1. Ivana Radonjić Mitić, University of Nis, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, , Serbia
Production of safe, reliable, affordable, available, and clean energy is the main goal in the energy sector worldwide.
Air pollution in Eastern Europe and Balkan countries is typically higher compared to Western Europe, mainly because of wide use of fossil fuels power plants, solid fuel heating and cooking, and fewer air pollution reduction policies. Also, fuel crisis and electricity prices rise have additionally highlighted renewable energy sources utilization. Among them, photovoltaic (PV) technologies represent a good solution not only due to production of clean energy, but also due to providing self-production and self-consumption, and lower dependence on the electrical grid.
Factors that can cause unfavorable effects on the PV modules’ performances, like soiling, are being increasingly examined. PV modules soiling represents the degree of modules surface dirtiness, i.e., the accumulation of contaminants (particles) either from mineral or organic origin on PV modules surfaces. Soiling reduces solar radiation intensity reaching solar cells and decreases solar radiation transmittance through the PV modules front cover, causing a reduction of the PV modules output.
PV modules soiling is geographical and time-dependent. Adjacent locations can have various PV modules soiling because specific places have particular anthropogenic particle sources (factories, fossil fuels power plants, heating plants, roads, airports, etc). Local soiling accumulation may show seasonal variances, mainly due to precipitation differences. Some locations in the world have consistent soiling throughout the year, but some of them have seasonal differences in PV modules soiling.
Rooftop and building integrated PV systems in urban areas are affected by soiling mostly initiated by the vicinity of streets with frequent traffic, factories, fossil fuels power plants, etc, and during heating season additionally by the utilization of heating plants, boiler rooms and individual residential heating systems usually using fossil fuels.
PV modules in Serbia are mainly cleaned by precipitation and wind, but sometimes they are not enough to reach PV modules efficiency specified by manufacturers, especially in the cases of vicinity of anthropogenic particle emission sources (e.g., close to the chimneys). PV modules soiling research was conducted at the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics in Niš. Throughout the three heating seasons in Niš, PV modules power decrease for horizontally installed module was in the interval 7.2-87.2%, and for optimally inclined module in the interval 7.2-30.6%, thus it was concluded that PV modules soiling cannot be neglected.
In order to achieve as low as possible PV modules soiling and to avoid cleaning, it is important to consider PV modules positioning before their installation, and to encourage further design and production innovations of PV integrated systems and PV modules.
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Thematic field:
SIMPOZIJUM A - Nauka materije, kondenzovane materije i fizika čvrstog stanja
Date:
05.07.2023.
Contemporary Materials 2023 - Savremeni materijali
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