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Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/seta

Review article

Management of potential challenges of PV technology proliferation


Abdul Hai Alami a, Malek Kamal Hussien Rabaia a, Enas Taha Sayed b, c, Mohamad Ramadan d, e,
Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem a, b, c, Shamma Alasad a, Abdul-Ghani Olabi a, b, f
a
Dept. of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
b
Center for Advanced Materials Research, University of Sharjah, PO Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
c
Chemical Engineering Department, Minia University, Egypt
d
International University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
e
Lebanese International University, Bekaa, Lebanon
f
Mechanical Engineering and Design, Aston University, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Solar photovoltaic technology is a key renewable energy division that has proven effective especially in high
Solar PV solar irradiance regions. However, there the technology faces various operational and technical challenges. This
Shading work reviews and discusses recent innovations and research work done on the effect of solar radiation fluctu­
Soiling
ation, shading, soiling, weather, among others on solar panel performance. For example, recent shading-specific
Dust deposition
solutions and mitigation techniques are discussed and compared, then classified under topology, active systems,
Module temperature
Humidity passive devices under different solar array configurations. A comprehensive and comparative review was con­
ducted for several coating and cooling solutions for temperature control of PV modules. This is also coupled with
a coverage of soiling and dust deposition challenges as well as effects of shading caused by dust, its effect on the
increase in module temperature, and the cleaning difficulty introduced by having high humidity that magnify the
effect of soiling. A comparative review of is presented on technologies to mitigate soiling effects through different
cleaning, coating, and shielding methods, which can solve several problems.

Introduction capacity with a net capacity increase of 176 GW in 2019, out of which
54% being installed in Asia alone, with 90% of it being new capacities of
Maintaing an electrical power generation threshold that would solar and wind energies [6,7]. Renewable energies are dominating new
reliably supply the ever increasing global population has been a major power installations at about 70% of total istalled capacity in 2019 [8,9].
challenge for the past few decades. With the increased digitalization of However, in their 2017 Climate-Safe Energy Solutions report [10], the
lifestyles and businesses, there has been an exponential rise in the de­ International Renewable Energy Agency stated that in order to suc­
mand with few options of supply technologies that would be sustainable, cessfully reach a complete decarbonization of energy use in the next 50
environmentally friendly as well as econimic. Severe environmental years, the current growing rate of renewable energy systems needs to be
problems threatening life on Earth with the persistence in using con­ at least seven times faster [10].
ventional energy technologies such as fossil fuels-, coal-, and gas- When comparing renewable energy technologies and their global
powered plants. Thus, urgent solutions must be considered to mitigate adoption, solar-powered systems and especially solar PV systems are the
the adverse effects of energy conversion on the environment [1]. most rapidly growing. It was reported that solar systems had a 98 GW
Renewable energy systems are currently hailed as clean and effective overall capacity growth in 2019 which equals to 60% of other renewable
solutions and their utilization has increased in the last decade in terms of ones [6,7]. Fig. 1 shows the solar PV’s exponential capacity growth over
research and development, and commercializing investments world­ the last decade [11].
wide [2-4]. This has been especially true after signing the worldwide Such huge interest and fast development of solar PV technology re­
carbon reduction agreement (Paris Agreement) in 2015 [5]. The Inter­ quires further technical development through addressing and solving
national Renewable Energy Agency statistical report of 2019 has the many challenges that faces their reliable commercialization [12].
included renewable energies witnessing a 7.4% growth in installed The most mature and commonly used PV panels for utility and non-

E-mail address: [email protected] (A.H. Alami).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101942
Received 9 September 2021; Received in revised form 23 December 2021; Accepted 23 December 2021
Available online 31 December 2021
2213-1388/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

utility scale are silicon-based mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline Operational challenges facing solar PV
modules, as well as thin film technologies based on non-silicon mate­
rials. The current commercial efficiencies of PV modules are in the range Solar PV systems are complex, yet small and sensitive opto-electrical
of 15% to 23% [13] depending on the manufacturer, materials, tech­ devices converting solar radiation directly into electricity. Many adverse
nology type, location, and manufacturing techniques. Several research factors affect the yield of such devices, and can be systematic and due to
groups [14-16] have studied and reported on such challenges that relate manufacturing defects that cannot be controlled by operators as well as
to efficiency perturbations due to soiling and high operating tempera­ the degradation of the solar cell and its maximum electrical character­
tures [17,18 15]. These results have various global scenarios depending istics with time. Other major factors that have negative effects are
on the location of the study but were able to give specific solutions and location and operating environment, although these can be controlled
algorithms for better maximum power point increasing and tracking but avoiding them is important to maintain a certain performance of the
techniques [18-20]. For example, some research groups studied micro- solar PV system. This section will discuss several factors such as shading,
scale electrical interactions through testing diode configurations on soiling, module temperature, and humidity, then summarize and
different utilizations and designs [14]. While others studied the best compare the most recent specific and general solutions.
possibilities of hybridizing several technologies such as wind and
hydrogen in order to solve problems like humidity and temperature
increase [21,22] In order to understand and appreciate these challenges, Shading effect and variation of solar radiation
the results of previous studies and experiments on the solutions and
optimizations for photovoltaic operational challenges are discussed in The performance of a PV module is highly dependent on the amount
detail in this work. Many present innovative solutions addressing of radiation it receives. Changes in the intensity of the solar radiation
location-specific and technology-specific scenarios and comparisons, will affect almost all the parameters including short circuit current, open
but all with lessons and results that are important for a better under­ circuit voltage, produced power, fill factor, and of course the overall
standing of the basic, shared challenges [23]. This paper also reviews the efficiency [25,26]. While variation of radiation can lower the perfor­
most recent literature that provide current state-of-art regarding the mance if it was not at its peak, several types of shading can affect the
operational challenges and problems that faces solar photovoltaic sys­ performance similarly and in many other different ways, as different
tems. These include effects of shading, dust or dirt masses, humidity, and types, percentages, and reasons of shading cause different effects on the
temperature increase, on efficiency of commercial solar PV modules. performance and require different solutions. Shading is the major reason
This work also provides and compares between the best and most recent of introducing the mismatching problem after the manufacturing errors,
possible solution for each case [24]. The efficiency of solar modules is it can lower the performance of certain parts or cells in the module that
calculated assuming operation is at the maximum power point or MPP, causes a mismatch in the outputs of these parts with respect to the rest of
thus, ideally, solar PV modules must be always working at that point to the module, thus, causing it to act like a load on the rest of the module
avoid lower actual efficiencies and lower outputs. The maximum power leading to a huge problem that destroys the PV module called the hot
point depends on the amount of incident direct irradiance throughout spot as these parts that acted like a load will be under unbearable high
the day and the age of the solar panel. The manufacturing characteristics supply of energy that permanently burns them forcing a full replacement
which are the highest reachable ones are defined to be at certain con­ of the solar panel, this huge problem requires fast addressing and proper
ditions called Standard Test Conditions or STC and they require a solutions as it can happen on large scales. Shading can be uniformly and
module or cell temperature of 25 ◦ C, irradiance of 1000 W/m2, and an non-uniformly blocking the sunlight off from the solar module, and both
Air Mass of 1.5 spectrum. Therefore, any deviation from these conditions of them will affect the solar panel differently [27,28].
will cause the performance of the solar module to drop significantly. All shading types but especially the non-uniform ones cannot be left
without direct and immediate solutions to at least prevent the worse
from happening, thus, they are commonly solved or avoided through an
anti-parallel bypass diode, which for economic reasons is connected to a
substring in the solar panel instead of every solar cell. The Bypass Diode

Fig. 1. Installed capacity trends of solar PV systems throughout the last decade [11].

