The Effect of Soiling on Large Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems in California and the Southwest Region of the United States

Author

Kimber, A. ; Mitchell, L. ; Nogradi, S. ; Wenger, H.

Author_Institution

PowerLight Corp., Berkeley, CA

Volume

2

fYear

2006

fDate

38838

Firstpage

2391

Lastpage

2395

Abstract

The accumulation of dirt on solar panels ("soiling") can have a significant impact on the performance of PV systems in regions where rainfall is limited for a dry season of several months. This effect is magnified where rainfall is absent in the peak-solar summer months, such as in California and the Southwest region of the United States. This paper describes the effects of soiling on energy production for large grid-connected systems in the US and presents a model for predicting soiling losses

Keywords

contamination; environmental factors; losses; photovoltaic power systems; California; PV systems performance; United States Southwest region; dirt accumulation; energy production; large grid-connected photovoltaic systems; rainfall; soiling effects; soiling loss prediction model; solar panels; Linear approximation; Performance loss; Photovoltaic systems; Power system modeling; Predictive models; Production systems; Rain; Soil measurements; System performance; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Conference Record of the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on

Conference_Location

Waikoloa, HI

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0017-1

Electronic_ISBN

1-4244-0017-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/WCPEC.2006.279690

Filename

4060159