Design and development of a monitoring station for the long-term investigation of dust pollution effects on the performance of PV panels

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The past decade has seen impressive growth of the photovoltaic solar power industry as a response to increased global energy demand and a quest for sustainable energy supply. It is necessary to understand the natural challenges that are affecting this industry to promote efficient and economic use of solar power in South Africa and elsewhere.Photovoltaic modules are widely regarded as maintenance-free power generators or are often marketed as such. While this might particularly be true for most of the small rooftop installations, the same cannot be said about large photovoltaic power plants. Large photovoltaic plants have to be continuously monitored and corrective measures must be taken in a timeously manner if they are to ensure maximum power yield.The challenges facing solar PV installations vary from place to place. In dry and semi-arid areas (like in large areas in South Africa), dust pollution is one of the most serious challenges that large PV plants have to battle with and is thus a research area of interest. While the effect of dust pollution on the yield of solar panels have been confirmed and documented in the Middle East and North African (MENA) regions, studies on this crucial aspect in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa are particularly rare.In this project, a monitoring station has been developed for long-term monitoring of dust pollution and its effects on the performance of PV modules. It may also be used in future to aid in the forecasting and planning of cleaning needs and costs for a particular site.The station is pole mounted and consists of two identical solar panels, two active loads to load the panels as desired, a maximum power point tracker that serves as a battery charger for a 12V battery, and a control system for the operation of the station and communication to external devices or systems.The station was designed to collect data (e.g. panel voltage, current, temperatures and current-voltage curve) which can be accessed via different means for analysis. Collection of the data may be scheduled to be taken at intervals from 1 minute up to 60 minutes.It is shown that the various subsystems were developed successfully and that it forms a good base for a pole mounted monitoring station for long-term monitoring of dust pollution.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University