Study of the effects of dust, relative humidity, and temperature on solar PV performance in Doha: Comparison between monocrystalline and amorphous PVS

Abstract

The sensitivity of various solar photovoltaic technologies to dust, temperature, and relative humidity is investigated for Doha's environment. Results obtained show that monocrystalline photovoltaics (PVs) have efficiencies as high as 85% compared to 70% for amorphous ones. Also, dust accumulation degrades more critically the efficiency of amorphous and monocrystalline silicon PVs than the panel's temperature or relative humidity. In addition, the results show that amorphous PVs are more affected by temperature and relative humidity than monocrystalline PVs. However, amorphous PVs prove to be more robust against dust settlement than monocrystalline PVs and hence are more suitable for implementation in desert climates like Doha unless cleaning strategies are devised. It was estimated that 100 days of dust accumulation over monocrystalline PV panels, caused the efficiency to decrease by around 10%. This limitation makes solar PVs to represent an unreliable source of power for unattended or remote devices and thus strongly suggests the challenge of cleaning the panel's surface regularly or injecting technical modifications. Furthermore, the study suggests operating solar PV plants in Doha from 11:00 am to 02:00 pm to optimize production.