shading. Partial shading is a

phenomenon, where cell's illumination in an array is non-uniform.

PV array consists of PV modules connected in series and parallel to
meet the output requirement. However, the total output power is
lower than the sum of each module's individual rated power. One
of the reasons is due to partial shading effect. Compared to nonshaded cells, the shaded cells produce less current. Non-shaded
cells force the shaded cell to pass more current, hence, force the
shaded cells to operate in reverse bias, causing power loss to the
system. Each module cannot operate at their maximum power
point because the current (for series connections) or voltage (for
parallel connections) is forced to be equal for all modules. Due to
power mismatch, modules connected in series can only have the
current as strong as the current of the weakest performing module
in the array. The electrical characteristic of the array changes from
having a global maximum in PV curve to having several local
maxima, due to complicated conduction mechanism between
partially shaded and unshaded cells and bypass diodes [44]. In
addition to that, power loss due to reverse bias operating cells is
dissipated as heat and causes non-uniform changes of cells temperature, hence decrement of ll factor [24]. In more severe cases,
this situation may lead to hot spot damage of PV cells, where the
cell current is concentrated with high local intensity causing focalpoint heating with temperature higher than 150 C [42,45,46].
The tendency of dust deposition to lead to partial shading effect
depends on dust size and density. Upon low density of deposition
of coarse particles, PV surface area is not fully covered. Light
passing through the surface at one area is different from the other
areas, hence, partial shading is likely to occur. However, further
deposition covers the voids, which results in a more uniform light
transmittance throughout the whole surface, diminishes the effect
of the partial shading and improves the ll factor. On the other
hand, thickening dust layer reduces the light transmittance considerably and affects the ll factor. Compared to coarse particles,
ne particles deposition does not lead to partial shading since this
kind of particles tend to distribute uniformly as early as their initial deposition (low density) [24].

Fig. 10. Dust collected in Sonora, Mexico after magnication of 20  (left) and 40  (right) [31].

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

1273

Fig. 12. Thermal investigation of a clean panel [48].

Mono- and polycrystalline silicon PV modules are protected

from partial shading using bypass diodes across several cells. Thin
lm devices however are more vulnerable to it due to their construction method where the cells are mostly series connected and
due to their fabrication method where materials are deposited
directly on module substrate, hence, cell sorting and control are
impossible. However, vertical cell conguration can improve the
performance of thin lm devices. Although the effect of dust can
be reduced for panel installed at larger tilt as discussed earlier, this
installation design can introduce density variation in dust accumulation, which can make the panel more prone to trigger hotspots [47].
3.4. Increment of panel temperature due to dust deposition
Dust deposition on PV panel surface also causes temperature
difference. Using thermo-vision camera, Dorobantu, Popescu [48]
found that covered surface has temperature increment up to 10 C.
Image results (Figs. 12 and 13) show the thermal difference between a clean panel and a panel with temporary deposition.
From Eq. (5), it can be concluded that open circuit voltage of a
PV cell depends on its temperature.

VOC = ( nkT /q) ln

( ( IL/Io) + 1)

(5)

Increase in solar cell temperature causes a slight increase in

short circuit current but a signicant decrease in open circuit
voltage. Hence, overall power is reduced with temperature rise.
Temperature coefcient denes the degrading of solar cell performance as a function of temperature. Normalized temperature
coefcient, formula gives the fractional change of efciency with
temperature.

= ( 1/) ( d/dT )

(6)

Different material has different value of normalized temperature coefcient. Hence, performance of a PV cell made of one
material is less/more affected by temperature compared to a PV
cell made of other materials [49]. Appropriate choice of cell material can reduce the thermal effect of dust on panel surface.
3.5. Effects of dust deposition on PV panel output and efciency
The output characteristics of contaminated panels of different
densities were compared with those of the clean one for further
analysis on the effect of dust on PV panel efciency. Short circuit
current, Isc, depends linearly on the irradiance [49], hence on the
transmittance. Experimentally, Goossens and Van Kerschaever
[25] and El-Shobokshy and Hussein [24] proved a slightly nonlinear relationship between Isc and irradiance. Dust deposition on

Fig. 13. Thermal investigation of a panel with deposition [48].

