AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Mineral Dust Deposition and Solar Cell Spectral Performance
Nicholas Beres, Patricio Piedra, Vicken Etyemezian, W. Patrick Arnott, HANS MOOSMULLER, Desert Research Institute
Abstract Number: 613 Working Group: Aerosol Physics
Abstract We have deposited already well-characterized mineral dust samples onto glass slides and to determined the spectral reduction of light transmitted into the forward hemisphere (i.e., into the solar cell) due to absorption and backscattering. This results in determination of the reduction of the spectral flux reaching the solar cell as function of dust mass per area deposited and as function of physical, chemical, mineralogical, and optical characteristics of the dust sample. This is significant for (1) understanding the role of deposited mineral dust absorption and scattering properties on solar cell deterioration; this enables to model the deterioration of solar cell performance as function of dust source and transport properties; (2) deterioration of the performance of PV and any solar panels with known spectral response; this is possible due to our spectrally resolved optical observations which can be convoluted with any solar panel spectral response to yield efficiency deterioration; and (3) modeling of solar cell performance deterioration enabled by the measured physical, chemical, and optical characteristics of the deposited dust to plan and optimize panel cleaning procedures, and to improve the design of dust repellent solar panels, thereby reducing water use for cleaning.