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

and its connection allows it to act like an open switch or open circuit in the percentage of shading.
the normal conditions of the solar cell and no shading is occurring, In their experimental study, Sathyanarayana et al. [32] studied
however, once shading happens over one cell or all the cells in that several cases of both uniform and nonuniform shading over a typical 36
substring and mismatching of produced current occurs then the bypass cells PV module of polycrystalline silicon. They tested three different
diode acts like a closed switch and bypasses the whole substring pre­ percentages of partial uniform shading (25%, 50%, and 75%) and
venting it from acting like a load. This solution is commonly imple­ concluded that the uniform shading does not affect the efficiency or the
mented in the manufacturing of the solar panels where bypass diodes are fill factor of the solar panel but lowers its power output respectively, in
connected to a string of 18–25 cells depending on the size of the panel. fact they got weirdly fluctuating but close values for the fill factor and
Although this solution has significantly improved the performance of slightly increasing efficiencies when increasing the partial uniform
solar panels under shading, the problem remains the same if the shading shading percentage. On the other hand, when they tested the nonuni­
occurs differently over several strings, additionally, the bypassing pro­ form shading caused by things like a leaf (9.06% shading), electric ca­
cess of a whole string is a huge loss of power which if happens on a larger bles (0.72%), building model (19.82%), and bird model (4.00%), they
scale will cause a non-negligible loss of money and output power. noticed a huge and significant drop in both of the efficiency and fill
Modeling wise, the produced current of a solar cell can be written as factor especially in the building and bird models which indicates that the
in Equation (1) below [29], while the overall leakage current due to the more weird and non-uniform the shape of the shading is the higher its
shading effect can be written as in Equation (2) [30]. Both formulas are effect on the performance even if the shading percentage was not as
used in power loss evaluation and are commonly automated in simu­ high. Fig. 2 displays and compares the I-V curves of the non-uniform
lating, designing, and manufacturing software. shading sources, not to mention that the leaf results are shown for a
[ ( ) ] single leaf which would severely change when the shading is caused by a
V + IRs
I = Iph − I0 exp − 1 − ISH (1) group of leaves, but the comparison focused on the factor of a single
mVT
geometrical shape rather than the numbers, the bird model is similarly
[ ( ( ) )] discussed.
V + IRs V + IRs − n
ISH = 1+A 1 − (2) Plenty of studies have been done to investigate, detect, and analyze
Rsh Vb
the different effects of shading on the performance of PV systems.
Kawamura et al. [33] performed a simulation of PV module with
Where I is the output current, Iph is the photo generated current which is
shaded cells. They studied the changes in I-V curves of the cells and any
also the short circuit current, I0 is the diode saturation current, V is the
output voltage, Rs represents the series resistance, Rsh is the shunt or power loss due to shading. They discussed the change in I-V character­
istics through shifting the Vb or the breakdown voltage of the cells under
parallel resistance, m is the diode’s ideality factor, and VT is the diode’s
( ) shading effect. They reported that the changes in I-V characteristics
thermal voltage which equals to KTqcell where K is the Boltzmann’s were very little.
Dolara et al. [34] and Mahammed et al. [35], experimented and
constant, Tcell is the temperature of the solar cell in K, and q is a single
studied the partial shading effects on mono-crystalline and poly-
electron charge. ISH represents the leakage current, A is the fraction of
crystalline silicon PV modules, and studied the changes in I-V and P-V
ohmic current involved in the breakdown voltage also known as the
curves proving that the corresponding values are significantly decreased
Bishop adjustment coefficient, Vb is the breakdown voltage, and n is
by increasing the shading ratio. Furthermore, Wang Y et al. [36],
another adjustment coefficient called the avalanche breakdown
investigated the shading effects on both flat and tilted roof-mounted PV
exponent.
modules during the brightest day where the results shown that the
Partial and full uniform shading can be caused by inter-row shading
performance, daily production, and the energy efficiency of the tilted
where solar modules tend to block sunlight away from each other when
roof-mounted PV module were more badly affected by shading than that
assembled and designed too close to each other, and percentage of light
of the flat module. Additionally, Kanters et al. [37], performed a para­
blocked or shading caused depends on the tilt angles, module length,
metric study examining technical and economic aspects of PV modules
and the inter-row space of the solar panels [26]. Deline et al. [31],
under mutual shading. They addressed the effect of inclination and row
presented and modeled an analytical approximation of the effect of the
distances where the experimental data showed that the efficiency of the
inter-row shading in large photovoltaics arrays using the system advisor
system increases with increasing the row distance above the 1 m mark.
model (SAM) program as they compared their model with previous
The revenue calculations of PV system installations were done using the
models and experiments to prove their model’s effectiveness. They
amount of energy saved and the received money through supplying
mainly compared the I-V curves and had a maximum error of 1% over
most of the simulation space while having 2% to 6% error for the typical
crystalline silicon modules [31]. Equations (3) and (4) below show the
formulas used for calculating the inter-row space in the design.
( π )
D = H × tan (90 − β) × (3)
180
H = LPV × sin(α) (4)Where D is the inter-row distance or space, H is
the vertical length or height of the solar PV module (opposite length
with respect to the tilt angle), LPV is the actual length of the module
(hypotenuse length with respect to the tilt angle), α is the tilt angle, and
β is the solar elevation angle.
While uniform shading is solved through proper and better design of
the PV arrays, nonuniform shading becomes challenging and harder to
mitigate depending on the environment’s weather and wildlife as the
reasons of the shading can be impossible to 100% prevent them and at
the same time they cause huge damage to the performance of the PV
panel regarding both the power output and the efficiency, unlike the
uniform shading which apparently does not affect the efficiency or the
fill factor of the solar panel but lowers the power produced depending on
Fig. 2. I-V curves of non-uniform sources of shading [32].

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

electrical power to the grid. Rodrigo et al. [38], performed an experi­ system was proven to effectively track the global maximum power point
mental work studying the effect of different shading conditions and under both partial shading conditions and array faults while providing
shading ratios on two high concentrator PV panels as they monitored the the best protection to the PV-integrated microgrid against symmetrical
variations of the obtained I-V curves. Their results showed that the root and unsymmetrical faults. Salem et al. [46], presented an artificial
mean squared errors were lower than 4% for the I-V curves. neural networks (ANN) methodology to detect and assess normal and
Furthermore, several research groups have been developing and partial shading conditions on PV arrays where one ANN agent detects
comparing different passive and active solutions for the partial shading and distinguishes the partial shading from the change in environmental
problem over different setups and scales of solar PV systems. Picault conditions, then two other ANN agents will consequently determine the
et al. [39], presented a novel method for predicting PV systems pro­ shading factors and the number of shaded panels in the array. Mohamed
duction during different weathers and environmental conditions, it et al. [47], proposed four different optimization techniques, which are
simulates the PV arrays with flexible module interconnection arrange­ Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO), Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization-
ments to reduce the mismatching losses and reduce the production losses Gravitational Search Algorithm (PSO-GSA), Moth-Flame Optimization
in general. Additionally, they experimented three different arrange­ (MFO), and Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA). They conducted simulations
ments (series–parallel (SP), total-cross tied (TCT), and the bridge-link and analysis using MATLAB/SIMULINK and then compared them to the
(BL) arrangements) on a 2.2 kWp power plant and succeeded in conventional Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique. Results
raising the maximum output power by up to 4% with a precise fore­ showed that the Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) technique was superior
casting of power production under normal conditions and partial among the rest regarding the speed of convergence and the time needed
shading effects. In details, Sharma et al. [40], discussed several case to extract the global maximum power point (GMPP), while the Hybrid
scenarios and problems caused by the partial shading effect on a solar PV Particle Swarm Optimization-Gravitational Search Algorithm (PSO-
arrays while providing and presenting several solutions using the total- GSA) technique have shown significant stability and tracking efficiency
cross tied (TCT) arrangement. Similar and more complicated solutions in the sensitivity analysis. Behara et al. [48], proposed a modified sine
have been proposed by Tabanjat et al. [41], presented a dynamical- cosine algorithm (MSCA) technique and suggested adjusting the on-time
electrical array rearrangement method using a fuzzy logic estimator. of the boost converter to reach the global maximum power point of a
This method works on isolating and switching off the shaded, dusty, or/ grid-integrated PV system that is under partial shading conditions. They
and faulty panels while automatically modifying the electrical connec­ compared their algorithm to six other techniques, including Genetic
tion of the other healthy solar panels in order to maintain the same Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Grey Wolf Opti­
requested output voltage for the load which will also limit losing further mization (GWO), Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO), Sine Cosine Algo­
power output. They proved their method’s feasibility and effectiveness rithm (SCA), and the Perturb and Observe algorithm (P&O). Results
experimentally as it helped locating the unhealthy panel as well as showed that the MSCA improved considerably compared to the con­
switching off the least number of panels through isolating the unhealthy ventional SCA and performed better compared to the GWO and MFO,
ones. Deshpande et al. [42], discussed the adaptive PV array reconfi­ whereas the P&O remains the least efficient. As an improvement for the
guration method through module position changing and in­ conventional tracking methods, Verma et al. [49], presented a new so­
terconnections switching. While the module position changing is hard to lution for partially shaded solar PV panels using a global maximum
implement and totally not feasible, interconnections reconfigurations is power point tracking algorithm based on asymmetrical interval type-2
possible by using high number of power electronics like microcontrollers fuzzy logic control (IT-2 AFLC) as a modification to the conventional
and switches. Many Different optimization techniques can be used, but Perturb and Observe algorithm to eradicate its huge disadvantage of
the researchers specifically chose to use the Ant colony system to pro­ tracking and fluctuating around the first encountered maximum point,
vide optimum solutions for multi-shading problems, as well as requiring they also implemented several PV array configurations like the ser­
lower computational efforts for solutions reconstructions when ies–parallel (SP), honey comb (HC), total-cross tied (TCT).
compared to other optimization techniques [42]. On a smaller and a Thus, active solutions that include power electronics and maximum
single module scale, from a design point of view, Fei Lu et al. [43], power tracking methods are the most accurate and efficient methods
suggested that changing the layout of the wafers or the cells within the that provide proactive and automatic solutions leading to reduction of
PV module itself can help in minimizing partial shading effects and they power loss and highest maintenance of performance, but such solutions
proposed two different complex configurations utilizing half wafers ar­ are currently too expensive to be implemented in large and utility scale
rangements, then compared them and their feasibility to the normal and projects which is where the production variation matters more than that
common configuration used nowadays. Simulations confirmed the of the smaller scale projects, it also requires a lot of mechanical main­
effectiveness and the noticeable improvement in the module’s overall tenance and continuous monitoring due to its complex systems and
performance under partial shading, but the soldering issue will highly connections. on the other hand, passive and simple solutions like bypass
increase when assembling the modules which decreases the possibility diodes did not exhibit considerable improvements and huge differences
of using such methods in utility scale and mass productions as the per­ when compared to the other solutions, unless a single bypass diode per
centage of error and cost will significantly increase. solar cell is considered which is unfortunately unpractical due to its high
Shaiek et al. [44], studied the shading, solar radiation variation, and cost. Table 1 below discusses and compares the advantages and disad­
temperature effect on the I-V and P-V characteristics of solar PV systems vantages of the previously mentioned shading solutions. Both of these
in order to compare the conventional maximum power point tracking conclusions have led recent research to go further in the reconfiguration
methods to the genetic algorithm (GA) approach. They concluded that field where both solutions are optimized financially and technically, as it
the conventional Perturb and Observe algorithm (P&O) and the Incre­ is more likely for manufacturers to adjust and change the interior design
mental of Conductance algorithm (IncCond), fail to get the global and connections of the cells in a panel rather than implementing costly
maximum power point if the PV panels are partially shaded as they only diodes on each cell, or implement microcontrollers and switches that can
succeed in detecting the first maximum point encountered whether its rearrange the interconnections between panels to perfectly locate,
global or local regardless of the scenario. Though genetic algorithm (GA) isolate, and switch off the unhealthy panels while maintaining the
approach on the other hand, have succeeded to extract the global peak needed power through different connections.
or maximum power point at all times and under the same conditions that
forced the conventional algorithms to fail. Similarly, Manohar et al. Soiling effect
[45], presented an accurate alternative for the conventional tracking
methods which is a sine cosine optimization algorithm (SCA) with an Soiling effect is the gathering of any dust, snow, dirt, and other
artificial neural network (ANN) based protection system. The proposed particles on the active surface of a PV device in different sizes and

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

Table 1
Comparison between the common, recent, and most advanced shading mitigation techniques [39-50].
Solution type Description Benefits Drawback