1274

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

Table 2
Comparison of variables, dust density range and the ratio ISC,deposition/ISC,clean between different sources as shown in Fig. 14.
No.

Source

Variables

Dust density range (mg/cm2)

ISC,deposition/ISC,clean

1
2
3

Jiang, Lu [8]
Zakzouk and Electrochem [9]
El-Shobokshy and Hussein [10]

Module type

Particle size

02.5
02
030

More than 0.75

More than 0.57
More than 0

Fig. 14. Ratio of short circuit current of panel with different dust deposition density
to short circuit current of their respective clean panel.

PV panel has a signicant effect on the short circuit current, where

Isc reduces as deposition density increases. Isc degradation rate is
higher at initial deposition to a certain level of deposition, after
which Isc decreased slightly [17,2325] (Table 2).
From previous works, it can be summarized that, with 20 g/m2
dust accumulated on panel's surface, maximum Isc reduction
ranged from approximately 1521%. The open circuit voltage, Voc,
is affected with slight reduction as the density increases (Fig. 15),
where maximum Voc reduction recorded at equal dust density was
approximately 26% only [17,25]. According to Zakzouk and Electrochem [23], the changes in IV-characteristics due to dust deposition are equivalent to the changes due to an extra series resistance, where dust-equivalent series resistance, rd, is initiated by
Isc reduction and cell's nonhomogeneous illumination. Its value
increases as dust accumulation increases, where 55.2% increment
in rd was recorded for 5.4 g/m2 dust deposition, compared to zero
deposition. Output efciency reduction is linear with the dust
deposition density, where its maximum value lies between 15%
and 35% at same dust deposition density (20 g/m2). Its degradation
rate trend is similar to Isc, where steep degradation is noticed upon
initial deposition (Fig. 16) [17,23,25]. Ratio of maximum output
power of panel with deposition to the maximum output power of
clean panel obtained by El-Shobokshy and Hussein [24] and
Goossens and Van Kerschaever [25] also degraded at a decreasing
rate as dust deposition density increases (Fig. 17) (Table 3 and 4).
Different types of solar cells have their own characteristics.
Mono- and polycrystalline panels are more efcient than

Fig. 16. Ratio of efciency of panel with different dust deposition density to their
respective clean panel efciency.

amorphous panels. Their output really depend on the input radiation [50], whereas the amorphous panels perform better with
diffused radiation [17]. This explains the results obtained by
Touati, Al-Hitmi [51], where mono-crystalline PV module is more
sensitive to dust accumulation than amorphous silicon module.
Output efciency reduction is more severe at relatively lower or
higher irradiance, probably due to higher light reection effect by
the dust [17].
PV panel efciency is affected by not only dust deposition
density but also the dust type [24]. Below model was proposed by
Kaldellis and Kapsali [52] to represent the aforementioned theory.

j = o 1exp Aj Mj

))

(7)

PV module performance degradation is proved to be mostly

affected by larger particles compared to smaller particles of same
amount of deposition [17,52]. However, El-Shobokshy and Hussein
[24] and Beattie, Moir [29] proved otherwise. Possible reason for
these contradictory results is that dust settlement pattern (on top
of previous deposition or ll in the gap between particles) for each
experiment is not carefully considered. Apart from dust density
and properties, temperature, spectrum and reection caused by
solar incident angle are other possible factors that can inuence
the experimental results in terms of energy yield of panel installed
with different tilt and orientation [21].

4. Factors governing dust deposition on PV panel

Dust is scattering in the atmosphere and it is very difcult and
likely impossible to control this phenomenon. In addition to that,
dust also can settle anywhere, depending on various factors. Dust
accumulation on PV panel's surface determines its extent of performance degradation and is inuenced by several factors.
4.1. Dust properties

Fig. 15. Ratio of open circuit voltage of panel with different dust deposition density
to open circuit voltage of their respective clean panel.

Dust properties play an important role in dust deposition.

Physical characteristics of particles determine how long they can
travel in the atmosphere [14]. Finer particles have greater impact

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

1275

Fig. 17. Ratio of maximum output power of panel with deposition to the maximum output power of clean panel [24,25].

