College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Electrical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Electrical Engineering
College - Author 3
College of Engineering
Department - Author 3
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 3
BS in Electrical Engineering
Date
6-2020
Primary Advisor
Dale Dolan, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
The energy and associated economic losses due to soiling on both residential and utility scale PV (photovoltaic) systems can be both significant and avoidable. Losses from 1.2% up to 6% have been reported, which is of interest to system operators [1]. Modules may be cleaned to reduce losses, but this comes with an offsetting economic cost. A quantification of energy losses, and the corresponding economic loss, will allow a determination of a closer to optimal cleaning schedule depending on the level of soiling and corresponding energy loss. Two methods are proposed and compared. Method 1 uses an ARES Soiling Measurement Station to perform irradiance and short circuit current measurements to calculate a soiling rate [2]. Method 2 uses direct measurement of energy production from recorded inverter data. A soiling rate will be determined by measuring energy production in control modules and modules with varying levels of soiling. This data was used to create a program to estimate the profitability of cleaning the PV installation at any given time.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/eesp/488