Topology Designing and manufacturing alternative wafers • High overall performance, • Complicated setups,
reconfigurations within a single PV module. • Low maintenance, • Coupling issues,
• Low operational cost. • Soldering issues,
• High manufacturing/ capital cost.
Passive elements Multiple Bypass Diodes per module.One Bypass Diode • High performance when implemented as one diode • High cost when implemented as one
per cell. per cell, Diode per Cell,
• Low cost and relatively good performance under • Relatively low module performance
certain conditions when implemented as 1–3 diodes when implemented otherwise, (1–3
per module, diodes per module).
• Easy and non-complicated installation and
assessment,
• Low operational cost,
• Low maintenance required.
Active elements GMPPT algorithms and optimization systems: GA, SCA, • Significantly high accuracy, • High capital cost for best performance,
MSCA, GWO, PSO, hybrid PSO-GSA, P&O, IncCond, • Considerable increase in overall performance, • High operational cost,
MFO, SSA, ANN, and FLC systems. • Relatively good cost when using single axis tracking • Requires high mechanical
or conventional algorithms. maintenance,
• Requires continuous electrical and
logical/coding monitoring.
PV array Shifting and changing the interconnections between • Significantly high accuracy, • High capital cost,
Reconfiguration the solar PV panels and arrays into different • Significant increase in overall performance, • High operational cost,
configurations like: • Ability to locate, isolate, and switch off the faulty or • Coupling issues,
• Series-Parallel (SP), shaded panels, • Requires electrical and logical
• Honeycomb (HC), • Ability to completely avoid power loss and monitoring.
• Bridge Link (BL), performance drop in case of shading through
• Total-cross tied (TCT). rearranging and changing interconnections,
Using power electronics switches and microcontrollers • Ability to maintain the required overall load voltage
with optimization techniques like: even under shading effects,
• Particle Swarm Optimization, • Relatively good cost when using simpler algorithms
• Scanning algorithm, and configurations.
• Best and Worth Sorting Algorithm,
• Rough set theory,
• irradiance equalization principle,
• Well-known subset sum problem,
• Ant colony optimization technique.

shapes. Such accumulation causes the formation of a thin screen or cover (power and radiation) when compared to the larger dust particles like
over the solar cells decreasing or totally blocking the coming sun light limestone. While comparing the same type of dust particles, finer par­
[51-53]. Thus, soiling falls under the shading category, as it mainly ticles have higher potential of reducing the inter-particle gap and block
blocks the solar radiation from reaching the solar cells and can have the more sun light, thus, their impact is much greater than coarser particles.
same dangerous mismatch and hot-spot effects on the solar PV system Adıgüzel et al. [57], performed an experimental work in Aegean region,
except they are harder to deal with, require immediate cleaning or Turkey. They studied the effect of dust particle size and weight on the
removal, and can occur in a much larger scale at the same time over the efficiency of poly-crystalline and mono-crystalline silicon solar PV
whole power plant due to environmental and wildlife reasons or desert panels. They developed an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System
locations. (ANFIS) model used for predicting such effects and estimate the effects
According to Maghami et al. [54], soiling effect or dust accumula­ on the power produced. Additionally, they evaluated and compared the
tions have several types including soil/sand, clay, bacteria, and carbon, model’s results with the experimental results (which were under stan­
they can be affected by several environmental factors such as wind dard testing conditions) through root mean square error and the coef­
movements and directions, medium temperature, irradiations, air’s ficient of determination and both indicated that the ANFIS model was
pollution and pressure, dust/sand storms, volcano activities, snow fall, quite successful. Kale et al. [58], studied different shapes, lightness, and
and humidity. They also mentioned the location-related factors densities of dust particles on the performance of a solar PV module
including whether it is a sandy or an industrial area as well as the through conducting a synthetic experiment and simulating the I-V and P-
longitude and the latitude of the site, installation factors have their ef­ V characteristics. Andrea et al. [59], conducted an experimental study in
fect in several ways as the orientation, tilt angle, height, and the glass the tropical region of Arusha, Tanzania. They studied the effects of
material will all determine the dust accumulation percentage over the accumulating different types of industrial dust like coal dust, aggregate
PV modules. crusher dust, gypsum industry dust, and organic fertilizer industry dust
Different densities, sizes, and other physical properties of dust have on a polycrystalline silicon PV module under three different values of
different impacts on the radiation received by the solar PV panel. El- solar irradiances. They observed a maximum module efficiency loss of
Shobokshy et al. [55], studied the effect of dust on the performance of 64%, 42%, 30%, and 29% for the dust types, respectively, concluding
a concentrator PV cells. They addressed the relationship between the that the coal was the most harmful on the PV performance. Chanchangi
dust accumulation density and the direct reduction in the performance et al. [60], performed an indoor analytical experiment on the effect of 13
characteristics like the Isc, maximum power, cell temperature, and the different samples of dust including wood dust, stone dust, sandy soil,
overall conversion efficiency. Later on, in their detailed dust effects salt, loam soil, laterite, coarse sand, clay, charcoal, cement, carpet dust,
research [56], they studied the impact of different physical properties of bird droppings, and ash through wet and dry depositing them on two
dust on the performance of solar PV cells mainly referring to the different PV surface materials which are acrylic plastic and low iron
maximum power and the radiation received reduction. They concluded glass. Results and comparisons have shown that dust particles can cause
that dust particles with smaller size like engine exhaust particles (car­ a degradation of PV performance for up to 98% which was caused by the
bon) and cement, result in a much larger reduction in performance charcoal dust, low iron glass PV surfaces accumulates loess dust than the

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

acrylic plastic one, and dry deposition processes retains less particles on and soiling effects for four months on the performance of a PV system
surfaces when compared to wet deposition. Shi et al. [61], performed a installed in northern Chile providing the different dust sizes of the used
lab experimental work studying the effects of dust and sand under high samples from the selected sites, and their results concluded and showed
velocity on the performance of 330 crystalline PV modules manufac­ an output reduction of about 55%.
tured in the years between 2015 and 2019 and were provided by 53 Regarding ASIA’s research projects in this matter, Mani et al. [74],
different manufacturers in America, China, India, Japan, and other addressed and discussed the literature on this matter after the year of
countries, they also studied their effects on the performance bypass di­ 1960 providing the research status up to 2010 in several continents.
odes. Their results proved and certified that the PV manufacturing in­ They identified the environmental factors affecting the PV systems along
dustry is under consistent and continuous performance improvement with the challenges and finally suggested best techniques and ways for
regarding sand and dust deposition effects especially under high wind cleaning for different climate zones and characteristics. Mekhilef et al.
velocities [61]. While other research groups were trying to simply clean [75], investigated the effect of dust particles like bacteria, fungi, pollens,
the modules in order to decrease the negative effects of dust deposition, vehicular, and volcanic activity, as well as the effect of humidity and air
Li et al. [62], proposed a new perspective that allows the solar PV velocity on each other and on the performance of PV panels. Jiang et al.
module to benefit from a light focusing effect caused by the deposition of [76], performed experimental work in China on the impact of airborne
dust concluded by studying the optical and physical properties of the dust deposition and their results showed that a soil accumulation layer
dust and PV surface materials and their possible interactions. Through grew from 0 to 22 g/cm2 have caused a PV efficiency reduction from 0 to
their numerical results which proved that this effect could make the 26%. Pande et al. [77], studied the effects of dust, mud, and talcum
solar radiation coming to the solar PV panel up to 10 times stronger, they deposition on PV glass and its performance, recording an 18% peak
suggested a solar glass thickness reduction to 1.5 mm, and designing power reduction caused by dust and proving that mud and talcum both
special cladding structures to exploit such effect for assembling a more affect the PV systems differently. Ju et al. [78], proposed three phases of
efficient PV modules. Lu et al. [63], performed a numerical study of the investigation which are planning, development, and operation phase in
behavior of poly-dispersed dust and its effect on a roof-mounted solar PV order to study in details the effects of dust accumulation for a period of 1
system, they used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to year on the performance of PV panels in China and compared the results
simulate the scenarios for different dust particle sizes and various wind taken in dry and rainy seasons which showed that there was a reduction
velocities. The concluded that the particle sizes significantly affect the in performance of 0.95 and 0.98, respectively. Yerli et al. [79], studied
deposition process as its rate has significantly increased with higher the performance of a 750 Wp PV system under the climatic conditions of
wind velocities. The authors reported a maximum dust deposition rate of Istanbul, Turkey, and addressed the effects of dust, dirt, and tempera­
11.45% at a wind velocity of 5 m/s. ture. Kobayashi et al. [80], performed experiments in Tokyo, Japan on
Ghazi et al. [64], reviewed and investigated the dust distribution the effects of dirt adhesion on the surface of a small 11 W PV module
pattern in several regions of the world concluding that the Middle East which contains 34 cells that were cut to 4 quarters each, each quarter
and North Africa (MENA) region had the worst dusting and soiling zones with a side of 103 mm. The results showed that an output power
in the world. Sarver et al. [65], done a comprehensive and detailed re­ reduction of 50% occurred when a 3% of the area was covered with dirt,
view paper that introduced the key contributions in almost seven de­ they also showed a good progress and improvement when different
cades to the understanding of the dusting and soiling problems, their shapes of cells were used. Ullah et al. [81], performed experimental
effects on PV performance, and the possible mitigating techniques. work on the effect of soiling and dust chemistry regarding the perfor­
Different regions in the world have gained location-specific attention mance of PV panels in Lahore, Pakistan. They found a soiling rate of
regarding the dusting and soiling problems like America [66-73], Asia 0.8% per day and a dust accumulation rate of 0.01 mg/cm2 per day for a
[74-82], Middle East and North Africa [83-98], and Europe [74,99-102]. PV panel at a 30◦ tilt angle, they also compared the bi-facial to the mono-
In the USA, most research projects were done with the participation facial PV panels and found that they have similar soiling rates, and
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research finally they suggested an optimum cleaning schedule of once and thrice
and development departments. Anagnostou et al. [66], tested the per­ a week. Aritra Ghosh [102], addressed India’s poor air quality and
formance of PV cells under hot-dry, hot-humid, sea-air, tropical rain several factors affecting soiling losses or dust deposition, they recorded
forests, urban industrial, and urban clean conditions for an up to 1 year that the dust particle’s nature, morphology, and size varies from loca­
of exposure periods. Hoffman et al. [67], tested PV modules in the tion to another and differently affects the solar PV performance, they
laboratory for field-related problems such as encapsulate delaminating recorded that any increase in tilt angle, wind velocity, or heavy rain
and surface soiling or dusting. Additionally, later on in their other showers will lower the dust deposition which contradicts with Lu et al.
research, Hoffman et al. [71], investigated the environmental variables [63] regarding the wind velocity point, which indicates that the wind
that could increase the dust accumulation effect through outdoor and angle hitting the solar panels has a huge effect on the dust deposition as
laboratory experiments, providing that the outdoor exposure for longer it can decrease or increase the solar PV technologies’ performance.
durations in the most effective and accurate way for soiling evaluation Aritra also suggests further investigations and studies regarding the ef­
processes. They concluded several electrical and physical results that fect of dust deposition on the module temperature.
very effectively drove the mitigating processes development regarding The MENA region is considered one of the first regions regarding
materials and techniques even in the natural solutions. Forman et al. solar irradiance capabilities which attracts solar related projects, yet
[68], evaluated and discussed the physical and electrical changes that they are also considered as one of the worse regions regarding dust
occurred on a 25 kW PV module array for 18 months due to different accumulation which is one of the biggest problems for solar projects,
weathering and soiling effects. In their theoretical research [72], therefore, massive work must be done and developed in this regard.
Edward F. Cuddihy described postulated and known methods of soil Salim et al. [83], studied the effects of long-term dusting and soiling on
retention on PV surfaces. Ryan et al. [69], studied the degradation of an installed PV system of 24.6◦ tilted arrays near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
solar PV arrays due to dusting and soiling effects for 6 years and then compared its monthly reduction of energy with an identical clean
concluded that dirty solar arrays degrade or have their performance array of PV modules. At the end of eight months, the soiled array
indicators reduce around 1.4% every year. Hammond et al. [70], reached a 32% of energy output reduction. Although the soiled arrays
addressed and studied the effects on soiling and dusting including bird were exposed to rainfall for four month of winter season, the energy
droppings for periods of time from 16 months to 5 years, concluding output improvement was less than 2%. Al- Addous et al. [84], performed
through their experimental results of power loss that soiling effect in­ experimental work on the effect of dust accumulation on different PV
creases with the increase of incident tilt angle. Olivares et al. [73], technologies in Jordan and proposed a soiling modeling and quantifying
investigated and evaluated the adverse impacts of dust accumulation method using an error equation called soiling loss index that compared