Table 3
Comparison of variables, dust density range and the ratio VOC,deposition/VOC,clean between different sources as shown in Fig. 15.
No.

Source

Variables

Dust density range (mg/cm2)

VOC,deposition/VOC,clean

1
2

Goossens and Van Kerschaever [7]

Jiang, Lu [8]

Wind speed, airborne dust concentration

Module type

025
02.5

More than 0.8

More than 0.93

Table 4
Comparison of variables, dust density range and the ratio Efciencydeposition/Efciencyclean between different sources as shown in Fig. 16.
No.

Source

Variables

Dust density range (mg/cm2)

Efciencydeposition/Efciencyclean

1
2
3

Jiang, Lu [8]
Kaldellis and Kapsali [11]
Zakzouk and Electrochem [9]

Module type
Particle type

02.5
00.4
02

More than 0.6

More than 0.98
More than 0.6

on PV panel performance than coarser particles of the same type

[16,24]. Removal efciency of dust by the wind depends on the
relative strength of adhesion force between surface and particles.
The adhesion force is inverse directly proportional to particle
diameter. Hence, small particles have stronger force of adhesion
than the force of lift-off by the wind [29,53]. In addition to that,
rainfall also has a limited cleaning effect to small particles compared to larger ones [32]. Experiment by Hegazy [33] shown that
only ne particles (mean diameter E1 mm) settled on samples
installed at large tilt angle ( 4 50).
Depending on dust nature, increasing sand accumulation tends
to form cluster and upper layers of particles. Under wind effect,
these clusters will be destroyed but then will resettle on the surface, compared to single layer particles which will be blown off the
surface by the wind. Sand particles bounce on glass surface before
settle, hence, delay cluster formation [29].
4.2. Environment and weather conditions
Atmospheric deposition on PV panels occurs mainly in three
ways namely by occult deposition, dry deposition and wet deposition. Occult deposition happens when contaminated water
droplets in fog, mist or clouds causes particle deposition when
intercepted with panels especially in frequently cloud-covered
zone [14]. High relative humidity promotes adhesion of dust particles on panel's surface [29,36] and also results in more rapid
formation of cluster [8]. Dew formation due to high relative

humidity aids dust settlement on at surfaces, while dust adhesion to these surfaces is reinforced by evaporation [21,32].
Dry deposition process is not inuenced by precipitation. Wind
carries particles and they eventually are deposited onto PV panel
surfaces by several means such as sedimentation, turbulent diffusion, Brownian diffusion, interception, inertial forces, electrical
migration, thermophoresis and diffusiophoresis [14,54]. Under dry
condition, wind erosion of dust from a surface causes charging of
the particles during lift-off. When these particles come close to a
surface with electrostatic charge which often caused by previously
deposited charged particles, it will result in Coulomb force of attraction or repulsion. Polarity of particle's charge and charge distribution on the panel determines whether the Coulomb force is
attractive or repulsive. Attractive force will accumulate more dust,
whereby repulsive forces causes the particle to be re-suspended in
air and be blown by the wind [53]. Wind blow can promote as well
as demote dust accumulation, depending on the installation orientation, wind speed, wind blow direction and dust source
[4,16,21,25,35].
In addition to that, wind velocity also affects the dust sedimentation and deposition characteristics. Dust coating created by
low speed winds is less transparent than dust coating created by
high speed winds. This sedimentological effect can be explained
with the relation of dust ripple and sedimentation time with wind
velocity. At low wind speed, sedimentation time is relatively
longer than the sedimentation time at high wind speed. Dust
micro-ripples spacing increases with increasing wind velocity. At

1276

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

require more extensive cleaning process [59]. However, more

frequent, shorter, but more intense rainfall traps more pollutants
in its runoff causing higher amount of deposition when intercepted with panel surfaces. Rain-resistant dust layer is developed
during long dry periods in intervals between rain events, where
natural cleaning would not sufce for removal [60].
Local human activities also determine the types of dust to
which PV panels are exposed, which have different accumulation
and settlement properties. Other than that, deposited resin particles from surrounding trees on panel's surface tend to trap dust
particles [32].
4.3. PV module properties
Fig. 18. Behavior of Isc reduction due to outdoor soiling (adapted from [58]).

