Investigation of performance degradation by airborne dust particles accumulated on photovoltaic modules in Bangladesh

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Rashed Alam, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3850574/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Airborne dust accumulation on open-air photovoltaic modules reduces the transparency of solar cell glazing in dry weather and results in a considerable lessening of the photovoltaic module's capacity to transform sunlight into electricity. This experiment studied how airborne dust on a solar PV module affects open circuit voltage, short circuit current, maximum power, Fill Factor, and module efficiency at different times of the year. The dust accumulation occurs naturally outdoors, and all the parameters are measured in an indoor setup at 25°C and 1000 W/m 2 irradiance from June to November 2015 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The highest dust deposition density is 23.76 gm/cm 3 obtained in November and the measured efficiency loss is above 27% for that day depending on the weather conditions and dust accumulation. From the I-V curve analysis, the obtained curve is nearly identical for clean and dusty photovoltaic panels. Dusty panel curves capture a smaller area, reducing energy production. The current reduces significantly for the dusty module, resulting in a power output of 172–232 W compared to 235–238 W for the clean module. The obtained results elaborately demonstrate how dust accumulation significantly reduces the efficiency of solar cells. Dust accumulation Solar cell glazing Seasonal analysis Efficiency loss Energy output Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 1. Introduction During recent decades, the use of renewable energy has grown in popularity as a consequence of the increasing paucity of fossil fuels. Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the usage of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology due to its longevity, efficiency, and cleanliness(Pan et al. 2019 ; Mustafa et al. 2020 ). Load shedding has been a typical occurrence in urban areas due to the rising electricity demand, particularly for industrial growth, construction, and office and home purposes. The supply and power generation are under great pressure as a result. Due to the rapidly increasing cost of power, large-scale and household PV systems might be installed and operated for minimal investment. On the contrary, in areas with strong irradiation, such as the solar belt region, the cost of PV systems has significantly decreased, making it possible for them to compete with power costs both locally and nationally. The PV module is subject to a range of environmental conditions including temperature, dust, humidity, shade, wind velocity, hail, snow, fog, and so on. These variables exacerbate the already low conversion efficiency caused by the intrinsic properties of the semiconductor materials utilized in the technology, leading to a further fall in its efficiency(Tan and Kian Seng 2012 ). Airborne dust particles deposited on solar PV panels can significantly decrease the spectral transmittance of the shielding glass, leading to a substantial reduction in PV output efficiency(Pan et al. 2019 ; Carol et al. 2021 ). Dust collection adversely affects the efficiency of PV modules by increasing the conversion of light energy into heat, resulting in elevated cell temperatures that propagate throughout the PV surface. The negative temperature coefficient(Zdravkovic et al. 2009 ) of PV cells makes this undesirable for achieving optimal performance. Considering that dust accumulation is a complex event and is influenced by several site-specific environmental and meteorological variables, current research into defining dust deposition and its influence on the performance of PV systems is limited(Andrea et al. 2019 ). Multiple studies have examined the impact of dust accumulation on the efficiency of PV systems. The results indicate that the weather conditions at the location have the most significant impact on the rate at which dust accumulates. Based on a 2011 study conducted in Málaga, Spain(Zorrilla-Casanova et al. 2011 ), it was shown that the decline in PV performance can reach up to 20% over long periods of dry weather. The average energy loss from a PV module due to dust impact is approximately 4%. In 2018, Gholami et al.(Gholami et al. 2018 ) experimented the impact of dust following 70 days without rainfall. The main finding revealed that during the trial, the dust surface density increased to 6.0986 gm/m 2 , leading to a drop in power generation of 21.47%. Furthermore, a study carried out in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, revealed that PV modules might undergo a power degradation of around 50% after six months without cleaning(Adinoyi and Said 2013 ). The largest daily efficiency loss measured by Klugmann-Radziemska in Gdask, Poland which is a clean zone region was about 0.8%(Klugmann-Radziemska 2015 ). Even there are some studies on dust particle size such as Lu et al.(Lu and Zhao 2018 ) has explored how particle sizes and tilt angles affect a PV system's dust accumulation. The 150 µm dust particles had the highest observed deposition rate and the deposition rate at a tilt angle of 155° is 9.78%. Y. Andreaet al. examined the influence of industrial dust collection on the performance of photovoltaic modules in 2018(Andrea et al. 2019 ). Ghazi et al.(Ghazi and Ip 2014 ) conducted a numerical simulations of dust accumulation for PV performance analysis. The team used a three-perspective paradigm to examine how the execution of PV systems is impacted by dust and other solid particle accumulations. This approach examined the impact of climate situation on the performance of two singular PV plants using simulation, experimental verification, and data analysis. Consequently, there are few studies which focus on coating materials with self-cleaning properties which helps to reduce PV performance degradations(Jesus et al. 2018 ; Pan et al. 2019 ). The objective of this study is to assess the influence of dust accumulation on the efficiency of solar PV modules in Bangladesh. This will be achieved by analyzing different PV properties obtained through the use of a sun simulator. The variance that may be perceived in the sunlight is overcome using a spotlight to create a constant light radiation state. The effectiveness of cleaning on panel surface structures, however, to prevent the influence of dust accumulation, has never been examined by prior investigations. This research will demonstrate the precise and numerical impact of each aspect on PV efficiency. The findings of this study, which incorporate several contributing factors into a single study, may inspire further research. This provides a more complete and well-rounded understanding of the PV performance while easing the load and laborious job of having to review multiple literature and distinct research relevant to a PV system’s variables, which hamper its overall performance. Lack of comprehension of the dust accumulation effect will lead to inappropriate maintenance of solar PV systems and thrashing of considerable energy. 2. Experimental 2.1. Methodology Several types of PV modules react to the effects of dust in different ways since a PV module's spectral response depends on its technology(Tanesab et al. 2019 ). However, to investigate the effect of dust amassing on the panel performance, a 240 W c-Si PV panel is installed near the weather monitoring station directing towards south and horizontally angled at 47°. The average solar radiation on this panel is also recorded for the time being. The panel was left to the environment to accumulate dust naturally. The panel is then placed inside the dark room with a sun simulator and data is collected. The electrical responses i.e., output power (P mp ), short circuit current (I sc ), maximum voltage (V mp ), open circuit voltage (V oc ) etc. of the panel are measured with the accumulated airborne dust particles on the panel surface. Another dataset is collected for cleaned module on the same day. This process is continued with a regular interval for 6 months (June -November). The two sets of data are compared to determine how well the PV panel performed in two different operating environments, a clean environment and a dusty environment though other climate conditions cannot be overlooked for the time being. Figure 1 (a) shows the Bosch Solar Module c-Si M 60 and Fig. 1 (b) module schematic diagram of the experimental set up that is used to measure the electrical response of the photovoltaic panel. 