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the irradiance received between a dirty and a clean solar module, then mitigations and solutions regarding dusting problem on different parts
they performed economic analysis to determine the best cleaning in­ of the world backed up with experimental data and validations,
vestments return and cleaning schedules. Sahouane et al. [95] and describing the complexity of the problem due to humidity, temperature,
Memiche et al. [96], evaluated the energy efficiency and output power and wind speed directly and indirectly enhancing or affecting it. They
loss of different PV systems under desertic environmental conditions for defined and classified three different dust or soil layers that can be dealt
different durations in the Algerian Sahara. Hachicha et al. [94], con­ with differently with various challenges and respective methods:
ducted indoor and outdoor experimental investigations to characterize
dust samples and understand their effect on the electrical performance A. Layer A, the most challenging layer and the base or primary one on
of a solar PV modules with different tilt angles under the environmental the glass or surface cover of the PV panel, it cannot be removed by
conditions of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The indoor experiments rainfall, normal washing, and/or adhesive tape. It can only be
showed a linear relationship between the dust density and the normalize cleaned off through abrasive and hard scrubbing.
PV power with a decreasing slope of 1.7% per g/m2 which was sup­ B. Layer B, considered as a secondary type of layer which cannot be
ported and validated by the outdoor experiments, they also found that removed by rain, but can be cleaned by washing and adhesive tape.
the dust accumulation with respect to the clean module can be a func­ C. Layer C, the easiest layer and considered as the top surface layer and
tion of the tilt angle as the tilt angles of 0◦ , 25◦ , and 45◦ , the dust can be removed by rain, and its depth is dependent on rain pattern so
accumulation increases from 0 to 37.63%, 14.11%, and 10.95%, whatever is not removed by rain is considered as layer C type of soil.
respectively and separately. For a period of over 5 months, their outdoor
experiments revealed a 12.7% increase in soiling losses with a 5.44 g/m2 Additionally, AlDowsari et al. mentioned a number of requirements
increase in dust density. Katsaounis et al. [97], proposed a device and properties that needs to be taken into consideration when consid­
simulator that can provide accurate prediction of the energy yield and ering coating methods, including PV panel’s surface hardness or
performance of solar PV modules through local climate data, solar ra­ smoothness, Hydrophobicity degree of the surface, Low-surface energy,
diation spectrum, and temperature measurements. The simulation data Assuring the surface is chemically clean of any sticky materials, and
were validated through outdoor experimental measurements conducted chemically clean of any water-soluble salts or first-period elements.
on several PV technologies under the weather conditions of the western They also mentioned few general environmental requirements for low
region of Saudi Arabia. Gholami et al. [103], provided a comprehensive soiling like not having organic vapors with high airborne nature, and
literature review regarding the weather conditions in Iran, potential PV specific details on the requirements of the relative and dew humidity
developments, and the effects of dusting on the performance of PV with with the frequency of rainfalls in the environment.
a focus on the origins of dust and its optical and physical properties, then Oehler et al. [107], performed an outdoor experimental work on the
they conducted a review on possible solutions and cleaning methods. performance of two different transparent hydrophobic coating layers
under the coastal Denmark’s environmental conditions for 24 weeks
Mitigation techniques through comparing the performance of uncoated and coated glass cou­
Several possible solutions and mitigation techniques have been pons, regularly cleaned coupons every 4 weeks (which showed signifi­
proposed and they can be classified and distributed as shown in Fig. 3. cant transmittance restorations), and accelerated lab tests while
While the natural and manual cleaning methods are obvious and easy to providing detailed and constant follow of the coupon’s status and con­
implement or abuse, active cleaning and passive cleaning methods are ditions over time regarding surface blister, reduction of film thickness,
under constant research and development. The super hydrophobic sur­ fluorine losses and general surface chemistry changes, and any post-
face or plane method depends on a chemical layer that has special cleaning abrasion damage. The first coating layer (Coating A) is a
properties like low wettability that allows it to repulse dust particles commercial per-fluorinated silane coating layer with the para-chloro-
because of the lotus effect, such property forces water droplets to never benzo-tri-fluoride material as solvent, and it was applied through spray
stack on the surface of a PV module which assists in the cleaning process coating method. The second coating layer (Layer B) is a non-commercial
and during rainfall. However, the Super hydrophilic surface or plane or research coating made from hexamethyldisilazane (also known as Bis
method is the exact opposite of the hydrophobic one as it attracts water (trimethylsilyl)amine) with functionalized silica nanoparticles that in­
instead of repelling it which allows different particles to slide over the creases surface roughness allowing the material to remain the hydro­
water and never get stuck on the surface of the panel. The electrostatic phobicity property even if the surface of the coating was damaged, and it
shield method requires electrical supply and dry weather conditions, it was applied through the sol–gel dip coating method. They observed
allows the screen covering the solar panel to generate electrostatic field cementation on all coupons due to the salty and humid environmental
that repels most of the dust particles and prevents their deposition on the conditions combined with light rainfall and evaporation cycles. They
surface [104]. suggested that building up of cementation can be reduced through
AlDowsari et al. [106], provided a detailed review on different coatings with high abrasion resistance and super-hydrophobic nature

Fig. 3. Mitigation Techniques [105].

