Addressing soiling: from interface chemistry to practicality / Lin Simpson.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Simpson, Lin, author.

Contributor:

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.), issuing body.

Series:

NREL/TP ; 5K00-72853.

NREL/TP ; 5K00-72853

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Photovoltaic cells--Cleaning--United States.

Photovoltaic cells.

Photovoltaic power systems--United States--Maintenance and repair.

Photovoltaic power systems.

Genre:

technical reports.

Technical reports.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 26 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color), color map.

Place of Publication:

Golden, CO : National Renewable Energy Laboratory, March 2020.

Summary:

Natural soiling has reduced the energy output of photovoltaic (PV) systems since the technology was first used. Projecting even a small average annual soiling loss translates to billions of dollars in annual lost revenue worldwide.1 Production losses due to soiling can be very high in some locations, substantially increasing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) due to lost power production, increased operating and maintenance costs, and/or increased finance cost due to the uncertainty. Furthermore, although soiling has been discussed in the literature for more than 70 years, solutions to many problems are still needed. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is working with the PV industry to develop the tools/knowledge so that the effects of soiling can be predicted for different environmental conditions and cost-effective mitigation can be implemented. For this project, NREL performed a number of research and development tasks/subtasks in the following general areas to 1) predict PV module soiling losses based on environmental factors at a PV installation and from its energy production data, 2) quantitatively measure the adhesion forces to understand the physics enabling soiling, and 3) develop related standards on PV module coatings and artificial soiling. At the inception of the project, the PV industry considered these efforts to be the most important and immediate soiling issues that we could address to have the highest impact on LCOE. These focused efforts have led to outstanding accomplishments that have been communicated and very well received by the community.

Notes:

In scope of the U.S. Government Publishing Office Cataloging and Indexing Program (C&I) and Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

"NREL/TP-5K00-72853."

"March 2020."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 23-26).

Description based on online resource, PDF version; title from title page (NREL, viewed January 6, 2025).

OCLC:

1407186382

Publisher Number:

1659855 OSTI ID

Access Restriction:

Publicly released