Multi-criteria decision-making approach for the selection of cleaning method of solar PV panels in United Arab Emirates based on sustainability perspective

Abstract Solar power has become one of the most essential sources in the move to clean energy production. It plays a vital role in providing environmental, social and economic benefits. As a result, the solar panels must be cleaned consistently. There are several cleaning methods, including passive, active and manual cleaning. In this paper, multi-criteria decision-making method Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution is utilized to compare between different cleaning methods and find the optimal cleaning method in Dubai. This approach considers the influential factors and their relative importance of the cleaning methods to prioritize the alternatives. The aim of the work is to consider social, economic and environmental criteria while choosing the appropriate cleaning method for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. The chosen attributes include several important factors, such as initial and running cost, time required for cleaning, safety, energy required, water consumption, environmental impact and economic impact. The data were collected through a survey of solar energy experts in Dubai. Different weighting methods, such as simple additive weighting and multiplicative exponential weighting were used to determine the relative relevance of the criteria. Sensitivity analysis was conducted, and cost attribute was removed. Inter-criteria correlation, entropy and stochastic dominance were calculated, and the results revealed that robot water-based (sprinkler and brush) cleaning method was the most effective option 0.648, 0.753 and 0.707, respectively. Also the sensitivity analysis results confirmed that robot water based is the most preferred cleaning method by experts in Dubai.