Outdoor soiling microscope for measuring particle deposition and resuspension

Benjamin Figgis; Ahmed Ennaoui; Bing Guo; Wasim Javed; Eugene Chen

doi:10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.015

Outdoor soiling microscope for measuring particle deposition and resuspension

Benjamin Figgis^*
, Ahmed Ennaoui
, Bing Guo
, Wasim Javed
, Eugene Chen

^*Corresponding author for this work

QEERI - Energy Center

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

87 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The rate of soiling of photovoltaic modules depends on environmental parameters such as aerosol concentration, humidity and wind speed. Previously we found low correlations between daily averages of these values and the daily soiling rate of a PV system. In this study we aimed to achieve stronger correlations by increasing the measurement frequency, with a simple device able to quantify soiling in outdoor conditions in real time. The so-called outdoor soiling microscope developed could measure the deposit and removal of individual dust particles larger than 10 μm² every few seconds, and could detect the onset and disappearance of condensation. In an initial trial the device revealed qualitative relations between the parameters not seen with 24-h data. However most linear correlation coefficients remained low, suggesting the need for a more sophisticated model of outdoor soiling.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	158-164
Number of pages	7
Journal	Solar Energy
Volume	137
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.015
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2016

Keywords

Condensation
Microscope
Particle deposition
Photovoltaic
Resuspension
Soiling

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10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.015

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title = "Outdoor soiling microscope for measuring particle deposition and resuspension",

abstract = "The rate of soiling of photovoltaic modules depends on environmental parameters such as aerosol concentration, humidity and wind speed. Previously we found low correlations between daily averages of these values and the daily soiling rate of a PV system. In this study we aimed to achieve stronger correlations by increasing the measurement frequency, with a simple device able to quantify soiling in outdoor conditions in real time. The so-called outdoor soiling microscope developed could measure the deposit and removal of individual dust particles larger than 10 μm2 every few seconds, and could detect the onset and disappearance of condensation. In an initial trial the device revealed qualitative relations between the parameters not seen with 24-h data. However most linear correlation coefficients remained low, suggesting the need for a more sophisticated model of outdoor soiling.",

keywords = "Condensation, Microscope, Particle deposition, Photovoltaic, Resuspension, Soiling",

author = "Benjamin Figgis and Ahmed Ennaoui and Bing Guo and Wasim Javed and Eugene Chen",

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year = "2016",

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doi = "10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.015",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Outdoor soiling microscope for measuring particle deposition and resuspension

AU - Figgis, Benjamin

AU - Ennaoui, Ahmed

AU - Guo, Bing

AU - Javed, Wasim

AU - Chen, Eugene

PY - 2016/11/1

Y1 - 2016/11/1

N2 - The rate of soiling of photovoltaic modules depends on environmental parameters such as aerosol concentration, humidity and wind speed. Previously we found low correlations between daily averages of these values and the daily soiling rate of a PV system. In this study we aimed to achieve stronger correlations by increasing the measurement frequency, with a simple device able to quantify soiling in outdoor conditions in real time. The so-called outdoor soiling microscope developed could measure the deposit and removal of individual dust particles larger than 10 μm2 every few seconds, and could detect the onset and disappearance of condensation. In an initial trial the device revealed qualitative relations between the parameters not seen with 24-h data. However most linear correlation coefficients remained low, suggesting the need for a more sophisticated model of outdoor soiling.

AB - The rate of soiling of photovoltaic modules depends on environmental parameters such as aerosol concentration, humidity and wind speed. Previously we found low correlations between daily averages of these values and the daily soiling rate of a PV system. In this study we aimed to achieve stronger correlations by increasing the measurement frequency, with a simple device able to quantify soiling in outdoor conditions in real time. The so-called outdoor soiling microscope developed could measure the deposit and removal of individual dust particles larger than 10 μm2 every few seconds, and could detect the onset and disappearance of condensation. In an initial trial the device revealed qualitative relations between the parameters not seen with 24-h data. However most linear correlation coefficients remained low, suggesting the need for a more sophisticated model of outdoor soiling.

KW - Condensation

KW - Microscope

KW - Particle deposition

KW - Photovoltaic

KW - Resuspension

KW - Soiling

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84981349637

U2 - 10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.015

DO - 10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.015

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84981349637

SN - 0038-092X

VL - 137

SP - 158

EP - 164

JO - Solar Energy

JF - Solar Energy

ER -

Outdoor soiling microscope for measuring particle deposition and resuspension

Abstract

Keywords

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