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with low roll-off and high water-contact angles. Similarly, Glaubitt et al. module as a reference. Their results have shown a significant reduction
[108], developed and tested the performance of a nano-porous SiO2 in soiling losses from 16% to 33% for a 9 kVP hourly operation, but no
coating material with silica nanoparticles that was characterized observable results were detected under 6 kVP hourly operation, which
through scanning electrons microscopy and applied using the sol–gel encourages further research on larger samples for longer testing dura­
coating technique. They have shown the effect of nano-porous matrix, tions. Bone et al. [115], provided a detailed modeling optimization and a
particle’s density, and relative humidity on the performance of the good research foundation for improving the electrical and optical con­
coating and concluded with their coating’s potential validity in various figurations of the electrodes used in the electrodynamic screens or
applications in both solar thermal and solar PV due to their improved shields. Hiroyuki Kawamoto [116], developed a detachable cleaning
transmittance and significant dust-repelling nature. Pan et al. [109], device that utilizes electrodynamic forces in cleaning strongly adhered
performed experimental work on the dust deposition reduction effi­ dust particles through applying high AC voltage across the parallel
ciency of three different coatings which are hydrophobic silica sol, screen electrodes which would be above the solar panels. They proposed
ethanol solution enhanced by SiO2 nano-particles, and silica sol three countermeasures for further cleaning improvements including
enhanced by SiO2 nano-particles coatings and compared them with adjustable operational scheme, improvement of electrode configura­
respect to bare glass under same conditions while studying their dust tions, and airflow utilization, such technology can improve the opera­
deposition’s microscopic pattern and density, as well as the effect on tional efficiencies of utility-scale PV projects in the deserts. In their other
spectral transmittance and the degradation of PV efficiency. The results research paper [117], Hiroyuki Kawamoto developed a similar device
showed that the silica sol with enhanced SiO2 nano-particles achieved that instead utilizes electrostatic forces, consumes less power and highly
the highest spectral transmittance, lowest reduction of PV performance, efficient and can be used in the same operational consequences.
and the lowest dust deposition density, as the samples achieved a 51.4%, Chen et al. [118], performed an experimental work to investigate the
38.6%, and 36.1% of the bare glass’s dust deposition density under 60 relationships between the cleaning efficiency and the morphological
min of dust exposure and with a glass tilt angle of 30◦ . Oh et al. [110], parameters of the PV surface comparing five different alumina oxide
performed indoor and outdoor experimental work to evaluate the anti- surfaces concluding that the cleaning efficiency or the dust removal
reflection and anti-soiling properties of a silica-based coating through effectiveness is highly dependent on the brush size, particle size, sur­
studying the power improvements and soiling mitigations on a solar PV face’s morphology, and textures. Hossain et al. [119], designed, devel­
panel under the environmental conditions of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The oped, and experimentally investigated an automatic PV self-cleaning
coating was applied through manually sweeping the solution using a system that utilizes phase change material based thermal energy storage
bar, they performed outdoor experiments to evaluate the anti-reflection system to increase the electrical performance of the PV panels. They
coating property, they observed a 2.56% of average power output studied the performance of the system under varying material flow rate
improvement, while performed indoor experiments to evaluate the anti- of 0.5–4 L/min for a PV system that would have 9.89% electrical effi­
soiling coating property through artificial soiling tests and observed a ciency without the installed system, they concluded that a maximum
3.85% of soiling effect reduction. Zhang et al. [111], performed an in­ thermal efficiency of 77.60% was obtained at 2 L/min while a maximum
door experimental study to evaluate the performance of a super- optimized PV electrical efficiency of 11.91% was obtained at 4 L/min.
hydrophobic coating consisting of organic silicon resin and ethanol, Similarly, Zainuddin et al. [120], developed and tested a smart self-
enhanced with SiO2 nano-particles on polycrystalline solar PV panel cleaning system that can monitor the generated electrical power and
glass through comparing its’ dust deposition density. For test apparatus can take instructions and be controlled through internet of things mobile
and procedures, they used a computerized closed chamber with a dust application, their results revealed a 22% reduction of PV performance
generator, a fan, and a particle counter, the tests lasted for 60 min due to the external resistance. Al Qdah et al. [121], developed a self-
comparing different tilt angles of 30◦ , 45◦ , and 60◦ . The results shown cleaning system for Medina, Saudi Arabia conditions, it is to be pow­
that the increase in tilt angle decreases the dust deposition density. ered by the PV system itself and uses a wiper and water jet, then they
OH Attia [112], developed a wind-powered PV surface dust removal compared the PV efficiency for a clean and a dirty PV panel under two
technique using mechanical vibrators powered by wind energy and different solar irradiances. Their results showed that under 805 W/m2
attached to the PV panel, it cleans the surface through generating har­ irradiance, there was 4.78% increase in the electrical efficiency (from
monic excitation forces that overcomes the adhesion force between the 9% to 13.78%) of the solar panel while under 460 W/m2 irradiance,
dust particles and the panel. They used different performance indication there was a 5.3% increase (from 7.3% to 12.6%). Sugiartha et al. [122],
parameters like the dust removal index and different experimental and developed a semi-automatic wiper controlled cleaning system that uti­
analysis methodologies such as the response surface methodology and lizes a DC motor to power the automatic movement of the wiper with
the analysis of variance. They concluded that their mechanical vibrator manual buttons for extra control over the rotation direction of the wiper,
system has a cleaning efficiency of 91% when compared to the then they compared their system by number of wiper’s swept repetitions
demonstrative electric vibrator system and for the same dust cleaning to an initially cleaned panel. Their results showed that for a 10, 20, and
quantity. Du et al. [113], performed simulations using FLUENT and 30 repetitions, the system delivered 57.0%, 79.1%, and 86.7% of the
validated using experimental results on the effectiveness of using tur­ performance of the clean solar panel. Al-Housani et al. [123], performed
bulent airflow to clean the dust off of solar panels and analyzed the several experiments and economic analysis to compare five different
mechanics behind the adhesion of fine dust particles on surfaces like samples and find the best suitable, efficient, and economically profitable
solar PV under dry and wet conditions. They used the Monte Carlo cleaning method and frequency. They compared the cleaning methods
Method to calculate the critical shear velocity, which was related to the of a brush or a microfiber cloth as well as an added vacuum cleaner with
dust particles characteristics, then they designed a special expansion both options. The authors compared them to a reference panel with no
nozzle with multiple cavities in series. cleaning methods installed, all the samples had a cadmium-telluride PV
Few studies have been done on the electrodynamic shields or panel with maximum power point tracking system and were in a dusty
screens; thus, further attention and research is advised. Guo et al. [114], and a rocky area in the western part of Doha, Qatar. Their results showed
carried out field tests under the mild winter and warm spring conditions that both of the microfiber-based cloth wiper methods (with and without
of Doha, Qatar for 6 months to evaluate their fabricated PV prototype the vacuum cleaner) had the best performance as they improved the
with integrated electrodynamic shield electrodes, they insulated the performance by 6% with respect to the reference sample under the
electrodes using a cover of polymer dielectric, then they compared the weekly cleaning frequency, but from an economic point of view, the
soiling losses, cleanliness, relative humidity, and the cleanliness index microfiber cloth with a vacuum cleaner is too expensive; thus, the best
change rate under activation and deactivation of the electrodynamic system was the microfiber cloth wiper cleaning system taking into
shield from two fabricated PV samples with respect to a non-changed PV consideration the cost and improvement differences. Additionally, they

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compared the daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning frequencies and Table 2
found that the weekly one is the most efficient one. Tiwari et al. [124], Comparison between different dust and soiling mitigation techniques [105,125].
conducted experiments and simulations to study the technical and Mitigating Description Benefits Drawback
economic efficiency of an indigenously developed PV dust self-cleaning Technique
system on a 1 KW roof-top solar PV panel in an industrial town in Bhilai, Natural Dependence on • Relatively • Site dependent,
India. Their results showed a 5 kWh of daily generated power, a 4% Cleaning natural events like efficient for • Depends on
generation reduction per day, generating 106 kWh per month rainfall, Wind, certain weather and
concluding a return on investment time of 2.75 years [124]. Table 2 snow, and gravity installments natural events,
with the under certain • Unpredictable,
below compares between all of the previously mentioned soiling and utilization of dust deposition • Not efficient for
dust mitigation techniques. factors like tilt densities. smaller dust
angles, without the • Cost free. particles.
Weather and ambient conditions effect use of any sort of
added technology.
Manual Manpower’s • Guaranteed • High cost due
Just like any semiconductor-based device, solar PV panels are highly Cleaning utilization of basic 100% cleaning to labor costs,
sensitive to weather and ambient changes. Different weather conditions cleaning efficiency, • High water
affect the characteristics of the solar PV panel differently but due to their equipment like • Performed on consumption
water, brush, command and causing
high effect on dust deposition over the solar panels, temperature, hu­
cloth, cleaning whenever problems for
midity, and wind velocity effects in many case studies are discussed as chemicals, and needed, arid areas,
secondary effects and solved through mitigations of soiling effect thus, ladders. • Higher chances
there are no sufficient specified studies for them especially for humidity for errors like
and wind velocity effects. Increase in solar radiation and ambient tem­ the occurrences
of scratches.
perature increases the module temperature which affects the I-V char­
Mechanical Utilization of • Reduces the • Requires high
acteristics in many ways as it slightly and negligibly increases the short Cleaning mechanical parts manual labor mechanical
circuit current values but has a huge effect of reduction on the values of like a wiper, costs, maintenance,
open circuit voltage and output power which is mainly due to the blower, • Automatic and • Consumes from
mechanically on-command the produced
increased concentrations of carriers causing an increase in their internal
controllable brush, activation, power,
recombination, such reductions will reduce the fill factor and the effi­ motor, gear, • Provides both of • High capital
ciency of the solar PV module [26,126,127]. Fig. 4 shows the effect of chains, and basic cleaning cost.
different module temperature values on I-V curves which also indicates sensors, with the and scrubbing,
the change in the maximum power values and the fill factor [128]. use of • Recorded a
microcontrollers maximum
Regarding other weather and ambient conditions, increasing wind
like the efficiency of
velocity and rainfall causes opposite results as it decreases the module’s programmable 95%.
temperature and eventually increases the overall performance of the PV intelligent
panel [26]. The direct relationship between the relative humidity and computer and the
the ambient temperature has a similarly high effect on the PV perfor­ programmable
logic controller.
mance, as PV modules tend to perform better under lower values of Electrodynamic Utilizes • No water • High capital
relative humidity. Absolute humidity, however, indicates the possibility Screens/ programmable requirement, cost,
of water droplets formation on the PV surface which can cause solar Shields logic • Highly effective • Transparent
arrays reflecting away from the module and can help in dust deposition microcontrollers and fast screen is less
and sensors use cleaning durable,
and eventually block light from being received by the solar panel. Tijjani
high voltage input process, • Highly
et al. [129], performed detailed experimental work on the effect of in generating • Can be dependent on
humidity on a Dp-Li21 polycrystalline PV panel’s temperature and their electrodynamic or automatically or relative
effect on its current, voltage, output power, and efficiency, under the electrostatic forces manually humidity,
weather conditions of Nigeria. Their results showed that the current through a highly controlled, • Not efficient for
transparent front • No mechanical smaller dust
production is maximum for temperature values between 42 ◦ C and 45 ◦ C screen. components, particles.
with a humidity below 35%, voltage production is found to be stable for • Consumes less
temperature and humidity below 42 ◦ C and 60%, respectively, while the power,
power production is maximum at a temperature of 45 ◦ C and fairly • Recorded a
maximum
stable for humidity values below 40%. Similarly, Ettah et al. [130],
efficiency of
studied the effect of relative humidity on the current, voltage, and ef­ 90%.
ficiency of solar panels in Calabar, Nigeria concluding that current Robotic Utilization of • Automatically • High cost,
values increase for low relative humidity values between 69% and 75% Cleaning microcontrollers provides both of • Slow cleaning
as well as voltage values which decreases with the decrease of relative and Arduino to basic cleaning operations,
control equipment and scrubbing, • Filters has to be
humidity up to 70%–75% where it stabilizes. Tan et al. [131], studied like a motor, • Efficient and replaced
the effect of moisture creation on the performance of the solar PV panels brush, sensors, accurate water regularly.
concluding that the reliability weakness of the PV panels is mainly sprays, and filters. requirement,
depending on the packaging of the PV panel. Panjwani et al. [132], • Wireless control
and monitoring,
found a 55%–60% decrease in solar PV efficiency or performance from
• Rechargeable.
70% humidity through their experimental analysis. Additionally, Kazem Passive Cleaning Utilization of • No power • Limited
et al. [133], done experimental studies on the effect of humidity and water for easier requirements, lifetime,
found similar results to the ones of the previously discussed papers. cleaning processes • Considered as • Possible
Mekhilef et al. [75], and Park et al. [134], studied in details the different of a chemically improvements reduction of
prepared surface for the Natural optical
effects of humidity, temperature, and wind velocity and their correlation coatings with Cleaning performances.
with each other as well as dusting problems. Additionally, Xu et al. hydrophobic or method,
[135], studied through experiments and simulations the effects of dust (continued on next page)
deposition on the temperature of the solar PV panels under lighting and

