Characterization of photovoltaic panels: The effects of dust

The renewable energy industry has been growing remarkably in the last years and the Fukushima event has given a further incentive. In this context, solar radiation represents one of the most accessible and clean energy resources. For this reason the number and size of the photovoltaic (PV) systems is growing and consequently the amount of the investments and the related opportunities and risks are increasing. Therefore, the optimization of electrical performances of PV plants and the assessment of their quality and reliability are important for both the investors and the manufacturers. In a previous work some aspects, fundamental for the efficiency evaluation of PV panels, have been considered with particular attention to the presence of pollution and dust on the panel surface. On the basis of the results so obtained, an experimental activity based on the electrical characterization of some PV modules in presence of powder is proposed in this paper as evolution. The results, in terms of power analysis, were analyzed by means of a statistical approach in order to identify the behavior of PV modules, with a given confidence interval. The final aim is to use a PV panel as “reference panel” in order to monitor the operating condition of a more complex PV plant.