low wind speed, long sedimentation time allows dust ripple to

become more and more mature. Hence, many individual short
ripples merge to form long macro-ripples. As the result, empty
spaces between the ripples disappear. This means, the PV module
surface is covered by a continuous dust coating, hence, surface's
light transmittance is signicantly reduced [25].
Rain traps air pollutants inside the rain drops and transfers
them to panel surfaces in so-called wet deposition process [14].
Rainfall also contributes in cleaning the polluted modules. Experiment by Zorrilla-Casanova, Piliougine [36] showed that long
dry periods can cause daily losses of irradiance due to dust deposition to exceed 20%. Similarly, highest optical losses, hence
magnied impact on PV performance was recorded by Elminir,
Ghitas [21], Garca, Marroyo [55], Kimber, Mitchell [56] when
rainfall was at the lowest. Hammond, Srinivasan [57] proved an
output recovery of 99.5% and Elminir, Ghitas [21] observed power
peaks after module was cleaned by rain. The effect of rainfall on
dust deposition and Isc reduction was also explained by Cuddihy,
Coulbert [58] as shown in Fig. 18. Soiling accumulation builds up
loose layer (represented by solid line), which can be washed away
by rain, hence this kind of deposition reaches its maximum during
dry weather and minimum directly after rainfall. However, rainresistant layer (represented by dotted line) is formed in about 12
months, which some of deposit can be removed by washing and
the other only by abrasive scrubbing (Fig. 19).
As far as dust deposition is concerned, it can be seen that rain
can be considered advantageous as well as deteriorative. The
rainfall pattern plays an important role in determining the effects
of rain on dust accumulation on PV panel. Clearly, low amount of
rainfall means less natural cleaning process of a panel. In addition
to that, this rainfall pattern usually promotes better dust adhesion
on panel. In case of severely dusted panel, small amount of rain
will turn dust to mud, in which case will attract more dust and will

PV module surface material has to be carefully chosen for usage

in dusty area. Epoxy and plastic surface accumulates dust more
easily than glass surface [17,31]. On the other hand, glass, which
has been preferably used in PV cell technology as cover, lighttrapping and substrate material provides an extremely smooth
surface, where the adhesion forces between the surface and dust
particles are extremely large [25,61]. Particles adhered to the
surface may not be eroded even by wind with very high velocities
(more than 100 km h
1) [62].
To enhance light-trapping properties, glass covers are structured with different proles to reduce reection of incoming
sunlight. Scheydecker, Goetzberger [63] measured between 5%
and 10% higher short circuit current at PV cell with structured
cover than those with smooth cover in their studies. However,
dust is more likely to be accumulated on structured PV module
surface, and less likely to be dislodged away by rain or wind.
Therefore, this type of front cover characterizes the module as not
self-cleaning.
Similar to dust particles, electrostatic force can be built-up on
PV panel surface. This force will promote dust settlement [4].
However, in most cases, electrostatic forces that attract dust to the
panel come from previously deposited charged particles on the
panel.
PV module surface coating (e.g. anti-reection coating, surface
passivation coating) causes the surface to become sticky and more
likely to accumulate dust than smooth surfaces [4]. Dust deposited
on this kind of surface can hardly be blown away by wind, which
results in permanent dust settlement on surface. On the other
hand, experimentally, Appels, Muthirayan [32] proved that selfcleaning coating improves self-cleaning, hence reduces transmittance degradation by 1.63%. However, the coating thickness must
be ideal to balance between its self-cleaning properties and the
fact that the coating itself can also slightly degrade the light
transmission [35].

Fig. 19. Soiling accumulation layers [58].

