Effects of Environmental and Climatic Conditions on PV Efficiency in Qatar

Abstract

The sensitivity of various solar photovoltaic technologies towards dust, temperature and relative humidity is investigated for Qatar’s environment. Results obtained show that dust accumulation has the great effect on decreasing Amorphous and Mono-crystalline PV’s efficiency than the panel’s temperature augmentation or relative humidity. The study shows that Amorphous PVs are more robust against dust settlement than Mono-crystalline PVs and hence are more suitable for implementation in desert climates like Qatar. It was estimated that 100 days of dust accumulation over Mono-crystalline PV panels, caused the efficiency to decrease by 10%. This limitation makes solar PV an unreliable source of power for unattended or remote devices and thus strongly suggests the challenge of cleaning the panel’s surface regularly or injecting technical modifications. Also, the study assesses how best to operate solar PV plants during peak sunlight hours to optimize production and minimize the sun’s harsh effects.