Dust is everywhere on Earth, especially in the desert. Dust accumulates on surfaces and is NOT washed off by rain, as anybody who owns a car must know.
Inconspicuous dust can easily reduce output 30% or more, so regular cleaning is absolutely necessary for good efficiency. This is not often discussed in the articles that I have read. IMHO, an automobile-type oscillating squeegee with fluid sprayer is a must.
In desert power station scenarios, there are two problems associated with dust.
1. Water. It takes a large amount of water and detergent to keep the huge surfaces of a 100 MW plant clean. This is hard to find on the desert.
2. Sandstorms can absolutely erode the surfaces of the cells, rendering them poorly translucent, and making the entire array almost useless.
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David F Mayer
Space/Science » in reply to Solar power prices still dropping
Significant Problem with PV Power Is Dust.
The whole thread (30 posts)
- Solar power prices still dropping
- Clouds and Night still inescapable problems
- I'd still prefer the reliability of being hooked up to a netwrok of 1000 MW reactors.
- Significant Problem with PV Power Is Dust.
- re: Solar power prices still dropping
- The lowest I've seen.