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

4.4. PV installation design

PV panel installation design e.g. tilt angle and orientation can
also affect the amount of dust deposited on it. Experiment by Elminir, Ghitas [21] showed that at the same tilt angle, dust accumulation on samples installed at different orientations was approximately equal. However, dust density deviation may occur at
certain orientation due to external parameters e.g. orientation is
facing the source of dust, from where the wind blows. On the other
hand, the least dust accumulated on samples facing the wind and
the most on those facing the opposite direction [35].
On the other hand, dust accumulation on surface reduces as tilt
angle increases [16]. The particles tend to roll down the surface,
due to the effect of the gravity. Biryukov [20] proved that the
deposition rate is proportional to cos ( panel tilt) for
0 o o 85. Furthermore, cleaning effect of rainfall is less effective on small tilted and horizontal surfaces [13,55].

5. Discussion
From aforementioned effects, dust can obviously be an obstacle
to an efcient solar photovoltaic system. In economic point of
view, dust deposition density of approximately 1 g/m2 can cause
losses up to 40/kWp [5]. Dust promotes dust, hence, small initial
dust settlement can lead to signicant performance drop, especially for unattended PV panels installed in remote areas. Dust
effect is time dependent and site specic.
Without proper and regular cleaning, dust accumulated on
panel surface will thicken and might not be easily dislodged by
rain [21]. Frequent cleaning is recommended for drought, polluted
urban and moderate dusty areas and immediate cleaning is proposed after dust storm [17,21,33]. More frequent cleaning maintenance is required for panels with plastic or epoxy cover compared to those with glass cover [17,31].
A few countermeasures can be taken to enhance the PV system's performance. Falls under passive dust removal processes
category, Jiang, Lu [17] propose self-cleaning glass as surface material. TiO2 coating on glass surface requires UV radiation to be
activated and then increases the surface's wettability, which helps
in cleaning process when exposed to rain/water. This option is
however not effective for systems in areas with low rainfall. Another approach is to reduce the adhesion forces between particles
and panel surface with uoropolymer coating, which makes the
surface hydrophobic [41]. Passive cleaning methods require support from panel installation design to be effective. Panel installation at certain tilt, optimally 530 as proposed by Amin, Lung
[50], can prevent permanent dust accumulation and support
cleaning by rain.
Active cleaning mechanism can also be incorporated into PV
system to reduce losses due to dust deposition. Regular manual
washing with water is commonly employed but not feasible and
expensive for desert regions where water source is an issue, for
remotely installed panels and solar towers. Mechanical dust removal includes brushing, blowing, vibrating and ultrasonic driving. Usage of brush might damage panel's surface and blowing
requires high energy and high maintenance. The latter two techniques are still in their initial stage of development [64]. Electrically, Mazumder, Horenstein [41] electrodynamic screen (EDS)
with dust removal efciency more than 90% in only a few minutes.
EDS consists of transparent electrodes embedded in transparent
dielectric lm. Dust particles will be electrostatically charged and
removed by the electromagnetic wave produced by applied electric eld. Other options for cleaning systems have been summarized by Lamont and El Chaar [65]; each with its own advantages
and disadvantages in terms of cost, time, secondary effects,

1277

removal efciency, requirements, size and weight.

Goossens and Van Kerschaever [25] suggested area with low
wind velocity and low dust concentration as preferred location for
PV installation by making use of natural topography of hilly areas
e.g. leeward side of hills, terraces and plateau with steep slopes
surroundings. However, this approach must also ensure that PV
output is insignicantly affected by the hill's shadow.

6. Conclusion and future work

Dust causes efciency degradation of a PV panel by attenuating
the incoming solar irradiance, reducing the surface transmittance,
introducing partial shading effect and increasing panel's temperature. Efciency degradation is linear with dust deposition
density. However, panel and dust type can govern the degree of
efciency reduction. Density of dust deposition on a panel surface
depends on dust properties, environment, weather, module
properties and its installation design. Appropriate countermeasures as proposed earlier should be taken to eliminate or reduce the effect of dust on solar PV panel efciency.
A future work on other options of appropriate inexpensive
coatings with dust self-cleaning properties is recommended, focusing on their optimum thickness of application. This approach
will result in more reliable and maintenance-free PV systems.
Other than that, further study on the distinctive effects of dust on
different types or materials of PV panel could be very useful for
users to choose the most suitable panel, depending on dust condition in their areas.