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Table 2 (continued ) focused on certain cleaning technologies like ground-coupled central


Mitigating Description Benefits Drawback cooling system [141], or focused on certain PV technologies like dye-
Technique sensitized solar cells [142], or concentrated solar PV [143]. Sahay
hydrophilic • Recorded a
et al. [141], provided a comprehensive review on the efficiencies of
properties. maximum different solar cooling systems and did special testing of the ground-
efficiency of coupled central panel cooling system through the smoke flow visuali­
75%. zation method then analyzed the collected data using the analysis of
variance technique to conclude that this system have significantly
increased the performance and the efficiency of the solar PV system and
it is a good way to go for such problems. Royne et al . [143], conducted
special examinations and thermal analysis on several concentrating PV
systems and classified them by geometry, they concluded that single-cell
arrangements do not need more than the passive cooling techniques
even for high radiation concentrations, while an active cooling system
with a thermal resistance of less than 10-4 K.m2/W for a densely packed
cells with a concentration higher than 150 suns.
Cooling technologies can be classified into water- and air- based
cooling using different technologies which are similar to the dust
removal and soil mitigation techniques as identical works have been
done for temperature reduction purposes like natural air circulations,
forced air circulations [144-152], hydraulic cooling, heat pipes [153-
156], cooling enhancement through phase change materials [157-165],
thermoelectric cooling [166-169], forced water circulation [170-177],
Fig. 4. I-V curves under module temperatures of 25 ◦ C, 45 ◦ C, and 65 ◦ C [128]. heat sinks [178,179], water immersion cooling [180-186], transparent
coating [187-189], floating tracking concentrating cooling [190-195],
windy conditions in a desertic environment concluding that the dust water spraying, and thermal collectors [196-202]. All the works per­
deposition problem significantly increases the upper and the lower formed regular testing and experiments on utilizing such technologies
surface temperatures of the module even way higher than the ambient differently for temperature reduction and cooling of PV panels, and/or
temperature, while increasing wind velocities exponentially decreases heating domestic water as well as further investigations and develop­
the maximum temperature of the PV module. Their simulation results of ment for certain technologies and phase change materials, obtaining
the external electromagnetic field for a plane wave irradiated spherical similar conclusions and results. Table 3 compares between different
particle showed that dust deposition can cause light convergence which techniques as solutions to temperature and humidity effects with utili­
results in increasing and enhancing the light intensity which will in­ zation of natural and artificial wind velocities.
crease the current produced but will significantly heat the solar panel Wu et al. [203], studied utilizing gas expansion devices for distrib­
causing an inverse relationship reducing the overall solar PV uting cooling water from rainfalls over the PV cells and studied its
performance. possibility and effectiveness for house or indoor applications through
Correlations between various weather conditions and module tem­ studying the gas chamber sizes, solar radiation variation, and gas
perature can be generally studied through analyzing the technical effect expansion. They proposed a heat transfer model to evaluate the system
of temperature on the performance of PV panels. Equations (5), (6), and and observed that the PV cells’ temperature was reduced by up to 8.3%.
(7) below show the relationships between a PV cell temperature with its Popovici et al. [178], examined the utilization of heat sinks for air
efficiency, output power, and open circuit voltage, respectively [136]. cooling a PV panel and achieved a temperature reduction of 100 ◦ C with
[ ] an efficiency increase from 6.76% to 7.55%. A heat pipe utilizes a pipe
ηC = ηref 1 − βref (TC − Tref ) (5) with high thermal conductivity to transfer energy of a fluid from the
( ) source to the sink using evaporation and condensation. In this tech­
G nique, reduced temperature and improved efficiency could be achieved
Pmax = Pmax(STC) [1 + (TC (Pmax , G))×(TC − 25) ] (6)
1000W/m2 by converting the heat in the panel to water or air. An experiment was
( ) conducted using a heat pipe array by circulating water and air for PV
VOC = VOC(STC) [1 + (TC (VOC , G))×(TC − 25) ] + (TC (G)) × ln
G cooling. The experiment revealed a reduction in temperature by 4.7 ◦ C
1000W/m2
and power improvement by 8.4% for air-cooling, while for water cool­
(7) ing, the temperature reduced by 8 ◦ C and the power output increased by
13.9%. Fig. 5 shows a schematic of heat pipe for air cooling/water-
Where ηC and ηref are the cell and reference efficiencies, TC, Tref, and βref cooling {Dwivedi, 2020 #50}.
are the cell temperature, reference cell temperature, and the tempera­ Amelia et al. [152], examined a cooling system that consists of four
ture coefficient, respectively. For equations (6) and (7), the terms G, DC fans cooling the backside of the PV panels, they achieved an average
TC (Pmax , G), TC (VOC , G), and TC (G) are the irradiance, normalized tem­ temperature reduction of up to 22.2%. Also, when forced convection
perature coefficients for the maximum power under G irradiance, cooling using fans in the back side of PV modules was examined, the
normalized temperature coefficients for the open circuit voltage under G increase of 2% in the efficiency and reduction in temperature of 15 ◦ C
irradiance, and the temperature coefficient for the G irradiance, were detected.
respectively. Noting that Eq. (7) can also be used for ISC calculations Additionally, in his overview paper [126], Dr. K.V. Vidyanandan
through replacing every Pmax with ISC. Dubey et al. [127], provided suggested and summarized several aspects for rooftop PV cooling or
different efficiency-temperature correlations for a variety of conditions temperature reduction practices that can reduce the temperature for up
and assumptions. to 30%, including:

Cooling and general mitigation techniques i. Increasing the gap between the panels and the roof or the ground
Several research groups have done magnificent recent work on to increase convective air flow cooling. Example: Misiopecki et al.
cooling systems and either generalized their research [137-140], [204].

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Table 3 Table 3 (continued )


Comparison between different cooling techniques as solutions for temperature cooling Description Benefits Drawback
and humidity effect problems [137,199]. Technique
cooling Description Benefits Drawback they tend to • No power • End of life
Technique absorb and store consumption, disposal
Natural Air Utilization of air • Low cost, • Low heat heat effectively • Passive heat problems.
Circulation cooling through • No maintenance transfer rates, during melting exchange,
the stack effect. required, • Highly process and has • Noise free,
• Easy integration dependent on a peak • Maintenance cost
due to its passive wind speed and performance free,
heat exchange direction, under hot • On-command
processes, • Higher climates. utilization of
• Long lifetime, possibility of stored heat.
• Noise free, dust deposition, Thermoelectric Consumes • Free of moving • Dependent on
• No power • Low thermal Cooling electrical energy parts, ambient
consumption. properties and to transfer and • Noise free, conditions,
flowrates of air, remove heat • Small size, • Consumes from
• Limited using the Peltier • Easy and non- the output
reduction of effect. complex power,
temperature, integration, • Reliability
• Cannot be used • Requires low issues,
on rooftop maintenance thus, • High cost
technologies. lower compared to
Forced Air Utilizes devices • Increases overall • Low maintenance other cooling
Circulation to force air in efficiency, effectiveness in costs, technologies,
certain • Economically hot climates, • Liquid-free or • Uncapable of
directions with viable, • High cost of fans solid-state heat storing heat
the needed • Final resulting air and ducts when transfer. thus, heat is
flowrates. can be used in dealing with wasted.
Considered heating buildings, high flowrates, Floating Utilizes • High operational • Possible waste
effective and • Higher heat • High power Tracking reflectors, solar efficiency, of water due to
mostly in cold transfer rates and consumption, Concentrating tracking • Solves energy evaporation,
climates. mass flow rates • Requires Cooling systems, and dispersion issues, • High capital
than natural maintenance water sprinklers • Solves electric cost,
methods, with high costs, for efficient grid-stress even • Water sprinklers
• Does not depend • Noise pollution. solar PV cooling when using cannot fully
on wind direct and and pumping spray the whole
speed, performance techniques. surface of a PV
• High temperature increase. module
reduction results. requiring costly
Heat Pipes Transfers heat • Passive heat • Low heat modifications.
from solar PV exchanging transfer rates, Water spraying Centrifugal • Increases energy • Wastes heat due
using main processes, • Slow pumps, spraying yield, to no storage
principles of • Low cost, temperature nozzles, and • Highly efficient techniques
thermal • Simple and non- reduction, suction pipes are and significant being proposed
conductivity complex • Dependent on all utilized in an performance or utilized,
and phase integration. other effective system when compared to • Partial and not
transition with uncontrollable to solve forced forced air cooling. full cooling of
liquids like factors. water flowing the whole
water and problems and surface area of
ammonia efficiently cool the PV panel.
flowing inside the PV panel.
the pipes or Forced Water Circulates water • Increases • Cannot achieve
tubes. Circulation under certain electrical maximum
Heat Sinks Similar • Provides hot-spot • Unstable under flow rates to efficiency, efficiency if flow
processes to alleviations, turbulent provide PV • Provides hot water rates are
heat pipes and • Reported to airflow, cooling, for domestic remained
can be effectively • No useful electrical applications. constant,
hybridized with increase electrical utilization of efficiency • High initial cost.
them and efficiency, collected heat, increase, and
thermoelectric • Reported to • Loss of heat heat storage.
devices to decrease average conduction Water Fully immerses • High • Low electrical
decrease the temperature to between hot and Immersion and submerges effectiveness, efficiency
surface 8.29%. cold parts. Cooling solar PV panels • Economic during cloudy
temperature and in water bodies solution, days,
increase for electrical • Environmentally • Efficiency is
electrical efficiency friendly, highly
efficiencies. improvement • Does not need dependent on
Phase Change Different types • High heat transfer • High materials and temperature land submersion
Material of phase change rates, cost, decreasing requirements, depth,
Enhanced materials are • High heat • Possible toxicity solutions. • Increases • Ionized water
Cooling utilized to either absorption and fire safety electrical negatively
directly cool off properties due to issues, efficiency affects the
the solar panel latent heating, • Possible significantly efficiency over
or enhance • Special isothermal corrosion issues, during clear days. time.
other cooling processes of heat Transparent Utilizes • Economic • Reflected heat
techniques as removal, Coating transparent solution, through infrared
thermal • Extra space free, radiations is
(continued on next page)

