The Effect of Dust on the Output Performance of Solar Module

This study investigates the effect of dust on the output performance of a solar module. Two 250W monocrystalline modules (control & dust) were used during the study. The experiment was performed in the University of Port Harcourt, at the Basic Unit in Abuja Campus, Rivers State, Nigeria with longitude 4.903674˚N and latitude6.923759˚E. The amount of current and voltage generated by both panels, under solar radiation, were recorded using a digital multimeter at an interval of 15minutes between 7am and 4pm for a period of 7days. Measurement data and graphical analyses were used to evaluate the I-V characteristics of the control and dusty modules, and also the amount of output power generated by both modules. The minimum and maximum values of the Cumulative Average Power Output (watt) obtained for the control module were 2156.16W and 5790.655W respectively. While the minimum and maximum values of the Cumulative Average Power Output (watt) obtained for the dusty module were 1743.277W and 4714.068W respectively. The percentage reduction in output power for the solar module with dust typically ranged from 5.92% to 28.78%. The results reveal that dust particle accumulation on the surface of solar module leads to a significant reduction in the current, voltage and amount of output power generated by a solar module which in turn abates its overall performance.