Experimental Design for Measuring the Effect of Soiling on Power Production of Solar Panels in Ghana

Abstract

With rural electrification efforts failing to meet the rapid population growth in Africa, solar energy is seen as a viable way to achieve Sustainable Development Goal number 7. There is a need to understand how photovoltaic systems are affected by external factors such as dust particles. Dust soiling can severely affect the viability of PV systems resulting in substantial economic losses. Models for the relationship between soiling ratio and panel performance have been developed in different parts of the world, such as the Middle-East and the West, but little data has been collected on the African continent, where environmental conditions can deviate significantly. This paper presents the first iteration of an experimental setup that can be used to measure the effect of soiling on the power production of PV modules. The setup consists of a sensor suites embedded to an ESP32 microcontroller. Both dusty and clean panels are placed side by side with the clean panel serving as the control. Power performance data collected from the two panels alongside ambient temperature, humidity, and concentrations of PM2.5 and PM$_{2.5-10}$ particles can be posted and stored on a MySQL database for analysis. The data is also stored locally on an SD card acting as a backup.