11
A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

Table 3 (continued ) electrical energy up to 15% in harsh weather conditions. In this system,
cooling Description Benefits Drawback water is pumped and sprayed on the front side of the PV module.
Technique Spraying water on both sides of the PV module was also investigated.
blackbodies • Drastic reduction wasted and
Compared to the back side cooling, cooling the front side showed a
consisting of of PV cannot yet be better enhancement in electrical power of 14.6%. Although the system
silica photonic temperature. usefully utilized consumes a large amount of water, it can be adapted for floating solar
crystals and uses in domestic or systems as it offers lower costs and flexibility.
them as coating other
Thermoelectric cooling was also investigated and showed an
materials on the applications.
surface of the PV improvement in the performance from the range of 8.35–11.46% to
panel to reflect 12.26–13.27%. Cooling by phase change materials (PCM) allows ma­
heat generated terials to absorb or release latent heat when melting or freezing, and thus
in the form of allows the temperature to remain stable. The PCM could be organic oil
infrared
radiations, it
or inorganic salt hydrates. Integrating a PCM with the PV panel is good
also has anti- for heat absorption during daytime and heat release in night-time. The
reflection and appropriate PCM is selected based on the melting temperature and latent
light-trapping heat as shown in Fig. 6.
properties.
Thermal Hybridization of • Provides a • Low conversion
Collectors thermal combined clean efficiency rate, Challenges for grid integration
collectors and source of energy, • Requires
solar thermal • Waste heat from relatively The technical challenges associated with integrating PVS to the grid
systems with solar PV is used in constant heat involve the transmission line and distribution network of the grid based
photovoltaic energy sources,
systems for best productions • Technological
on the PV system scale. The installation of small-scale PV systems is
combined through thermal progression is gaining more interest for customers in developing countries as a result of
cooling-heating- collectors, still slow. the reduction in PV technology prices and the increase in electricity
win–win • Increases lifetime costs from the grid. The roof-top domestic systems are interconnected
solutions. of PV modules.
with the grid’s distribution network and have several impacts due to
their high penetration levels into the network. In addition, solar energy
ii. Taking into consideration the heat absorption and optical prop­ has a great potential for producing large amounts of electricity thus, in
erties of the materials used for panels and mounting structures the near future, large-scale PV systems will be injected into the grid.
(light-colors are advised). However, this will have some technical aspects on the transmission line
iii. Using of perforated base structure. of the grid [205]. Hence, this section will discuss managing large-scale
iv. Keeping inverters and other possible heat generating electrical PV systems and small-scale PV systems with high penetration levels.
equipment away from the solar panels.
v. Usage of cooling fans.

In active water cooling, such as forced water circulation, excess heat


is transferred to the circulating coolant to reduce the temperature. In
this system, the efficiency relies on the material’s heat transfer capacity
of the pipe. However, this method requires high installation and mate­
rial costs, therefore, this cooling technique is not recommended for
large-scale solar plants.
In the case of liquid immersion cooling, PV modules are installed
underwater. This process results in high efficiency by utilizing heat
absorption by water from the PV panels. Improving the performance was
obtained by submerging the module with a depth of 1 cm in water,
which resulted in an improvement of 17.8% in the electrical energy. This
indicates that this technique has a high-temperature reduction potential,
however, liquid immersion cooling is not suitable for floating solar
systems.
Previous studies on water spraying have shown an increase of the Fig. 6. Most known PCMs and their melting temperature {Bessa, 2021 #51}.

Fig. 5. Schematic of heat pipe for air cooling/water-cooling {Dwivedi, 2020 #50}.

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

Small-scale PV systems Large-scale PV systems:

Voltage stability Active power regulation


Voltage stability represents the ability of an electrical system to Based on the solar radiation, the active power peak or MPP, will
maintain a suitable voltage level. Voltage instability is among the main change non-linearly. This requires tracking using several mechanisms
technical challenges occurring at the distribution level in the case of that still face some challenges including delay in the time of response
grid-connected PVS for small-scale PV systems, where the response of due to the variation in solar radiation, in addition to the proper number
changing transformers is not as fast to maintain the required voltage of sensors that are needed. However, these methods will always enable
level. This voltage unbalance happens due to the rapid change in irra­ large scale PVS to operate at MPP by the available irradiance. Cloud
diance level via cloud transient and can be seen when connecting many transients, that cause active power fluctuations have an impact on the
PV systems to the distribution network. However, in the transmission power balance of the grid. The variation in solar radiation causes the
level, this effect is reduced since a large area of land is occupied by the PVS installed at distribution network to produce ramp rates more than
PV plant [206]. 2.5 MW/min, hence, implementing ramp rate control and power
curtailment are vital for active power control. It’s important to provide
Power quality consistent track of the power needed by the Transmission System
Another technical challenge facing the integration of small-scale PV Operator (TSO) to guarantee that the PV system will be working at MPP
system into the grid is power quality, where the dc current shouldn’t all day. If the MPP is higher than the total power handling capacity of the
exceed 0.5% of the nominal AC current in the electric utility grid grid-connected PVS, then a storage system installation would be pref­
connection [207]. It represents the ability of a device to maintain a erable [206].
proper power flow with the electric power being supplied constantly.
This takes into consideration the voltage variation and harmonic Reactive power regulation
distortion of the distribution network [205]. The performance of PVS is limited by the maximum power point
tracking (MPPT) technique, this happens because the reactive power
Harmonic distortion control is not allowed to be completed during the day. In large scale PVS,
Harmonic distortion that occurs in the current and voltage wave­ the inverter controls the active power as well as the reactive power since
forms is a major problem that needs to be addressed. The issue becomes the development of grid-connected PVS is increased. Today, under­
more significant as the PV systems have high penetration level in the standing inverters limitations by considering the temperature, dc solar
distribution network. This term accounts for the current harmonics that radiation and dc voltage variations is an issue that needs to be addressed
are present from the conversion of dc to ac by the inverter of the PV [206].
system which are then injected to the distribution system that yields to
the voltage harmonic and total harmonic distortion (THD). As a result, Equipment loading and power losses
heat is generated in the network as losses [205]. Power losses in the utility grid are considered ohmic losses, since
current which determines power, flows through transformers, lines and
Islanding loads. Power losses and equipment loading are both dependent on the
Islanding is another issue facing power systems that utilizes PVS. It current rms value and will vary according to it. Reduction of the dis­
occurs when a distributed generator such as a solar system will continue tribution losses was determined when the two balancing inverters were
to provide power to the grid as long as solar radiation is available while controlled by central and local converters. Local controllers consider the
the utility power is no longer available [208]. If this issue is not solved absolute value for local voltage, while central controllers consider the
immediately, the maintenance team might be affected due to exposure line current that constraints voltage drop across the line. Integrating the
to dangers such as shocks. Thus, it’s desirable to stop energizing the PVS with the utility grid results in an increment or decrement in power
electrical power system in less than two seconds in the case of unin­ losses which depends on the PVS location and size. For example, it was
tentional islanding [207]. found that the grid power losses may increase due to the nonoptimal size
or location of the PVS. However, there are various techniques mentioned
Proposed technical solutions: in literature to find the optimal size and location of the PVS and there­
Since voltage regulation is among the most affecting challenges, fore used to reduce the losses. In addition, a review on methods imple­
many efforts are put to address this issue. For example, energy storage mented to optimize the performance of the current electric utility grid
systems can be utilized during peak generation from the PV system connected with the PVS has been also done [206].
where distributed and localized control methods are used to help with
voltage regulation for rooftop PV systems with large penetration levels. Grid system stability challenges
The proposed method assists in maintaining the voltage within desired Due to the large size of the grid power system, the stability factor
limits in networks. In addition, the PV system, battery energy storage, becomes significant. The grid stability is categorized into:
and the PV inverter reactive capability could be implemented to solve
the voltage regulation problem. For rural scenario, the PV and storage • Voltage stability: the power system capability to maintain suitable
systems are required to support suitable voltage profile. On the other voltage levels during normal operation and after being exposed to a
hand, inverters alone can provide reactive compensation for suitable disturbance. Uncontrollable increase or decrease in voltage levels of
voltage profile in the urban scenario. Researchers also identified a buses of the system cause the instability of voltage levels [205].
distributed control method that connects a PV and battery storage sys­
tem for residential applications to protect from the over-voltage problem For large scale systems, when the output power crosses a certain limit
caused by high penetration levels, which succeeded in the use of reactive of 0.2–10 MW, the voltage changes as a parabolic curve, in which the
power when the active power is not sufficient. Other researchers aimed transmission line impedance determines the peak of the curve. Cloud
to use solar inverters for reactive power control to increase the PV transient, solar radiation, and temperature are mainly what cause the
penetration levels in the distribution network [205]. voltage profile to be affected. The other important parameter that needs
to be considered is the distance of feeder. Since the voltage level at the
feeder depends on the size and location of photovoltaics, thus, it’s
required to build the solar PVS in an optimum location at the distribu­
tion level for lower power losses and voltage stability [206].