2.2. PV Module The experimental setup was located at the laboratory of the Institute of Energy Research and Development (IERD) of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) in Dhaka, Bangladesh (23°45′50″N 90°23′20″E). The system consists of a single PV module. The parameters of the photovoltaic modules utilized in the experimentation are presented in Table 1 . Table 1 Specifications of PV modules under Standard Test Conditions (STC)-1000 W/m 2 , 25° C, AM1.5. Bosch Solar Module c-Si M 60 Power Class 240 W p Power Sorting -0/+4.99 W p Maximum system voltage 1000 V Short circuit current (I sc ) 8.60 A Open circuit voltage (V oc ) 37.40 V Current at MPP (I mp ) 8.10 A Voltage at MPP (V mp ) 30.00 V Module efficiency 16 Dimensions 166×109×5 cm 2.3. Weather Parameter: Solar Insolation From June to November 2015, the PV modules daily total in-plane solar insolation in Dhaka, Bangladesh is recorded and displayed in Fig. 2 . Over the test period, there are variations in the daily average total solar insolation. These readings ranged from 4.88 kWh/m 2 at the highest, to 0.16 kWh/m 2 at the lowest, and an average of 3.49 kWh/m 2 , indicating that our site has optimum solar potential. 3. Result and Discussion 3.1. Open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current Dust accumulation on a solar panel can significantly reduce its power output by affecting two key parameters: the short-circuit current (I sc ), and the open-circuit voltage (V oc ). The I sc refers to the highest amount of electric current that a solar panel may generate when its output terminals are connected directly without any resistance. Accumulation of dust on the solar panel's surface can diminish the amount of light reaching the solar cells, thereby decreasing the output current. Figure 3 illustrates the fluctuation of I sc and V oc for a single panel throughout a specified time frame. The I sc of the cleaned panel appears to remain constant over the given period. The I sc for the clean panel has a minor variation, primarily caused by the ambient temperature, which remains near to the typical I sc value of 8.60 A mentioned in Table 1 . Nevertheless, a significant decrease is evident (as low as 6.3 A) in the I sc of the dirty panel, clearly demonstrating the impact of collected dust on its performance(Tripathi et al. 2017 ). Accumulation of dust on the PV panel's surface can elevate its temperature, hence decreasing the output current as a result of the solar cell's temperature coefficient. Moreover, the V oc represents the highest voltage a solar panel can generate in the absence of any connected load. Dust accumulation reduces the output voltage which is represented in Fig. 3 . The reduction of open circuit voltage is insignificant(Jiang et al. 2011 ) comparing I sc as it varies from 34–36 V (Standard V oc = 37.40 V). The dusty panel's transparency has undergone a significant alteration, which demonstrates the impact of collected dust on it as all other parameters are same. In general, the buildup of dust on a solar panel can diminish both V oc and I sc , resulting in a decrease in the total power generated by the solar panel. Hence, it is crucial to often cleanse the solar panels in order to guarantee optimal performance. 3.2. Maximum Power and Fill Factor The buildup of dust on a solar panel's surface can notably decrease both its maximum power (P mp ) and Fill Factor (FF). This occurs because dust acts as a hindrance to sunlight, reducing the amount of light reaching the solar cells and subsequently diminishing the panel's power output. Figure 4 visually depicts the impact of dust accumulation on both P mp and FF in clean and dusty solar modules. Clearly, the clean panel exhibits a higher P mp compared to its dusty counterpart(Darwish et al. 2018 ), as shown in Fig. 4 . Moreover, there is a drastic fall of P mp of dusty panel from June to November which is obviously proportionate to the I sc illustrated in Fig. 3 (Hussain et al. 2017 ). The effect of dust on P mp is reliant on the thickness and composition of the dust layer, as well as the wavelength of the incident light. Generally, a thicker dust layer will absorb more light and reduce the panel's P mp more than a thinner layer. Additionally, different types of dust may have different absorption spectra, which can affect the amount of light absorbed and the resulting decrease in P mp . It is illustrated by Fig. 4 that the value of P mp varies around 235–238 W for clean module. However, a drastic change is observed in the value of P mp around 172–232 W for the same module when it is dusty. The buildup of dust can also influence the FF of a solar panel, indicating how efficiently the panel transforms light into electrical power. Figure 4 illustrates the impact of dust on the FF of the solar module. Dust can increase the series resistance of the panel, misbalancing the FF from standard value. This is because the dust layer can create a barrier between the solar cells and the electrical contacts, leading to a decrease in current flow. When addressing the Shockley-Queisser (S-Q) limit, the shift in FF can be explained(Sharmin et al. 2022 ). Now, power conversion efficiency, η is determined as PCE, η = \(\frac{FF {V}_{oc} {J}_{sc}}{{P}_{in}}\) (1) where P in is the input solar power. The highest conversion efficiency in c-Si solar cells is constrained according to detailed photon balancing computations(Ki and Hillhouse 2011 ). The FF generated from the software must be changed as a compromise to maintain the maximum Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) contained by the theoretically determined S-Q limit as both V oc and I sc are changed with dust accumulation illustrated in Fig. 3 . In this study the FF has varied from 73–74% for clean module whereas the value has varied from around 72–76% to maintain S-Q limit depending on other electrical parameters of the module. 3.3. Cell and Module power conversion efficiency, η The efficiency of both solar cells and modules is significantly affected by the accumulation of dust on their surfaces. When dust particles settle on the solar panel, they act as barriers to incoming sunlight, diminishing the amount of light that reaches the solar cell. Consequently, this reduction in sunlight intake leads to a decrease in the electricity generated by the solar panel. Theoretically, the power conversion efficiency or PCE (η) of the solar panel is also determined by following equation(Rahman et al. 2012 ) PCE, η = \(\frac{Vp Ip}{Ps A}100\%\) (2) Where P s is the power of the incident sun radiation (W/m 2 ), V P is the generated voltage, A is the exposure region of the solar cell, and I p is the electrical current produced by the solar PV panel. However, it should be emphasized that Eq. (1) is meant to be used under typical test conditions, i.e., at a temperature of 25°C under an irradiance of 1000 W/m 2 with an air mass 1.5 (AM1.5) spectrum. Due to the sun simulator being set to such value, the required irradiance for the current work is achieved. Also, the software immediately supplied the efficiency computation as a comparison tool for the various solar panel surface conditions. Figure 5 describes the variation of PCE for both cell and module caused by dust accumulation. As the panel’s temperature was changed due to dust accumulation, a drastic change is observed in cell and module efficiency for dusty panel. However, it shows almost steady pattern of PCE for clean panel(Carol et al. 2021 ). The performance efficiency loss (η loss ) of the PV system can be calculated from the individual module efficiency as (Andrea et al. 2019 ) following and is depicted in Fig. 6 . η loss = \(\frac{ \text{c}\text{l}\text{e}\text{a}\text{n}- \text{d}\text{u}\text{s}\text{t}\text{y} }{ \text{c}\text{l}\text{e}\text{a}\text{n}}\) × 100 (3) The accumulation of dust can also lead to a rise in temperature on the solar panel's surface. This is attributed to the insulating properties of dust, forming a layer that traps heat and diminishes the cooling impact of the surrounding air. Figure 6 depicts the efficiency loss for cell and module which has reached as high as about 27% of maximum of module efficiency. It is worth mentioning that this loss is a combined effect of other attributes like local climate condition and meteorological factors, types, and amount of dust. High temperatures can cause the solar cell's performance to degrade over time, consequentially in a decline in overall efficiency which is discussed vividly in next section. The effect of dust deposition on the efficiency of solar modules is evident. Nevertheless, discrepancies in geographical placement and the dust's composition can result in varying levels of decline in the efficiency of the PV modules, leading to swings across different locations(Kaldellis and Kapsali 2011 )(Styszko et al. 2019 ). 