References
[1] Grossmann W, Steininger K, Schmid C, Grossmann I. Investment and employment from large-scale photovoltaics up to 2050. Empirica 2012;39:165
89.
[2] Mekhilef S, Saidur R, Safari A. A review on solar energy use in industries.
Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2011;15:177790.
[3] Lorenzo E. Solar electricity: engineering of photovoltaic systems.Sevilla: Institute of Solar Energy, Polytechnic University of Madrid; 1994.
[4] Mani M, Pillai R. Impact of dust on solar photovoltaic (PV) performance: research status, challenges and recommendations. Renew Sustain Energy Rev
2010;14:312431.
[5] Kaldellis JK, Kokala A. Quantifying the decrease of the photovoltaic panels'
energy yield due to phenomena of natural air pollution disposal. Energy
2010;35:48629.
[6] Hamdan MA, Kakish BA. Solar radiation attenuation caused by atmospheric
pollution. Energy Convers Manag 1995;36:1214.
[7] Denholm P, Drury E, Margolis R, Mehos M. Chapter 10 solar energy: the
largest energy resource. generating electricity in a carbon-constrained world.
Boston: Academic Press; 2010. p. 271302.
[8] Beattie N, Moir R, Roberts S, Buffoni G, Graham P, Pearsall N. Sand and dust
accumulation on photovoltaic modules in dry regions. 2011.
[9] Codato G, Oliveira A, Escobedo JF. Comparative study of solar radiation in
urban and rural areas. Anais Do XIII Congresso Brasileiro De Meteorologia,
Fortaleza, Brazil 2004.
[10] Tian W, Wang Y, Ren J, Zhu L. Effect of urban climate on building integrated
photovoltaics performance. Energy Convers Manag 2007;48:18.
[11] Jauregui E, Luyando E. Global radiation attenuation by air pollution and its
effects on the thermal climate in Mexico City. Int J Climatol 1999;19:68394.
[12] Robaa SM. A study of ultraviolet solar radiation at Cairo urban area, Egypt. Sol
Energy 2004;77:2519.
[13] Asl-Soleimani E, Farhangi S, Zabihi MS. The effect of tilt angle, air pollution on
performance of photovoltaic systems in Tehran. Renew Energy 2001;24:459
68.
[14] Snchez AS, Cohim E, Kalid RA. A review on physicochemical and microbiological contamination of roof-harvested rainwater in urban areas. Sustain
Water Quality Ecol 2015;6:11937.
[15] Rekioua D, Matagne E. Optimization of photovoltaic power systems modelization, simulation and control.London, New York: Springer; 2012.
[16] Mekhilef S, Saidur R, Kamalisarvestani M. Effect of dust, humidity and air
velocity on efciency of photovoltaic cells. Renew Sustain Energy Rev
2012;16:29205.
[17] Jiang H, Lu L, Sun K. Experimental investigation of the impact of airborne dust
deposition on the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. Atmos

1278

F.M. Zaihidee et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 65 (2016) 12671278

