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Improve your solar farm by up to 50% performance with bifacial panel powered by ABCDust albedo enhancer dust control solution
According to a publication in the Journal of Photovoltaics (Oct, 2017), an ideal albedo factor can increase solar panels energy production by up to 36%. Meanwhile, dust accumulation over solar panels reduces energy production up to 86% and increases operational cost by up to 36%, according to studies conducted by the NREL.
ABCDust offers smart and sustainable dust control and soil stabilization solutions for many industries. But the company took a step further and has developed a methodology to provide an additive with an ideal albedo factor. This additive helps reduce the accumulation of dust on the solar panels which maximises the efficiency of the bifacial solar panels. This is the perfect solution for solar farms to get more solar energy and mitigate dust effects.
Bifacial solar panels with albedo dust control solutions increase your solar farm ROI.
Photovoltaic Solar panels – particularly in a large, utility-scale facility – requires studying such factors as how much energy will be produced and how much it can be sold for. That information allows companies to determine the return on their investment. One factor to consider is the amount of dust the site is expected to experience, but no one can accurately predict that. “We’re not there yet,” said Michael Deceglie, a staff scientist at NREL who works on PV soiling. “Solar panels get dirty, and that’s a substantial uncertainty for their energy over time. And with uncertainty comes risk for the people who own the assets because they’re depending on that to make energy and they’re protecting their investment. The industry would benefit from having a better quantification of that risk at various sites and with various factors.”
Dust on solar PV panel can reduce solar panels energy production is approximately 40%
Due to the increasing interest in renewable energy resources around the world, solar plants are more frequently being installed in challenging conditions. Many of the locations are arid, desert-like areas, as they provide very high solar irradiance and the land is rarely used for other purposes. Examples of such sites are in the USA, North Africa, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Atacama Desert in Chile, Australia and India. In desert areas, the accumulation of dust on PV panel surfaces is very high. The reduction in solar efficiency due to dust on PV panels is approximately 40%.
The degree of efficiency deterioration depends on the specific mass and size of dust particles deposition on the PV module surface. As the mass of dust deposition increases, power output and the efficiency of the module decrease, and as the size becomes smaller, power output decreases as smaller particles block more radiation on the PV module surface.
In research from Sulaiman, Singh, Mokhtar, Bou-Rabee (2014) on the Influence of Dirt Accumulation on Performance of PV Panels, the study shows that opaque particles tremendously affect the performance of solar PV, in particular moss, which could reduce the output power by up to 86%. (Ref: Sulaiman, S. A., Singh, A. K., Mokhtar, M. M. M., & Bou-Rabee, M. A. (2014). Influence of Dirt Accumulation on Performance of PV Panels. Energy Procedia, 50, 50–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.06.006)
Bifacial solar panel benefits
A bifacial solar panel is a double-sided energy that transforms sunlight into energy on both its top and bottom sides. They are equipped with solar cells on both the top and rear of the panel. The top of a bifacial solar panel system face the sun, so they capture incident sun rays directly, absorbing only certain wavelengths. The top solar cells function like those of a conventional solar panel array. The bottom solar cells absorb light that is reflected off the ground. This light is call albedo light. A 2017 study published in the Journal of Photovoltaic showed that bifacial can increase efficiency by up to 36% compared to a conventional solar panel system. Furthermore, JP Morgan invested in the world´s largest bifacial solar rooftop for their headquarters, in Columbus, Ohio in 2019, launching the largest commercial installation of bifacial solar modules at that date, as a profitable way to lead the way for decarbonization.
Bifacial modules are one of the older developments in solar panel technology, dating back to the 1960s. It is also one of the latest advances to take hold. As solar panels cost decrease, bifacial installations have grown rapidly in the last half decade, from only 97MW of installed global capacity in 2016, to almost 6 GW in 2019.
The importance of the ideal albedo factor
However, it’s important to know that results and studies have shown that the spectral albedo significantly affects the thermodynamic efficiency limits and can considerably alter the resulting power output, there is a tradeoff to optimize toward the ideal albedo factor for your PV solar panel (Salve et all, 2019). Using extremely high albedo solutions will reduce the energy production due to solar panels overheating, therefore it is important to work with professionals toward optimizing the albedo factor of your bifacial solar farm.
Combine bifacial solar energy with dust suppression
ABCDust has developed a dust control additives with an ideal albedo factor for bifacial farms, which is applied on the top layer of your solar farm. These solutions can be combined with ABCDust soil stabilization products to stabilize your solar farm ground, mitigate dust problems and maximize your albedo factor. ABCDust´s additive DMS-ALB® considerably reduces the accumulation of dust on the solar panels and maximizes the efficiency of the bifacial solar panels, helping solar farms produce clean energy and lower our C02 emissions.
Let´s decarbonize the world and power the grid with efficient, clean solar energy power!