The impact of air pollutant deposition on solar energy system efficiency: An approach to estimate PV soiling effects with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model

The Science of the Total Environment
Luxi ZhouBanglin Zhang

Abstract

Deposition and accumulation of aerosol particles on photovoltaics (PV) panels, which is commonly referred to as "soiling of PV panels," impacts the performance of the PV energy system. It is desirable to estimate the soiling effect at different locations and times for modeling the PV system performance and devising cost-effective mitigation. This study presents an approach to estimate the soiling effect by utilizing particulate matter (PM) dry deposition estimates from air quality model simulations. The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system used in this study was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) for air quality assessments, rule-making, and research. Three deposition estimates based on different surface roughness length parameters assumed in CMAQ were used to illustrate the soling effect in different land-use types. The results were analyzed for three locations in the U.S. for year 2011. One urban and one suburban location in Colorado were selected because there have been field measurements of particle deposition on solar panels and analysis on the consequent soiling effect performed at these locations. The third location is a coastal city in Texas, the City of Brownsville. Thes...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 20, 2019·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Xiao GongRuitao Yang
Sep 14, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Malek Kamal Hussien RabaiaA G Olabi
Mar 3, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Michael C WolffeKirsti Ashworth
Mar 23, 2021·Environmental Research Letters : ERL [Web Site]·Shannon N KoplitzTamara A Newcomer-Johnson

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