3.4. Ambient temp of cell and module The influence of dust buildup on the surrounding temperature of the solar panel is relatively insignificant. The elevated temperature of the panel may cause a modest increase in the surrounding air temperature, although this impact is typically limited to the local area around the panel and is not significant. However, the temperature(Andrea et al. 2019 ) of the PV cell, which is reliant on meteorological factors such as the ambient temperature, solar irradiation(Tossa et al. 2016 ), the cell material, and the absorption of the module encapsulation etc., has a momentous impact on the PV cell's performance(Said et al. 2018 ). Nevertheless, the manufacturers' predictions of temperature coefficient and PV performance may not always match the actual performance of the modules. The magnitude of the impact of dust accumulation on solar panel efficiency will vary based on several factors, including the quantity of dust accumulation, the nature of the dust, and the local climate conditions(Mustafa et al. 2020 ). Regions experiencing elevated dust levels or frequent dust storms may require regular cleaning of solar panels to uphold their efficiency. The study applied the findings from Jiang et al.(Jiang et al. 2011 ), establishing a connection between dust deposition density and solar PV efficiency output(Pan et al. 2019 ), to examine the influence of dust accumulation on solar PV output efficiency In areas with high levels of dust or where there are frequent dust storms, regular cleaning of solar panels may be necessary to maintain their efficiency as follows- $${\rho }_{dep}=\kappa \frac{{\eta }_{red}}{{\eta }_{clean}}$$ 4 Here, η clean is the clean panel's efficiency. After dust deposition, PV efficiency is reduced. The reduction in efficiency is denoted as \(\eta\) red . For the mono-crystalline silicon PV module, κ is a constant, and ρ dep is the dust deposition density. Figure 6 shows the plot of ambient temperature and dust deposition density, ρ dep over the experimental period. Seasonal changes have a wide range of distinctive effects on dust control. Acknowledging dust and its causes as a natural occurrence is crucial to the adoption of various strategies to reduce dust, which varies from place to region. It has been demonstrated that regional differences in the seasons have an impact on how much dust is produced in the summer, winter, autumn, and spring. The density of dust deposition seems to be high in winter as more pollution is trapped in the drier and colder air. The density of dust deposition starts rising from September in this region which is visible in Fig. 7 . The efficiency and output power of the module demonstrate a gradual increase in percentage reduction(Carol et al. 2021 ) from September to November, as depicted in Figs. 4 and 5 . Additionally, the highest range of dust density is estimated in November, ranging from 19.93 to 23.76 gm/m 3 . Correspondingly, the efficiency loss varies around 22–27%, as indicated in Fig. 6 . It is further evident from Fig. 7 that there is a decreasing tendency of varying ambient temperature as the season turns from summer to winter by this time. Consequently, density of deposited dust, ρ dep has shown increasing tendency for the time which results lowering cell efficiency confirmed by Fig. 5 . With dust accumulation, as the amount of sunlight reaching the panel decreases, less energy is converted from the sun's rays into electrical energy. This can cause the temperature of the panel to rise, as less energy is being converted into electricity and more energy is being converted into heat. The band gap of the cells often narrows as module temperature rises, allowing for the absorption of photons with longer wavelengths and generally extending the lifespan of the minority carrier. These factors result in a marginal rise in the current produced by light (I sc ), but they also cause a decline in the voltage when the circuit is open (V oc ), thereby diminishing the fill factor of the cell. The overall power of the module and, consequently, its efficiency are determined by the fill factor(Meyer and Van Dyk 2004 ). Therefore, dust accumulation on solar panels can lead to a decrease in their efficiency by increasing their temperature. However, dust particle deposition on the front surface of the photovoltaic panel is a complicated phenomenon that is impacted by various factors, including all-weather characteristics, and is not linearly reliant upon the length of exposure to environment. Generally dust deposition on the surface starts out more quickly and subsequently slows down(Gholami et al. 2018 ). To shorten the experimental duration, a condition with a significantly greater dust content was adopted in the study led by A. Pan et al.(Pan et al. 2019 ). Conversely, the empirical model formulated by Jiang (Jiang et al. 2011 ) establishes a linear correlation between the reduction in solar PV efficiency and the density of dust deposition. While this may hold true in the short term, its applicability in the long run is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, given the interdependence of dust deposition, air velocity, and humidity, a comprehensive analysis of these crucial variables is imperative to thoroughly assess particle accumulation(Jaszczur et al. 2020 )(Said et al. 2018 ). As a result, routine cleaning and maintenance of solar panels can mitigate the adverse effects of dust accumulation on ambient temperature and preserve their efficiency. 3.5. I-V characteristics curve Figure 7 is the current-voltage or I-V curves for the PV panel for clean and dusty conditions. In general, it is shown that the current-voltage trend is similar to that of normal clean solar panels. Because of how closely these two conditions' curves resemble one another, there is a obvious difference among them. There is a noticeable change in the curve area for clean and dusty panel’s I-V curve. Consequently, change in curve area would be more prominent when the experiment is carried out in the field at various irradiation reported by Shaharin A. Sulaiman et al(Shaharin A. Sulaiman 2011 ). The cause of this was most likely the build-up of dust, which effectively blocked the light from reaching the surface of the solar PV panel. The graphs indicate that the most efficient power generation happens when the solar panel is clean and free from any dust or plastic covering. The area under the curve represents the electrical power output of the solar PV system. The existence of dust leads to a decrease in this region, signifying a decline in the quantity of energy produced. The peak power, typically shown by the apex of the curve, also exhibits a diminishing pattern as a result of the impact of dust(Carol et al. 2021 )(Andrea et al. 2019 ). In both clean and dusty panels, the circuit voltage remains relatively constant, with a negligible drop of less than 1% attributed to dust. However, the current of the dusty cells experiences a notable decrease, leading to a significant decline in power production. The reduction in the transmission coefficient of the front glass, caused by dust accumulation, is accountable for the decrease in both circuit current and output power(Gholami et al. 2018 ). The peak power, which is typically denoted by the point at the top of the curve, has the same tendency of decline driven on by dust. Here, another factor that also aids to decrease the curve area from June to November is all other environmental factors like irradiance, temperature etc. 4. Conclusion The study has proposed several methods for assessing and quantifying the influence of dust on solar modules, extensively examining the energy losses caused by accumulated dust on module surfaces. A noticeable shift is evident in the I sc value, resulting in a significantly lower P mp for dusty panels compared to clean conditions. The highest efficiency is observed in September for clean panels at 15.89%, while the lowest is in November for dusty panels at 11.82%. Furthermore, power loss is more pronounced in dry conditions, with up to a 22–27% loss in module efficiency in the specific region, posing a significant concern. Nevertheless, under higher irradiation, the impact of dust is diminished, though it is still present. The use of specific coatings can substantially reduce the density of dust accumulating on the glass surface. Cooling PV panel surfaces with water proves to be an effective method for increasing energy production, especially on sunny days when the sunlight is more directly incident on the solar panel. Additionally, regular cleaning and maintenance of solar panels can mitigate the impact of dust accumulation on efficiency, ensuring sustained electricity generation at maximum efficiency, albeit with an increase in maintenance expenses. Declarations Acknowledgment Due appreciation is credited to the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for substantial support through the R&D Program. Data Availability The dataset generated during analysis for current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Ethical Approval Not applicable. Consent to Participate All authors have confirmed their participation. Consent to Publish All authors agree to publication. Authors Contributions AS- formal analysis, investigation, methodology, visualization, writing – original draft; SA- investigation, methodology; MS- Investigation, visualization; MRA- Investigation, visualization; and MSB- conceptualization, supervision, resources, investigation, project administration. Funding This work is supported by Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, through the research and development project grant scheme (ref: 39.02.0000.011.14.134.2021.388; dt: 21-09-2021). Competing Interests On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest. References Adinoyi MJ, Said SAM (2013) Effect of dust accumulation on the power outputs of solar photovoltaic modules. 