TITLE:
Closer Approximation to Optimize Solar Panels Performance with Cleaning Cycle: A Follow-Up
AUTHORS:
Rijan Karkee, Sumit Khadka
KEYWORDS:
Dust Accumulation, Optimal and Critical Number of Days for Cleaning Cycles, Payback Period, Self-Cleaning System
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Energy Efficiency,
Vol.8 No.4,
November
26,
2019
ABSTRACT: The performance of solar panels significantly degrades due to dust accumulation but cleaning too frequently will severely impact the financial benefits of the installation of solar panels. This paper assumes a realistic linear model for accumulation of dust on the solar panels and the resulting hourly average of absolute loss of efficiency in solar panels. This model accurately depicts the fact that energy production by solar panels occurs during sunshine hours only and also accounts for the degradation in the efficiency of solar panels due to dust accumulation throughout the entire day. Based on this, the optimal number of days for maximum financial profit and the critical number of days (above which there is no profit in installing solar panels) have been estimated. Furthermore, we have suggested a formalism to help estimate the finances for self-cleaning technology for PV system and also for calculating the minimum payback period for installing solar panels with the financial cost of the cleaning cycles properly considered. This research could be motivation for companies in developing self-cleaning mechanism for PV system.