Environ 2011;45:4299304.
[18] Arneld AJ. Two decades of urban climate research: a review of turbulence,
exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island. Int J Climatol
2003;23:126.
[19] Mastekbayeva GA, Kumar S. Effect of dust on the transmittance of low density
polyethylene glazing in a tropical climate. Sol Energy 2000;68:13541.
[20] Biryukov S. An experimental study of the dry deposition mechanism for airborne dust. J Aerosol Sci 1998;29:12939.
[21] Elminir HK, Ghitas AE, Hamid RH, El-Hussainy F, Beheary MM, Abdel-Moneim
KM. Effect of dust on the transparent cover of solar collectors. Energy Convers
Manag 2006;47:3192203.
[22] Kaldellis JK, Fragos P. Ash deposition impact on the energy performance of
photovoltaic generators. J Clean Prod 2011;19:3117.
[23] Zakzouk AKM, Electrochem M. On the dust-equivalent series resistance of a
photovoltaic concentrator. In: Proceedings of the IEE I solid-state and electron
devices vol 131; 1984. p. 1720.
[24] El-Shobokshy MS, Hussein FM. Effect of dust with different physical properties
on the performance of photovoltaic cells. Sol Energy 1993;51:50511.
[25] Goossens D, Van Kerschaever E. Aeolian dust deposition on photovoltaic solar
cells: the effects of wind velocity and airborne dust concentration on cell
performance. Sol Energy 1999;66:27789.
[26] Al-Hasan AY. A new correlation for direct beam solar radiation received by
photovoltaic panel with sand dust accumulated on its surface. Sol Energy
1998;63:32333.
[27] Kaldellis JK, Fragos P, Kapsali M. Systematic experimental study of the pollution deposition impact on the energy yield of photovoltaic installations.
Renew Energy 2011;36:271724.
[28] Qasem H, Betts TR, Mullejans H, AlBusairi H, Gottschalg R. Dust effect on PV
modules; 2011.
[29] Beattie NS, Moir RS, Chacko C, Buffoni G, Roberts SH, Pearsall NM. Understanding the effects of sand and dust accumulation on photovoltaic modules.
Renew Energy 2012;48:44852.
[30] Qasem H, Betts TR, Mullejans H, AlBusairi H, Gottschalg R. Effect of dust
shading on photovoltaic modules. In: Proceedings of the 26th European
photovoltaic solar energy conference and exhibition (26th EU PVSEC) 59
September 2011. Hamburg, Germany: WIP; 2011.
[31] Cabanillas RE, Munguia H. Dust accumulation effect on efciency of Si photovoltaic modules. J Renew Sustain Energy 2011;3:043114.
[32] Appels R, Muthirayan B, Beerten A, Paesen R, Driesen J, Poortmans J. The effect
of dust deposition on photovoltaic modules. In: Proceedings of the 38th IEEE
photovoltaic specialists conference (PVSC); 2012. p. 001886001889.
[33] Hegazy AA. Effect of dust accumulation on solar transmittance through glass
covers of plate-type collectors. Renew Energy 2001;22:52540.
[34] El-Shobokshy MS, Hussein FM. Degradation of photovoltaic cell performance
due to dust deposition on to its surface. Renew Energy 1993;3:58590.
[35] Hee JY, Kumar LV, Danner AJ, Yang H, Bhatia CS. The effect of dust on transmission and self-cleaning property of solar panels. Energy Procedia
2012;15:4217.
[36] Zorrilla-Casanova J, Piliougine M, Carretero J, Bernaola P, Carpena P, MoraLpez L, et al. Analysis of dust losses in photovoltaic modules; 2011.
[37] Whelan T. Polymer technology dictionary. New York, United States: Chapman
& Hall; 1993.
[38] Johnson CW, Timmons DL, Hall PE. Essential laboratory mathematics: concepts and applications for the chemical and clinical laboratory technician.
Delmar Learning; 2003.
[39] El-Nashar AM. The effect of dust accumulation on the performance of evacuated tube collectors. Sol Energy 1994;53:10515.
[40] Zang J, Wang Y. Analysis of computation model of particle deposition on
transmittance for photovoltaic panels. Energy Procedia 2011;12:5549.
[41] Mazumder M, Horenstein M, Stark J, Girouard P, Sumner R, Henderson B, et al.
Characterization of electrodynamic screen performance for dust removal from
solar panels and solar hydrogen generators. IEEE industry applications society
annual meeting (IAS); 2011. p. 18.
[42] Thevenard D. Review and recommendations for improving the modelling of
building integrated photovoltaic systems. In: Proceedings of the ninth international Ibpsa conference Montralbuilding simulation; 2005. p. 12211228.
[43] L. Cristaldi L, Faifer M, Rossi M, Catelani M, Ciani L, Dovere E, et al. Economical

[44]
[45]

[46]

[47]

[48]

[49]
[50]
[51]

[52]

[53]

[54]

[55]
[56]

[57]

[58]
[59]

[60]

[61]

