The effect of various industrial dust particles on the performance of photovoltaic panels in Turkey

The accumulation of dust is one of the main causes of power loss in photovoltaic (PV) farms, and the effect of dust particles’ size and chemistry on system performance is often overlooked. This study has focused on a comprehensive analysis of the effect of different dust particles collected from common industrial production facilities in Turkey on the performance of PV panels in the indoor laboratory environment. The collected dust samples were analyzed to determine the dust sample particles’ chemical properties, size, character, and topography. The data for dust samples at different weights with changes in maximum power point (MPP) of PV panel has been collected using the artificial solar irradiation source system. Thus, the mathematical correlations (R2≥0.965) between the PV panel Thevenin resistance (RTH), fill factor (FF), MPP, and pollution rate were obtained using these collected data and particle swarm optimization (PSO). According to the results of the obtained mathematical correlations, marble dust is 2.3, 3.4, and 4.2 times less polluting than cement, fly ash, and silica fume, respectively. Additionally, it was observed that smaller dust particles block more light than larger ones of the same weight and reduce MPP, FF while increasing the RTH.