Experimental study of dust accumulation effect on photovoltaique solar module performance in Ziguinchor, Senegal

Abstract

The present work focuses on a study of dust accumulation effect on a photovoltaic solar module performance in the environment of Ziguinchor, Senegal. Two polycrystalline photovoltaic modules 0.75 W were exposed to the outdoor environment on rooftop of the Chemistry and Materials Physics Laboratory (LCPM) at Assane Seck University, Ziguinchor, Senegal (12 ° 34 N, 16 ° 16 E ). The two PV panels were exposed for 70 days to the outdoor environment from March 20, 2018 until May 30, 2018, where, the dusty PV panel was left without cleaning for natural dust accumulation, and the reference PV panel was cleaned daily. The results showed that after 70 days of outdoor exposure without rain, the dust surface density ranged from 0 (g/m²) at the beginning to 13.84 (g/m²) at the end of the experiment; which resulted in a 92.3 (%) reduction in the reference module efficiency.