[62]
[63]
[64]
[65]

evaluation of PV system losses due to the dust and pollution. In: Proceedings
of the IEEE international instrumentation and measurement technology conference (I2MTC); 2012. p. 614618.
Mukerjee AK, Nivedita T. Photovoltaic systems: analysis and design.New
Delhi: PHI Learning; 2011.
Koirala BP, Sahan B, Henze N. Study on MPP mismatch losses in photovoltaic
applications. In: Proceedings of the 24th European photovoltaic solar energy
conference and exhibition, 2125 September 2009. Hamburg/Germany; 2009.
Herrmann W, Wiesner W, Vaassen W. Hot spot investigations on PV modulesnew concepts for a test standard and consequences for module design with
respect to bypass diodes. In: Proceedings of the twenty-sixth IEEE photovoltaic specialists conference; 1997. p. 11291132.
Qasem H, Betts TR, Gottschalg R. Effect of shading caused by dust on Cadmium
Telluride photovoltaic modules. In: Proceedings of the 37th IEEE photovoltaic
specialists conference (PVSC); 2011. p. 003199003204.
Dorobantu L, Popescu MO, Popescu C, Craciunesc A. The effect of surface
impurities on photovoltaic panels. In: Proceedings of the international conference on renewable energies and power quality (icrepq11). Spain: Las Palmas dE Gran Canaria; 2011.
Luque AL. Handbook of photovoltaic science and engineering.Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley; 2011.
Amin N, Lung CW, Sopian K. A practical eld study of various solar cells on
their performance in Malaysia. Renew Energy 2009;34:193946.
Touati F, Al-Hitmi M, Bouchech H. Towards understanding the effects of climatic and environmental factors on solar PV performance in arid desert regions (Qatar) for various PV technologies. In: Proceedings of the rst international conference on renewable energies and vehicular technology (reveT);
2012. p. 7883.
Kaldellis JK, Kapsali M. Simulating the dust effect on the energy performance
of photovoltaic generators based on experimental measurements. Energy
2011;36:515461.
Kohli R, Mittal KL. Developments in surface contamination and cleaning. Volume three, methods for removal of particle contaminants.Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier; 2011.
Zufall MJ, Davidson CI. Dry deposition of particles. In: Harrison RM, editor.
Atmospheric particles, IUPAC series on analytical and physical chemistry of
environmental systems. Chichester, UK: Wiley; 1998. p. 42573.
Garca M, Marroyo L, Lorenzo E, Prez M. Soiling and other optical losses in
solar-tracking PV plants in navarra. Prog Photovolt: Res Appl 2010;19:2117.
Kimber A, Mitchell L, Nogradi S, Wenger H. The effect of soiling on large gridconnected photovoltaic systems in california and the southwest region of the
United States. In: Proceedings of the 4th IEEE world conference on photovoltaic energy conversion; 2006. p. 23912395.
Hammond R, Srinivasan D, Harris A, Whiteld K, Wohlgemuth J. Effects of
soiling on PV module and radiometer performance. In: Proceedings of the
twenty-sixth IEEE photovoltaic specialists conference; 1997. p. 11211124.
Cuddihy E, Coulbert C, Gupta A, Liang R. Electricity from photovoltaic solar
cells: at-plate solar array project nal report. Modul Encapsul 1986;VII.
Khonkar H, Alyahya A, Aljuwaied M, Halawani M, Al Saferan A, Al-khaldi F,
et al. Importance of cleaning concentrated photovoltaic arrays in a desert
environment. Sol Energy 2014;110:26875.
Goor Bi E, Monette F, Gasperi J. Analysis of the inuence of rainfall variables
on urban efuents concentrations and uxes in wet weather. J Hydrol
2015;523:32032.
Katzan CM, Stidham CR. Lunar dust interactions with photovoltaic arrays. In:
Proceedings of the twenty second IEEE photovoltaic specialists conference vol
2; 1991. p. 15481553.
Bagnold RA. The physics of blown sand and desert dunes.London: Methuen;
1965.
Scheydecker A, Goetzberger A, Wittwer V. Reduction of reection losses of PVmodules by structured surfaces. Sol Energy 1994;53:1716.
He G, Zhou C, Li Z. Review of self-cleaning method for solar cell array. Procedia
Eng 2011;16:6405.
Lamont LA, El Chaar L. Enhancement of a stand-alone photovoltaic system's
performance: Reduction of soft and hard shading. Renew Energy
2011;36:130610.