Measured soiling loss and its economic impact for PV plants in central Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Saudi Arabia is blessed with a large amount of solar irradiation. However, as a dry desert region, soiling tends to accumulate on photovoltaic (PV) panels reducing the output energy, creating a concern for solar plant developers on how and when to clean the plant, and raising doubt about the economic feasibility of solar energy in Saudi Arabia. K-A-CARE has conducted a 3-year soiling measurement campaign in Rumah, Saudi Arabia, and in this work, detailed analysis of soiling losses from one year of data is reported. These losses are then used in an economic analysis of the cost of soiling for optimal cleaning intervals. The results show that soiling results in little economic loss given proper attention to cleaning.