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Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:8393–8401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1847-z Tan D, Kian Seng A (2012) Handbook for Solar Photovoltaic. 67 Tanesab J, Parlevliet D, Whale J, Urmee T (2019) The effect of dust with different morphologies on the performance degradation of photovoltaic modules. Sustain Energy Technol Assessments 31:347–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2018.12.024 Tossa AK, Soro YM, Thiaw L et al (2016) Energy performance of different silicon photovoltaic technologies under hot and harsh climate. Energy 103:261–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENERGY.2016.02.133 Tripathi AK, Aruna M, Murthy CSN (2017) Performance evaluation of PV panel under dusty condition. Int J Renew Energy Dev 6:225–233. https://doi.org/10.14710/IJRED.6.3.225-233 Zdravkovic M, Vasi A, Dolicanin C et al (2009) Temperature Effects on Photovoltaic Components. Sci Publ State Univ Novi Pazar 1:29–36 Zorrilla-Casanova J, Piliougine M, Carretero J et al (2011) Analysis of Dust Losses in Photovoltaic Modules. Proc World Renew Energy Congr – Sweden, 8–13 May, 2011, Linköping, Sweden 57:2985–2992. https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp110572985 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3850574","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":272529629,"identity":"466af3c9-5857-414e-beb3-38b56d8b2aae","order_by":0,"name":"Afrina Sharmin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Afrina","middleName":"","lastName":"Sharmin","suffix":""},{"id":272529630,"identity":"147ee624-257b-4cba-8077-15939523f0ed","order_by":1,"name":"Shahran Ahmed","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shahran","middleName":"","lastName":"Ahmed","suffix":""},{"id":272529631,"identity":"ae476fa9-1970-4031-aab0-bc2b742e0f15","order_by":2,"name":"Munira Sultana","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Munira","middleName":"","lastName":"Sultana","suffix":""},{"id":272529632,"identity":"a4a57d55-1029-4edc-af4b-b623d4c9b894","order_by":3,"name":"Md. Rashed Alam","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Md.","middleName":"Rashed","lastName":"Alam","suffix":""},{"id":272529633,"identity":"a97fc8d2-2371-497c-a9f9-44ab997a9ee7","order_by":4,"name":"Muhammad Shahriar Bashar","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAsUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwYGNiBlA8SMDSRpSSNdy2ESHGbOfvzZg597zsvLRzc3MPyo2EZYi2VPjrlhz7PbhhvvHGxg7DlzmwiHHchhk+A5cJtx44zEBmbGNmK0nH/+TPLPgXP2JGi5kWAmzXPgQOJ8CWK1WM54YyYtcyA5eQNQy0Gi/GLOn/5M8s0BO9v5M9IfPvhRQYQWhAsPMDAcIEE9EMg3kKZ+FIyCUTAKRhAAAA2NP97lZt/GAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9793-4384","institution":"Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Muhammad","middleName":"Shahriar","lastName":"Bashar","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-10 14:27:40","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3850574/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3850574/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":51110883,"identity":"5e0234b4-5c38-4321-8938-6beb5e12ada0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:41:02","extension":"jpeg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":445555,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) Bosch Solar Module, (b) Schematic diagram of a Sun Simulator\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/f1f434a8d0dd7601e0d97f5a.jpeg"},{"id":51110882,"identity":"3fe95d0a-4bbe-45c9-9e04-efa3d1f280df","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:41:02","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":49135,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSolar insolation in Dhaka, Bangladesh during June to November, 2015.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/a380649aea5563cdf6312834.png"},{"id":51110880,"identity":"358f0793-4f6d-4900-8848-3da358526e87","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:41:02","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":66968,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eReduction of short circuit current (I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e) and Open circuit voltage (V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e) caused by dust accumulation.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/c9d859a0f2a5e22c43cb4d04.png"},{"id":51110887,"identity":"a73371eb-efa8-47dc-8242-f491f7a95ba9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:41:02","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":75475,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eReduction of maximum output power (P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e) and Fill Factor (FF%) caused by dust accumulation\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/0f2d2b995dfd79eb041836c7.png"},{"id":51111192,"identity":"00f5781d-93d1-481b-99a6-0dfa0fd174a7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:49:02","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":83978,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eReduction of PCE for both cell and module caused by dust accumulation\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/b71c84e0827456d3d63754ff.png"},{"id":51111193,"identity":"ad691269-9484-417e-93f3-72a5eea13430","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:49:02","extension":"jpeg","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":319123,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eData for performance efficiency loss, h\u003csub\u003eloss\u003c/sub\u003e of module over the experimental time in 2015.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage6.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/e140dade1cc80536a065f9da.jpeg"},{"id":51110884,"identity":"3826ac4f-9ef8-40fa-9120-8514d6672426","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:41:02","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":66934,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eVariance of ambient temperature dust deposition density over the experimental time.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/758d0963ec8f2d37f71333d2.png"},{"id":51110885,"identity":"a00bdece-32b7-4578-8bfd-efca9a9a4908","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-14 09:41:02","extension":"jpeg","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":226928,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eI-V characteristics of the panel were compared under clean and dusty conditions at a temperature of 25 °C and an irradiation of 1000 W/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e on 07 June to 29 Nov, 2015\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage8.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/3d05bffffd553396a29bc25d.jpeg"},{"id":72084794,"identity":"04e34dcf-2587-427d-ba5c-9869b6df48ae","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-21 23:55:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1777895,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3850574/v1/04fd1f4b-d2aa-4258-b4aa-9d18ac2e8eb6.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Investigation of performance degradation by airborne dust particles accumulated on photovoltaic modules in Bangladesh","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eDuring recent decades, the use of renewable energy has grown in popularity as a consequence of the increasing paucity of fossil fuels. Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the usage of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology due to its longevity, efficiency, and cleanliness(Pan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Mustafa et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Load shedding has been a typical occurrence in urban areas due to the rising electricity demand, particularly for industrial growth, construction, and office and home purposes. The supply and power generation are under great pressure as a result. Due to the rapidly increasing cost of power, large-scale and household PV systems might be installed and operated for minimal investment. On the contrary, in areas with strong irradiation, such as the solar belt region, the cost of PV systems has significantly decreased, making it possible for them to compete with power costs both locally and nationally. The PV module is subject to a range of environmental conditions including temperature, dust, humidity, shade, wind velocity, hail, snow, fog, and so on. These variables exacerbate the already low conversion efficiency caused by the intrinsic properties of the semiconductor materials utilized in the technology, leading to a further fall in its efficiency(Tan and Kian Seng \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Airborne dust particles deposited on solar PV panels can significantly decrease the spectral transmittance of the shielding glass, leading to a substantial reduction in PV output efficiency(Pan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Carol et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Dust collection adversely affects the efficiency of PV modules by increasing the conversion of light energy into heat, resulting in elevated cell temperatures that propagate throughout the PV surface. The negative temperature coefficient(Zdravkovic et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e) of PV cells makes this undesirable for achieving optimal performance. Considering that dust accumulation is a complex event and is influenced by several site-specific environmental and meteorological variables, current research into defining dust deposition and its influence on the performance of PV systems is limited(Andrea et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMultiple studies have examined the impact of dust accumulation on the efficiency of PV systems. The results indicate that the weather conditions at the location have the most significant impact on the rate at which dust accumulates. Based on a 2011 study conducted in M\u0026aacute;laga, Spain(Zorrilla-Casanova et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), it was shown that the decline in PV performance can reach up to 20% over long periods of dry weather. The average energy loss from a PV module due to dust impact is approximately 4%. In 2018, Gholami et al.(Gholami et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) experimented the impact of dust following 70 days without rainfall. The main finding revealed that during the trial, the dust surface density increased to 6.0986 gm/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e, leading to a drop in power generation of 21.47%. Furthermore, a study carried out in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, revealed that PV modules might undergo a power degradation of around 50% after six months without cleaning(Adinoyi and Said \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). The largest daily efficiency loss measured by Klugmann-Radziemska in Gdask, Poland which is a clean zone region was about 0.8%(Klugmann-Radziemska \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). Even there are some studies on dust particle size such as Lu et al.(Lu and Zhao \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) has explored how particle sizes and tilt angles affect a PV system's dust accumulation. The 150 \u0026micro;m dust particles had the highest observed deposition rate and the deposition rate at a tilt angle of 155\u0026deg; is 9.78%. Y. Andreaet al. examined the influence of industrial dust collection on the performance of photovoltaic modules in 2018(Andrea et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Ghazi et al.(Ghazi and Ip \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e) conducted a numerical simulations of dust accumulation for PV performance analysis. The team used a three-perspective paradigm to examine how the execution of PV systems is impacted by dust and other solid particle accumulations. This approach examined the impact of climate situation on the performance of two singular PV plants using simulation, experimental verification, and data analysis. Consequently, there are few studies which focus on coating materials with self-cleaning properties which helps to reduce PV performance degradations(Jesus et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Pan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe objective of this study is to assess the influence of dust accumulation on the efficiency of solar PV modules in Bangladesh. This will be achieved by analyzing different PV properties obtained through the use of a sun simulator. The variance that may be perceived in the sunlight is overcome using a spotlight to create a constant light radiation state. The effectiveness of cleaning on panel surface structures, however, to prevent the influence of dust accumulation, has never been examined by prior investigations. This research will demonstrate the precise and numerical impact of each aspect on PV efficiency. The findings of this study, which incorporate several contributing factors into a single study, may inspire further research. This provides a more complete and well-rounded understanding of the PV performance while easing the load and laborious job of having to review multiple literature and distinct research relevant to a PV system\u0026rsquo;s variables, which hamper its overall performance. Lack of comprehension of the dust accumulation effect will lead to inappropriate maintenance of solar PV systems and thrashing of considerable energy.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Experimental","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1. Methodology\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeveral types of PV modules react to the effects of dust in different ways since a PV module's spectral response depends on its technology(Tanesab et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). However, to investigate the effect of dust amassing on the panel performance, a 240 W c-Si PV panel is installed near the weather monitoring station directing towards south and horizontally angled at 47\u0026deg;. The average solar radiation on this panel is also recorded for the time being. The panel was left to the environment to accumulate dust naturally. The panel is then placed inside the dark room with a sun simulator and data is collected. The electrical responses i.e., output power (P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e), short circuit current (I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e), maximum voltage (V\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e), open circuit voltage (V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e) etc. of the panel are measured with the accumulated airborne dust particles on the panel surface. Another dataset is collected for cleaned module on the same day. This process is continued with a regular interval for 6 months (June -November). The two sets of data are compared to determine how well the PV panel performed in two different operating environments, a clean environment and a dusty environment though other climate conditions cannot be overlooked for the time being. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e (a) shows the Bosch Solar Module c-Si M 60 and Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e (b) module schematic diagram of the experimental set up that is used to measure the electrical response of the photovoltaic panel.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2. PV Module\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe experimental setup was located at the laboratory of the Institute of Energy Research and Development (IERD) of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) in Dhaka, Bangladesh (23\u0026deg;45\u0026prime;50\u0026Prime;N 90\u0026deg;23\u0026prime;20\u0026Prime;E). The system consists of a single PV module. The parameters of the photovoltaic modules utilized in the experimentation are presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSpecifications of PV modules under Standard Test Conditions (STC)-1000 W/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e, 25\u0026deg; C, AM1.5.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBosch Solar Module c-Si M 60\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePower Class\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e240 W\u003csub\u003ep\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePower Sorting\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0/+4.99 W\u003csub\u003ep\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaximum system voltage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1000 V\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShort circuit current (I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.60 A\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOpen circuit voltage (V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37.40 V\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCurrent at MPP (I\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.10 A\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVoltage at MPP (V\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.00 V\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModule efficiency\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDimensions\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e166\u0026times;109\u0026times;5 cm\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3. Weather Parameter: Solar Insolation\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom June to November 2015, the PV modules daily total in-plane solar insolation in Dhaka, Bangladesh is recorded and displayed in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e. Over the test period, there are variations in the daily average total solar insolation. These readings ranged from 4.88 kWh/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e at the highest, to 0.16 kWh/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e at the lowest, and an average of 3.49 kWh/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e, indicating that our site has optimum solar potential.