Modeling the Effect of Dust and Wind Speed on Solar Panel Performance in Iraq

Dust accumulation on a PV panel surface can considerably lead to photovoltaic energy degradation. A particle-based dust accumulation model was proposed to estimate the surface dust coverage fraction on a PV panel. The model determines the effect of the surface dust coverage fraction on the performance of the PV panel. Gravity, wind, and particle-surface interaction forces were resolved to their components, and force balance was established to determine surface-parallel (slipping force) and surface-orthogonal (adhering force) component forces. The proposed model was validated through a schedule of lab and field experiments and by comparing the predicted values with the results of a validated model developed by Lu and Hajimirza. The relationship between a solar panel’s output power and the surface dust coverage fraction under the wind effect was established for three types of dust (graphene, silica, and natural dust) using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Statistical analysis was applied to determine the most and least influencing variables on the output power of three types of solar panels (mono-crystalline, polycrystalline, and thin-film PV panels) exposed to dust accumulation. The obtained results show that dust particle size, wind velocity, and PV panel tilt angle play important roles in enhancing or degrading PV performance. Lower values of the tilt angle resulted in maximum output power, while high values of the tilt angle reduced the incident sunlight on the surface of the PV panel, resulting in lower output power. However, higher values of the tilt angle led to a lower dust coverage area of the PV panel and consequently decreased the power losses of the PV panel. The results also show that wind velocity has a considerable impact on the dust scraping of fine particles from a PV surface. The enhancement percentages of PV performance due to wind influence are 4.85%, 5.85%, and 10.9% for graphene, silica, and natural dust, respectively.