Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel)
The accumulation of dust on the surface of solar panels reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the solar cells and results in a decrease in panel performance. To avoid this loss of production and thus, to improve the performance capacity, solar panels must be cleaned frequently. The West African re...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2023-03-01
|
| Series: | Open Geosciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2022-0449 |
| _version_ | 1797848703325700096 |
|---|---|
| author | Aidara Mohamed Cherif Fam Pape Abdoulaye Danso Derrick Kwadwo Mortey Eric Mensah Mbaye Amy Ndiaye Mamadou Lamine Bonkaney Abdou Latif Adamou Rabani Anquetin Sandrine Diedhiou Arona |
| author_facet | Aidara Mohamed Cherif Fam Pape Abdoulaye Danso Derrick Kwadwo Mortey Eric Mensah Mbaye Amy Ndiaye Mamadou Lamine Bonkaney Abdou Latif Adamou Rabani Anquetin Sandrine Diedhiou Arona |
| author_sort | Aidara Mohamed Cherif |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The accumulation of dust on the surface of solar panels reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the solar cells and results in a decrease in panel performance. To avoid this loss of production and thus, to improve the performance capacity, solar panels must be cleaned frequently. The West African region is well known for its high solar energy potential. However, this potential can be reduced by the high occurrence of dust storms during the year. This article aims to provide a contribution to the construction of a meteorological information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass solar plant in Senegal (Western Sahel). It is based on a full year in situ experiment comparing the power loss due to dust between solar panels cleaned at different frequencies and those not cleaned. The model to determine the cleaning frequencies is based on the deposition rate of airborne particles, the concentration of airborne particles, and the density of the dust that has a major impact on the power loss. Cleaning frequencies are presented at seasonal scale because in the study area, dust episodes differ according to the seasons. A cost–benefit analysis is also performed to demonstrate the advantage of using weather information service to support the dust cleaning operations at Diass plant. As results, it is found that cleaning every 3 weeks is required during the dry seasons, December–January–February and March–April–May. During the rainy season, cleaning every 5 weeks is recommended in June–July–August, while in September–October–November cleaning every 4 weeks is sufficient to maintain an optimal performance of the solar panel. The total costs of cleaning operations based on these results are reduced compared to the current costs of cleaning and the benefits are much higher than without cleaning action. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T18:31:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5c50f2b139774923aefc3d7c564c060f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2391-5447 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T18:31:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Geosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-5c50f2b139774923aefc3d7c564c060f2023-04-11T17:07:16ZengDe GruyterOpen Geosciences2391-54472023-03-011519302110.1515/geo-2022-0449Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel)Aidara Mohamed Cherif0Fam Pape Abdoulaye1Danso Derrick Kwadwo2Mortey Eric Mensah3Mbaye Amy4Ndiaye Mamadou Lamine5Bonkaney Abdou Latif6Adamou Rabani7Anquetin Sandrine8Diedhiou Arona9Laboratoire Eau-Énergie-Environnement – Procédés Industriels (LE3PI)/Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique, Dakar, SénégalLaboratoire Eau-Énergie-Environnement – Procédés Industriels (LE3PI)/Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique, Dakar, SénégalUniversité Grenoble Alpes, IRD, CNRS, Grenoble INP, IGE, F-38000Grenoble, FranceWASCAL GRP on Climate Change and Energy, University Abdou Moumouny, Niamey, NigerLaboratoire Eau-Énergie-Environnement – Procédés Industriels (LE3PI)/Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique, Dakar, SénégalLaboratoire Eau-Énergie-Environnement – Procédés Industriels (LE3PI)/Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique, Dakar, SénégalWASCAL GRP on Climate Change and Energy, University Abdou Moumouny, Niamey, NigerWASCAL GRP on Climate Change and Energy, University Abdou Moumouny, Niamey, NigerUniversité Grenoble Alpes, IRD, CNRS, Grenoble INP, IGE, F-38000Grenoble, FranceUniversité Grenoble Alpes, IRD, CNRS, Grenoble INP, IGE, F-38000Grenoble, FranceThe accumulation of dust on the surface of solar panels reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the solar cells and results in a decrease in panel performance. To avoid this loss of production and thus, to improve the performance capacity, solar panels must be cleaned frequently. The West African region is well known for its high solar energy potential. However, this potential can be reduced by the high occurrence of dust storms during the year. This article aims to provide a contribution to the construction of a meteorological information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass solar plant in Senegal (Western Sahel). It is based on a full year in situ experiment comparing the power loss due to dust between solar panels cleaned at different frequencies and those not cleaned. The model to determine the cleaning frequencies is based on the deposition rate of airborne particles, the concentration of airborne particles, and the density of the dust that has a major impact on the power loss. Cleaning frequencies are presented at seasonal scale because in the study area, dust episodes differ according to the seasons. A cost–benefit analysis is also performed to demonstrate the advantage of using weather information service to support the dust cleaning operations at Diass plant. As results, it is found that cleaning every 3 weeks is required during the dry seasons, December–January–February and March–April–May. During the rainy season, cleaning every 5 weeks is recommended in June–July–August, while in September–October–November cleaning every 4 weeks is sufficient to maintain an optimal performance of the solar panel. The total costs of cleaning operations based on these results are reduced compared to the current costs of cleaning and the benefits are much higher than without cleaning action.https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2022-0449solar paneldustcleaningweather information servicerainfall |
| spellingShingle | Aidara Mohamed Cherif Fam Pape Abdoulaye Danso Derrick Kwadwo Mortey Eric Mensah Mbaye Amy Ndiaye Mamadou Lamine Bonkaney Abdou Latif Adamou Rabani Anquetin Sandrine Diedhiou Arona Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel) Open Geosciences solar panel dust cleaning weather information service rainfall |
| title | Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel) |
| title_full | Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel) |
| title_fullStr | Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel) |
| title_short | Contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at Diass plant (Senegal, Western Sahel) |
| title_sort | contribution to the building of a weather information service for solar panel cleaning operations at diass plant senegal western sahel |
| topic | solar panel dust cleaning weather information service rainfall |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2022-0449 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aidaramohamedcherif contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT fampapeabdoulaye contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT dansoderrickkwadwo contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT morteyericmensah contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT mbayeamy contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT ndiayemamadoulamine contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT bonkaneyabdoulatif contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT adamourabani contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT anquetinsandrine contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel AT diedhiouarona contributiontothebuildingofaweatherinformationserviceforsolarpanelcleaningoperationsatdiassplantsenegalwesternsahel |