Dust deposition on the photovoltaic panel: A comprehensive survey on mechanisms, effects, mathematical modeling, cleaning methods, and monitoring systems

Photovoltaic (PV) power generation has become one of the key technologies to reach energy-saving and carbon reduction targets. However, dust accumulation will significantly affect the electrical, optical, and thermal performance of PV panels and cause some energy loss. For this reason, appropriate cleaning measures are needed to restore their performance and power output. Many researchers have reviewed the effects of dust on the performance of PV panels and cleaning methods, but their coverage is narrow and lacks more in-depth summarization, comparison, and critique of key quantitative results. Using the Web of Science database as the main search source, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of research results on the mechanisms and influencing factors of dust deposition on photovoltaic panels, photovoltaic performance loss and prediction models, cleaning methods, and dirt monitoring systems. The results found that the module power output degradation due to dust deposition is more serious in different regions, ranging from 7% to 98.13%. The automatic cleaning robot, as an emerging intelligent technology, has a better cleaning effect and can increase PV efficiency by up to 49.53%. This paper also proposes a comprehensive strategy for dust prevention on PV panels that integrates "real-time monitoring of dust accumulation - model prediction of losses - and optimization of cleaning solutions", emphasises the development of new intelligent cleaning methods represented by robots and drone cleaning, and suggests promoting the application of AI in the monitoring and cleaning of PV modules to accelerate the process of achieving carbon neutrality.