A study of the soiling patterns of CSP mirrors

The accumulation of dust on the surface of the solar reflectors is threatening to decrease the planned energy output of the concentrated solar power (CSP) plants deployed in the MENA region. This paper investigates the soiling behavior of CSP aluminum mirrors exposed under natural environment, from 26-06-2014 to 29-12-2014 in southwest Morocco, with the reflectance of the exposed mirrors being measured twice per week. In this paper, the measured reflectance data are modeled using locally weighted regression to capture the changes in reflectance over time.