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Result and Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1. Open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eDust accumulation on a solar panel can significantly reduce its power output by affecting two key parameters: the short-circuit current (I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e), and the open-circuit voltage (V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e refers to the highest amount of electric current that a solar panel may generate when its output terminals are connected directly without any resistance. Accumulation of dust on the solar panel's surface can diminish the amount of light reaching the solar cells, thereby decreasing the output current. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e illustrates the fluctuation of I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e and V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e for a single panel throughout a specified time frame. The I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e of the cleaned panel appears to remain constant over the given period. The I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e for the clean panel has a minor variation, primarily caused by the ambient temperature, which remains near to the typical I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e value of 8.60 A mentioned in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. Nevertheless, a significant decrease is evident (as low as 6.3 A) in the I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e of the dirty panel, clearly demonstrating the impact of collected dust on its performance(Tripathi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Accumulation of dust on the PV panel's surface can elevate its temperature, hence decreasing the output current as a result of the solar cell's temperature coefficient.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMoreover, the V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e represents the highest voltage a solar panel can generate in the absence of any connected load. Dust accumulation reduces the output voltage which is represented in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e. The reduction of open circuit voltage is insignificant(Jiang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) comparing I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e as it varies from 34\u0026ndash;36 V (Standard V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e = 37.40 V). The dusty panel's transparency has undergone a significant alteration, which demonstrates the impact of collected dust on it as all other parameters are same.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn general, the buildup of dust on a solar panel can diminish both V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e and I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e, resulting in a decrease in the total power generated by the solar panel. Hence, it is crucial to often cleanse the solar panels in order to guarantee optimal performance.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2. Maximum Power and Fill Factor\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe buildup of dust on a solar panel's surface can notably decrease both its maximum power (P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e) and Fill Factor (FF). This occurs because dust acts as a hindrance to sunlight, reducing the amount of light reaching the solar cells and subsequently diminishing the panel's power output. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e visually depicts the impact of dust accumulation on both P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e and FF in clean and dusty solar modules. Clearly, the clean panel exhibits a higher P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e compared to its dusty counterpart(Darwish et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e. Moreover, there is a drastic fall of P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e of dusty panel from June to November which is obviously proportionate to the I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e(Hussain et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe effect of dust on P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e is reliant on the thickness and composition of the dust layer, as well as the wavelength of the incident light. Generally, a thicker dust layer will absorb more light and reduce the panel's P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e more than a thinner layer. Additionally, different types of dust may have different absorption spectra, which can affect the amount of light absorbed and the resulting decrease in P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e. It is illustrated by Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e that the value of P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e varies around 235\u0026ndash;238 W for clean module. However, a drastic change is observed in the value of P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e around 172\u0026ndash;232 W for the same module when it is dusty.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe buildup of dust can also influence the FF of a solar panel, indicating how efficiently the panel transforms light into electrical power. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e illustrates the impact of dust on the FF of the solar module. Dust can increase the series resistance of the panel, misbalancing the FF from standard value. This is because the dust layer can create a barrier between the solar cells and the electrical contacts, leading to a decrease in current flow. When addressing the Shockley-Queisser (S-Q) limit, the shift in FF can be explained(Sharmin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Now, power conversion efficiency, η is determined as\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003ePCE, η\u003c/em\u003e = \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\frac{FF {V}_{oc} {J}_{sc}}{{P}_{in}}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e (1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhere P\u003csub\u003ein\u003c/sub\u003e is the input solar power. The highest conversion efficiency in c-Si solar cells is constrained according to detailed photon balancing computations(Ki and Hillhouse \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). The FF generated from the software must be changed as a compromise to maintain the maximum Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) contained by the theoretically determined S-Q limit as both V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e and I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e are changed with dust accumulation illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e. In this study the FF has varied from 73\u0026ndash;74% for clean module whereas the value has varied from around 72\u0026ndash;76% to maintain S-Q limit depending on other electrical parameters of the module.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3. Cell and Module power conversion efficiency, η\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe efficiency of both solar cells and modules is significantly affected by the accumulation of dust on their surfaces. When dust particles settle on the solar panel, they act as barriers to incoming sunlight, diminishing the amount of light that reaches the solar cell. Consequently, this reduction in sunlight intake leads to a decrease in the electricity generated by the solar panel.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTheoretically, the power conversion efficiency or PCE (η) of the solar panel is also determined by following equation(Rahman et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003ePCE, η\u003c/em\u003e =\u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\frac{Vp Ip}{Ps A}100\\%\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e (2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhere \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e is the power of the incident sun radiation (W/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e), \u003cem\u003eV\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e is the generated voltage, \u003cem\u003eA\u003c/em\u003e is the exposure region of the solar cell, and \u003cem\u003eI\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e is the electrical current produced by the solar PV panel. However, it should be emphasized that Eq.