Pollution of solar panels reduces their output by 35%

Dust and particles in the air can damage the ability of solar cells to generate as much energy as they can, [based on technical parameters - approx. translator]. Duke University engineering professor Michael Bergin said: “My colleagues from India showed me some of their rooftop photovoltaic systems, and I was shocked at how dirty the panels were. I thought the dirt should affect the efficiency of the solar panels, but there have been no studies assessing these losses. Therefore, we have put together a comparative model to do just that. ”

Researchers at the Gandinagar Indian Institute of Technology ( IITGN ), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and scientists at Duke University have found that the accumulation of pollution really affects the final output of solar energy. They measured the decrease in energy from the IITGN solar panels, as they were the dirtiest. Every time the panels were cleaned every few weeks, researchers noted a 50 percent increase in efficiency.
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China, India and the Arabian Peninsula are the most dusty in the world. Even if their panels are cleaned monthly, they can still lose between 17 and 25 percent of the production of solar energy. And if cleaning happens every two months, the loss is 25 or even 35 percent.

The reduction in production is associated not only with electricity, but also with money. Bergin said that China could lose tens of billions of dollars a year, "with more than 80 percent of them falling to pollution losses." He noted that humanity knows that air pollution is bad for health and climate change, but now we know that it is bad for solar energy too. This study is also important for policy makers to make emission control decisions.

The study was published online in June 2017 in Environmental Science and Technology Letters.

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