Influence of Dust Deposition on the Electrical Parameters of Silicon-Based Solar Panels Installed in Senegal (Dakar Region) ()
Affiliation(s)
1Groupe des Laboratoires de Physique des Solides des Sciences des Matériaux (GLPSSM), Département de Physique, Faculté des
Sciences et Techniques (FST), Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Sénégal.
2Laboratory of Semiconductor and Solar Energy, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Techniques, University Cheikh
Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, photovoltaic (PV) modules are widely used in many
applications around the world. However, this renewable energy is plagued by
dust, airborne particles, humidity, and high ambient temperatures. This paper studies the effect of dust
soiling on silicon-based photovoltaic panel performance in a mini-solar power
plant located in Dakar (Senegal, 14°42'N latitude, 17°28'W longitude). Results
of the current-voltage
(I - V) characteristics of photovoltaic panels tested under real conditions. We
modeled a silicon-based PV cell in a dusty environment as a stack of thin
layers of dust, glass and silicon. The silicon layer is modeled as a P-N junction. The study performed under
standard laboratory conditions with input data of irradiation at 1000 W/m2,
cell temperature at 25°C and solar spectrum with Air Mass (AM) at 1.5 for the
monocrystalline silicon PV cell (m-Si). The analysis with an ellipsometer of
dust samples collected on photovoltaic panels allowed to obtain the refraction
indices (real and imaginary) of these particles which will complete the input
parameters of the model. Results show that for a photon flux arriving on dust
layer of 70 μm (corresponding to dust deposit of 3.3 g/m2) deposited
on silicon-based PV cells, short
circuit current decreases from 54 mA (for a clean cell) to 26 mA. Also,
conversion efficiency decreases by 50% compared to clean cell and the cell fill factor decreases by 76%
- 50% compared to reference PV cell.
Share and Cite:
Diop, D. , Diagne, M. , Sambou, A. , Djicoly Bassene, P. , Abdoul Aziz Niang, S. and Sarr, A. (2021) Influence of Dust Deposition on the Electrical Parameters of Silicon-Based Solar Panels Installed in Senegal (Dakar Region).
Energy and Power Engineering,
13, 174-189. doi:
10.4236/epe.2021.135012.