Performance enhancing and improvement studies in a 600 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant; manual and natural cleaning, rainwater harvesting and the snow load removal on the PV arrays

This study aims to analyze many efficiency-enhancing and improvement activities such as manual and natural cleaning, a PV power plant type rainwater harvesting system, thermal monitoring, and snow load removal in a 600 kW grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power plant. The study shows that up to 5.66% power reduction can occur for PV modules that have been dirty for close to one year. It was determined that the dust removal effect of the rain was up to 0.94%. This study showed that the potential for collecting rainwater from a small part of the PV plant is approximately 118 m3/year and that the harvesting system will reach 1646 m3/year when applied to the whole plant. A snow load of 0.117 kN per m2 was removed. On the basis of three days, 50–75% higher energy production was achieved compared to the other power plant with snow load. Snow removal on PV arrays both prevented PV degradation and resulted in increased power generation, while panel cleaning improved energy efficiency. This study an innovative approach with rainwater harvesting from solar power plants with large surface area for the use in panel cleaning and agriculture of the obtained water, which is a novel idea in increasing the efficiency of the power plants, combating climate change and drought.