\u0026nbsp;(1) is meant to be used under typical test conditions, i.e., at a temperature of 25\u0026deg;C under an irradiance of 1000 W/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e with an air mass 1.5 (AM1.5) spectrum. Due to the sun simulator being set to such value, the required irradiance for the current work is achieved. Also, the software immediately supplied the efficiency computation as a comparison tool for the various solar panel surface conditions. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e describes the variation of PCE for both cell and module caused by dust accumulation. As the panel\u0026rsquo;s temperature was changed due to dust accumulation, a drastic change is observed in cell and module efficiency for dusty panel. However, it shows almost steady pattern of PCE for clean panel(Carol et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). The performance efficiency loss (η\u003csub\u003eloss\u003c/sub\u003e) of the PV system can be calculated from the individual module efficiency as (Andrea et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) following and is depicted in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eη \u003csub\u003eloss\u003c/sub\u003e = \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\frac{ \\text{c}\\text{l}\\text{e}\\text{a}\\text{n}- \\text{d}\\text{u}\\text{s}\\text{t}\\text{y} }{ \\text{c}\\text{l}\\text{e}\\text{a}\\text{n}}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u0026times; 100 (3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe accumulation of dust can also lead to a rise in temperature on the solar panel's surface. This is attributed to the insulating properties of dust, forming a layer that traps heat and diminishes the cooling impact of the surrounding air. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e depicts the efficiency loss for cell and module which has reached as high as about 27% of maximum of module efficiency. It is worth mentioning that this loss is a combined effect of other attributes like local climate condition and meteorological factors, types, and amount of dust. High temperatures can cause the solar cell's performance to degrade over time, consequentially in a decline in overall efficiency which is discussed vividly in next section.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe effect of dust deposition on the efficiency of solar modules is evident. Nevertheless, discrepancies in geographical placement and the dust's composition can result in varying levels of decline in the efficiency of the PV modules, leading to swings across different locations(Kaldellis and Kapsali \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e)(Styszko et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.4. Ambient temp of cell and module\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe influence of dust buildup on the surrounding temperature of the solar panel is relatively insignificant. The elevated temperature of the panel may cause a modest increase in the surrounding air temperature, although this impact is typically limited to the local area around the panel and is not significant. However, the temperature(Andrea et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) of the PV cell, which is reliant on meteorological factors such as the ambient temperature, solar irradiation(Tossa et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), the cell material, and the absorption of the module encapsulation etc., has a momentous impact on the PV cell's performance(Said et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Nevertheless, the manufacturers' predictions of temperature coefficient and PV performance may not always match the actual performance of the modules.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe magnitude of the impact of dust accumulation on solar panel efficiency will vary based on several factors, including the quantity of dust accumulation, the nature of the dust, and the local climate conditions(Mustafa et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Regions experiencing elevated dust levels or frequent dust storms may require regular cleaning of solar panels to uphold their efficiency. The study applied the findings from Jiang et al.(Jiang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), establishing a connection between dust deposition density and solar PV efficiency output(Pan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), to examine the influence of dust accumulation on solar PV output efficiency In areas with high levels of dust or where there are frequent dust storms, regular cleaning of solar panels may be necessary to maintain their efficiency as follows-\u003cdiv id=\"Equ1\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ1\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$${\\rho }_{dep}=\\kappa \\frac{{\\eta }_{red}}{{\\eta }_{clean}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e4\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHere, η\u003csub\u003eclean\u003c/sub\u003e is the clean panel's efficiency. After dust deposition, PV efficiency is reduced. The reduction in efficiency is denoted as \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\eta\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003csub\u003ered\u003c/sub\u003e. For the mono-crystalline silicon PV module, κ is a constant, and ρ\u003csub\u003edep\u003c/sub\u003e is the dust deposition density. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e shows the plot of ambient temperature and dust deposition density, ρ\u003csub\u003edep\u003c/sub\u003e over the experimental period. Seasonal changes have a wide range of distinctive effects on dust control. Acknowledging dust and its causes as a natural occurrence is crucial to the adoption of various strategies to reduce dust, which varies from place to region. It has been demonstrated that regional differences in the seasons have an impact on how much dust is produced in the summer, winter, autumn, and spring. The density of dust deposition seems to be high in winter as more pollution is trapped in the drier and colder air. The density of dust deposition starts rising from September in this region which is visible in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e. The efficiency and output power of the module demonstrate a gradual increase in percentage reduction(Carol et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) from September to November, as depicted in Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e. Additionally, the highest range of dust density is estimated in November, ranging from 19.93 to 23.76 gm/m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e. Correspondingly, the efficiency loss varies around 22\u0026ndash;27%, as indicated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt is further evident from Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e that there is a decreasing tendency of varying ambient temperature as the season turns from summer to winter by this time. Consequently, density of deposited dust, ρ\u003csub\u003edep\u003c/sub\u003e has shown increasing tendency for the time which results lowering cell efficiency confirmed by Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e. With dust accumulation, as the amount of sunlight reaching the panel decreases, less energy is converted from the sun's rays into electrical energy. This can cause the temperature of the panel to rise, as less energy is being converted into electricity and more energy is being converted into heat. The band gap of the cells often narrows as module temperature rises, allowing for the absorption of photons with longer wavelengths and generally extending the lifespan of the minority carrier. These factors result in a marginal rise in the current produced by light (I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e), but they also cause a decline in the voltage when the circuit is open (V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e), thereby diminishing the fill factor of the cell. The overall power of the module and, consequently, its efficiency are determined by the fill factor(Meyer and Van Dyk \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTherefore, dust accumulation on solar panels can lead to a decrease in their efficiency by increasing their temperature. However, dust particle deposition on the front surface of the photovoltaic panel is a complicated phenomenon that is impacted by various factors, including all-weather characteristics, and is not linearly reliant upon the length of exposure to environment. Generally dust deposition on the surface starts out more quickly and subsequently slows down(Gholami et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). To shorten the experimental duration, a condition with a significantly greater dust content was adopted in the study led by A. Pan et al.