Dust Storm Effect on Power Generation of PV System: A Case Study in Shiraz/Iran

This paper presents an experimental study of dust storm effect on the photovoltaic system performance for various tilt angles in Shiraz/Iran. Eight PV modules were installed on the roof of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, at 0°,15°, 30° and 45° with an azimuth angle of 0°. In each tilt angle, two PV modules were installed in order to compare the performances of the cleaned and dusty modules. Since the dust storm in Shiraz has happened in mid-May of 2018, results of the experiment are presented for the month of May. The results showed that the amount of dust deposited on PV modules surfaces after a dust storm stronglydepends on the modules tilt angle such that, with increasing tilt angle the amount of dust accumulated decreases. Optimum tilt angle, based on the maximum generated electrical energy, found to be 0° for the clean modules and 30° for the dusty modules between the four experimented tilt angles. The great difference in the optimal mode of the clean and dusty modules is due to the high amountof dust deposited on the horizontal module’s surface, after the dust storm. Dust storm has reduced the daily average energy generated of PV modules at tilt angles of 0°, 15°, 30° and 45° by 58.2%, 27.8%, 21.7% and 20.7%, respectively.

Keywords:

Dust storm , Photovoltaic , Output power , Performance , Tilt angle