Performance evaluation of solar panels under different dust accumulation conditions using thermography: focusing on PV temperature variation

Abstract Degradation performance of photovoltaic modules (SPV) by real conditions has become increasingly problematic. In dusty areas, dust accumulation is one of the main concerns that may cause a significant determination of SPV efficiency. In the current study, the effect of four dust-accumulated densities of 6, 12, 18, and 24 g/m2 have been investigated in outdoor conditions in Cairo, Egypt. The performance evaluation of SPV modules in the form of front and backside temperatures of the SPV module has been evaluated in addition to current, voltage, power, and efficiency of the SPV modules. The results showed that, as compared with a clean SPV module, with increasing dust density from 6 to 24 g/m2 the frontside temperature of SPV modules were lower by 6–8 ℃. While their backside temperatures were found to be higher by 2–6 ℃. In addition, the difference between the backside and frontside temperatures of the SPV module ranged from 5 to 14 ℃ for dust modules as compared with 3 ℃ for the clean SPV module. The output power and efficiency of dusty SPV modules were found to be lower by 6–45% and 13–38%, respectively as compared with clean SPV module. The results clearly showed the importance of properly maintaining and servicing the SPV modules to avoid their degradation by dust accumulated.