(Pan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Conversely, the empirical model formulated by Jiang (Jiang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) establishes a linear correlation between the reduction in solar PV efficiency and the density of dust deposition. While this may hold true in the short term, its applicability in the long run is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, given the interdependence of dust deposition, air velocity, and humidity, a comprehensive analysis of these crucial variables is imperative to thoroughly assess particle accumulation(Jaszczur et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e)(Said et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). As a result, routine cleaning and maintenance of solar panels can mitigate the adverse effects of dust accumulation on ambient temperature and preserve their efficiency.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.5. I-V characteristics curve\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e is the current-voltage or I-V curves for the PV panel for clean and dusty conditions. In general, it is shown that the current-voltage trend is similar to that of normal clean solar panels. Because of how closely these two conditions' curves resemble one another, there is a obvious difference among them. There is a noticeable change in the curve area for clean and dusty panel\u0026rsquo;s I-V curve. Consequently, change in curve area would be more prominent when the experiment is carried out in the field at various irradiation reported by Shaharin A. Sulaiman et al(Shaharin A. Sulaiman \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). The cause of this was most likely the build-up of dust, which effectively blocked the light from reaching the surface of the solar PV panel. The graphs indicate that the most efficient power generation happens when the solar panel is clean and free from any dust or plastic covering. The area under the curve represents the electrical power output of the solar PV system. The existence of dust leads to a decrease in this region, signifying a decline in the quantity of energy produced. The peak power, typically shown by the apex of the curve, also exhibits a diminishing pattern as a result of the impact of dust(Carol et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e)(Andrea et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). In both clean and dusty panels, the circuit voltage remains relatively constant, with a negligible drop of less than 1% attributed to dust. However, the current of the dusty cells experiences a notable decrease, leading to a significant decline in power production. The reduction in the transmission coefficient of the front glass, caused by dust accumulation, is accountable for the decrease in both circuit current and output power(Gholami et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). The peak power, which is typically denoted by the point at the top of the curve, has the same tendency of decline driven on by dust. Here, another factor that also aids to decrease the curve area from June to November is all other environmental factors like irradiance, temperature etc.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study has proposed several methods for assessing and quantifying the influence of dust on solar modules, extensively examining the energy losses caused by accumulated dust on module surfaces. A noticeable shift is evident in the I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e value, resulting in a significantly lower P\u003csub\u003emp\u003c/sub\u003e for dusty panels compared to clean conditions. The highest efficiency is observed in September for clean panels at 15.89%, while the lowest is in November for dusty panels at 11.82%. Furthermore, power loss is more pronounced in dry conditions, with up to a 22\u0026ndash;27% loss in module efficiency in the specific region, posing a significant concern. Nevertheless, under higher irradiation, the impact of dust is diminished, though it is still present. The use of specific coatings can substantially reduce the density of dust accumulating on the glass surface. Cooling PV panel surfaces with water proves to be an effective method for increasing energy production, especially on sunny days when the sunlight is more directly incident on the solar panel. Additionally, regular cleaning and maintenance of solar panels can mitigate the impact of dust accumulation on efficiency, ensuring sustained electricity generation at maximum efficiency, albeit with an increase in maintenance expenses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgment\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDue appreciation is credited to the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, the People\u0026rsquo;s Republic of Bangladesh for substantial support through the R\u0026amp;D Program.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dataset generated during analysis for current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthical Approval\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll authors have confirmed their participation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Publish\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll authors agree to publication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors Contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAS- formal analysis, investigation, methodology, visualization, writing \u0026ndash; original draft; SA- investigation, methodology; MS- Investigation, visualization; MRA- Investigation, visualization; and MSB- conceptualization, supervision, resources, investigation, project administration.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis work is supported by Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, through the research and development project grant scheme (ref: 39.02.0000.011.14.134.2021.388; dt: 21-09-2021).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting Interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAdinoyi MJ, Said SAM (2013) Effect of dust accumulation on the power outputs of solar photovoltaic modules. 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Proc World Renew Energy Congr \u0026ndash; Sweden, 8\u0026ndash;13 May, 2011, Link\u0026ouml;ping, Sweden 57:2985\u0026ndash;2992. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.3384/ecp110572985\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.3384/ecp110572985\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Dust accumulation, Solar cell glazing, Seasonal analysis, Efficiency loss, Energy output","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3850574/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3850574/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAirborne dust accumulation on open-air photovoltaic modules reduces the transparency of solar cell glazing in dry weather and results in a considerable lessening of the photovoltaic module's capacity to transform sunlight into electricity. This experiment studied how airborne dust on a solar PV module affects open circuit voltage, short circuit current, maximum power, Fill Factor, and module efficiency at different times of the year. The dust accumulation occurs naturally outdoors, and all the parameters are measured in an indoor setup at 25\u0026deg;C and 1000 W/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e irradiance from June to November 2015 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The highest dust deposition density is 23.76 gm/cm\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e obtained in November and the measured efficiency loss is above 27% for that day depending on the weather conditions and dust accumulation. From the I-V curve analysis, the obtained curve is nearly identical for clean and dusty photovoltaic panels. Dusty panel curves capture a smaller area, reducing energy production. The current reduces significantly for the dusty module, resulting in a power output of 172\u0026ndash;232 W compared to 235\u0026ndash;238 W for the clean module. The obtained results elaborately demonstrate how dust accumulation significantly reduces the efficiency of solar cells.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Investigation of performance degradation by airborne dust particles accumulated on photovoltaic modules in Bangladesh","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-02-14 09:40:57","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3850574/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a18f256d-f660-40c3-b358-aa441fc2e5aa","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 14th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-12-21T23:47:11+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-02-14 09:40:57","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3850574","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3850574","identity":"rs-3850574","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"J0_U0BvcaRcwD8yVFaRlm","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}