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

• Rotor angle stability: the synchronized generators ability to sustain Proposed technical solutions:
synchronism after being exposed to a disturbance in the grid power
system. For large-scale PVS, the active power control provides support to the
• Frequency stability: the ability of the power system to maintain the frequency, and the control of reactive power provides voltage support.
frequency within acceptable level after undergoing a disturbance by Without controlling, the balancing of the grid will be affected from the
restoring the balance between the generation and load. A notable supply and demand mismatches. Therefore, it is essential for both sides,
mismatch between generation and load is caused by the disturbance. the supply and demand to have the grid flexibility balanced. As shown
from Fig. 7, The flexibility of the supply side can be attained using en­
The instability of the grid system can be shown in various ways. The ergy storage, curtailment of renewable energy, and flexibility of gener­
grid system continuous to function under the small disturbances like ation, whereas for the demand side, energy storage, demand response
variation in loads or generators. Moreover, the grid system covers a and smart loads offers the flexibility [205].
large geographical area which cause it to be subjected to large distur­ Integrating energy storage technologies is greatly encouraged due to
bances including the loss of the main components. However, it’s its several advantages, such as regulating the fluctuations of the fre­
essential for the grid to respond and maintain stable to these distur­ quency and voltage and thus the grid. Since no storage technique can
bances. The three types of grid system stability are classified by their meet all the needs of the grid, with the different technologies targeting
time frame (short and long term stability) and disturbance size (small different aspects, hence, considering a hybrid energy storage system of
and large stability) [205]. two or more technologies have the potential to fulfill the grid’s needs
[205].
Voltage stability
Voltage stability can be categorized into: Maintenance strategies

• Large disturbance voltage stability: when a large disturbance There are numerous types of faults that may occur to PV systems
including loss of large generator occurs, the power system must leading to degradation in PV output as well in PV performance. Indeed,
maintain constant voltages. This phenomenon has varied time frame, the effect of such faults is very harmful especially when large scale
either long term (minutes) or short term (few seconds). systems are considered. It may include power fluctuation, low power
• Small disturbance voltage stability: when a small disturbance like factor, frequency fluctuation and inrush current. That is why, it is
changes of the load of the system occurs, constant voltages must be inescapable to define and adopt different maintenance strategies that
maintained. This type can be analyzed using linearized method, allow overcoming the potentials faults that may occur.
however, non-linear effects including time delays are not considered. Depending on the nature of fault, different maintenance strategies
This study has similar time frame to the large disturbance voltage can be used. Indeed, these strategies can be classified within four types
stability [205]. that are preventive, predictive, corrective and urgent case. Preventive
strategies are used as a pre-fault action in order to reduce the probability
Rotor angle stability of faults to occur. Predictive maintenance strategies in their turn are
Rotor angle stability is a short-term phenomenon that can be cate­ utilized to identify the optimal maintenance intervention timing.
gorized into: Corrective maintenance strategies are used when a failure occurs. It may
involve replacing or repairing tasks depending on the degree of failure.
• Large disturbance rotor angle stability, or transient stability, is when Finally, urgent case strategies are dedicated for urgent failures that
being exposed to an extreme disturbance like transmission line short require fast intervention. Fig. 8 shows the different types of maintenance
circuit, the system must keep being synchronized. The system orig­ strategies.
inal operating state and the significance of the disturbance affect the
transient stability. Preventive maintenance strategies
• Small disturbance rotor angle stability, or small signal stability, is One of the typical faults targeted by preventive maintenance strategy
when small disturbance including changes of the load occurs, the is the PV efficiency decrease due to high temperature [209]. Different
power system has to stay synchronized. The system strength, normal cooling techniques can be used such as the use of phase change material,
operating state and type of generator excitation controls utilized are finned plates or water cooling. Other types of preventive strategies may
what affect the small signal stability [205]. include the use of transformer-less inverter and lightening protection as
shown in Fig. 9.
Frequency stability
In any electrical system, the frequency of generation mainly depends
on the synchronous speed of the generator. Depending on the load and
the generated power balance, the control of the generators by acceler­
ating or deaccelerating them will in turn cause the frequency to rise or
fall. If the demand and generation are not balanced, then this kinetic
energy will limit the rate of frequency [206]. The frequency of the power
system is another problem when it is outside the desired frequency
range. In this case, the inverter will stop feeding the electrical system,
when the frequency ranges of the grid are stabilized, then the inverter
will continue to work since the inverter must meet the electricity grid
standards to operate when exporting the electricity [206]. The inverter
is responsible for converting DC power to AC power to supply the load or
the grid [208]. The stability of the frequency is associated to the grid
system ability to uphold or recover the generation and load equilibrium.
The time frame varies from a few seconds to several minutes [205].

Fig. 7. Supply-demand flexibility [205].

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

concentration offers a solution for the integration of Multi-Junction cells


in the PV technologies. These systems utilize refractive and/or reflective
non-imaging optical components to concentrate solar radiation into
solar cells. This allows a received flux to be concentrated on a small area
that corresponds to the solar cell. By using optical elements with high
efficiency, small sizes and efficient multi-junction solar cells, low-cost
electricity will be produced. The National Renewable Energy Labora­
tory (NREL) publishes a chart on yearly basis that shows the efficiency
chart for different solar cell technologies. The highest efficiencies
Fig. 8. Classification of maintenance strategies. correspond to multi-junction solar cells which are comparable with the
efficiency of fossil fuel power plants as well as high concentrator PV
systems (HCPV) that are commonly used in CPV technology and
considered as the most promising technology for CPV. The proper op­
tical components and precision of tracking remain the essential re­
quirements for high-efficiency HCPV systems. Two-axis tracking system
positions the system towards the sun rays such that its surface remains in
normal incidence with the sun. The best HCPV modules have the largest
acceptance angle, the maximum value of acceptance angle is ± 1.9◦
which designates to an average geometric concentration ratio 800 × .
Fig. 9. Preventive maintenance strategies. Although the CPV technology provides high efficiency, lack of demand
and investors are the main drawbacks that cause their failure in
Predictive maintenance strategies commercialization. Hence, more research should be implemented to
Predictive maintenance strategies are mainly based on data collec­ solve this problem and provide a cost-effective approach.
tion. Indeed, predictive algorithms are constructed relying on these
data. In contrary to corrective or urgent case strategies, predictive ap­ Research gap and suggestions in the field
proaches are usually applied during the normal functioning of the sys­
tem, and permit a significant reduction of maintenance cost. Since most of the studies done on soiling effects were site specific,
therefore, further research should be done to predict the effect of factors
Corrective maintenance strategies like frame on the solar module or the tilt angle. However, environmental
Corrective maintenance strategies are the most used techniques since parameters are available and can be used to determine soiling losses
they include broad panel of faults as shown in Table 4. Among the events without PV data. The monitoring solutions need a purchase and instal­
that require corrective intervention are snow accumulation, dust accu­ lation costs, whereas other solutions can be placed with no costs. Soiling
mulations, shading and equipment failure. extraction requires to input a performance ratio, when not accessible,
irradiance and temperature data can be obtained by a satellite for any
Urgent case strategies location, with or without costs.
Urgent maintenance strategies are applied when a fault requiring Research efforts should concentrate on reducing thermal losses in PV
urgent action occurs. Indeed, such actions have high priority with technologies. The main technical challenges that face solar PVs are the
respect to other faults. Fig. 10 shows different faults requiring urgent reliability and power quality challenges. The reliability challenges
action. include the weather conditions which depend on the sun radiation and
wind velocity, while the quality challenges consist of the voltage and
Concentrated irradiance effects on PV cells power frequency fluctuations. To enhance the voltage regulation and
The most commercialized PV plants are the silicon solar cells, due to match the reactive power demand of the grid, a static synchronous
the availability of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and its low manufacturing compensator is proposed to be integrated. Utilizing energy storage
costs. However, the efficiencies of crystalline silicon cells remain rela­ minimizes active power demand and improves voltage regulation.
tively low, as the maximum theoretical efficiency achieved is in the Combining a static synchronous compensator and energy storage will
range of 33%. Thus, new technologies have emerged to enhance the provide additional advantage.
efficiency. Multi-Junction cells can absorb a wide range of wavelengths
as it utilizes various semiconductor materials with different bandgaps Conclusions
stacked in a cell. The efficiencies recorded are higher than those of sil­
icon solar cells, but their manufacturing costs are high. Solar Various technical challenges facing the operational processes of solar

Table 4
Faults and corresponding corrective strategies [210].
Corrective Techniques

Artificial Intelligence Water Cleaning Dry Cleaning Snow Removal Equipment Technical Maintenance Shading Mitigation

Events:
Snow accumulation ✓
Dust/particles accumulation ✓ ✓
Shading ✓ ✓
Equipment failure ✓

Corrective Tasks:
Replace ✓
Fix ✓ ✓
Remove ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Repair ✓ ✓ ✓
Code ✓ ✓

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A.H. Alami et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 51 (2022) 101942

Fig. 10. Urgent case maintenance strategies [210].

PV technologies have been reviewed, discussed, and compared. Brief condensed dirt accumulating on the surface of the PV panel, relative and
technical background on solar panels and their performance indicators absolute humidity effect on the performance of the PV panel, and
was included for better understanding of PV structures and how various development of cooling and coating techniques.
effects can impact their performance. Solar radiation variations and
shading effects results in significant decrease of the produced current,
more drastic and dangerous results were found for series connected CRediT authorship contribution statement
panels more than the parallel ones or other configurations, non-
uniformed partial shading was found to be more dangerous and Abdul Hai Alami: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft,
harder to deal with than uniformed shading as shape and size of the Methodology, Writing – review & editing, Supervision. Malek Kamal
object causing the shade are highly effective; therefore, several solutions Hussien Rabaia: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
including topology, active system, passive devices, and different array Enas Taha Sayed: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing,
configurations were proposed, discussed, and compared with the most Writing – review & editing. Mohamad Ramadan: Writing – original
recent work on them being reviewed. Weather and ambient conditions draft, Writing – review & editing. Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem:
like temperature increase, absolute humidity, relative humidity, and Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Shamma Alasad:
wind velocities were reviewed and discussed through technical analysis Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Data curation.
of temperature-PV performance relationships, all recent investigations Abdul-Ghani Olabi: Writing – review & editing, Supervision.
observed that PV modules have the best performance when module
temperature is around 40 ◦ C and ambient has a relatively low humidity, Declaration of Competing Interest
while the effect of wind velocities and rainfalls was found to be highly
positive when increasing the flowrates as they cooldown the modules The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
and remove certain percentage of dust depositing on the PV surface, a interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
comprehensive and a comparative review was conducted for several the work reported in this paper.
cooling solutions utilizing water, air, hybridization of different thermal
systems, and phase changing materials enhancement methods. Soiling
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