Kazem 2020

Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro
Review
A review of dust accumulation and cleaning methods for solar

photovoltaic systems
Hussein A. Kazem a, b, *, Miqdam T. Chaichan c, Ali H.A. Al-Waeli b, K. Sopian b
a
Sohar University, PO Box 44, Sohar, PCI 311, Oman
b
Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
c
Energy and Renewable Energies Technology Research Center, University of Technology, Iraq
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Utilizing solar energy to generate electricity on large scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants became a
Received 11 April 2020 trend as a new option adopted by many countries. The optimum installation of PV power plants depends
Received in revised form on the geographical location, which specifies irradiation, latitude, longitude, tilt angle, orientation, etc.
8 June 2020
However, the PV panel affected by many environmental parameters, which has a significant impact on
Accepted 3 July 2020
Available online 26 July 2020
the power productivity, conversion efficiency, and cost of energy. Dust is one of the essential parameters
that affect PV panel performance, yield, and profitability. However, the dust characteristics (type, size,
Handling editor: Prof. Jiri Jaromir Klemes shape, meteorology, etc.) is geographical site specified. Many researchers investigated PV panel dust
cleaning and mitigation methods. This paper put into perspective the recent investigations of dust
Keywords: impact on PV systems and decent cleaning methods. It is found that daily PV power losses and monthly
Photovoltaic efficiency reduction due to dust in some locations is more than 1% and 80%, respectively, which is
Dust accumulation relatively high. The present paper aims to provide an appraisal of dust problem and cleaning methods
Cleaning methods status, challenges, and prospects. Also, a critical review is developed for researchers interested in this
Efficiency
field. It is found the main dust elements which have impact are six dust pollutants. Also, the study
Solar cells
conclude that selection of the dust cleaning method depends on many parameters in term of technical
and economic aspects. Finally, this paper contains a comprehensive review of dust problem and cleaning
methods for engineers, designers, and researchers dealing with PV systems.
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Dust characteristics, accumulation, and impact on PV module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2. Corrosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3. Morphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. PV cleaning: review and classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1. Forced air flow of air conditioning systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2. Natural cleaning using rain and wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3. Water cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4. Manual cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.5. Mechanical cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6. Electrical screens (EDS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.7. Super hydrophobic aircraft (SHOP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.8. Super water jet (SHIP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.9. Self-cleaning ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4. PV cleaning methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
* Corresponding author. Sohar University, PO Box 44, Sohar, PCI 311, Oman.
E-mail address: [email protected] (H.A. Kazem).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123187
0959-6526/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 H.A. Kazem et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187
5. Critical review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
6. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Declaration of competing interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1. Introduction In addition, many contaminants and dirt resulting from human

activities are suspended in the air. All suspended atmospheric
Today, energy plays a key role in the development and progress substances such as sand, dust, pollutants, smoke, dirt, pollen, etc.
of societies. Most of the energy is produced from fossil sources such are expressed in most studies as dust and their accumulation on PV
as coal, oil and natural gas, which will inevitably be exhausted in deteriorate these cells’ performance. Also, the dust ingredient have
the near future (Hilal M.S. Al-Maamary et al., 2017). The burning of important impact on the reduction in PV power and efficiency as
fossil fuels also results in several pollutants, including carbon di- claimed by Ref. (Chen et al., 2020). However, many methods pro-
oxide and methane gases, which are considered greenhouse gases posed to clean PV to improve the efficiency.
around the world (Sciences and Journal, 2019). The trend towards This paper “aims to review, classify and discus the most signif-
the use of renewable energies instead of fossil fuels has become an icant developments in the PV cleaning research area. The study will
unavoidable reality (H.M.S. Al-Maamary et al., 2017). Today, the focus on the cleaning methods impact on efficiency of the PV sys-
great industrial countries are racing to produce energy from tem. In this study, a unique review will be made of many high-value
renewable sources such as solar energy, wind, waves, ocean, etc. publications in this field, in addition to a review of very recent
The solar energy has been used for centuries in applications of studies related to PV cleaning will be reviewed in terms of
heating, ventilation, water distillation, and drying of meat and food simplicity, cost effectiveness, impact on the energy production and
products. There are many applications to use solar energy and take efficiency.
advantage of the thermal energy carried by radiation such as The review methodology of this paper contains three parts: (i)
heating water for housing and industry, heating the air, and solar the dust problem and impact on solar technology concepts, (ii) the
distillation (Chaichan and Kazem, 2018). There are also many ap- cleaning methods and (iii) proposed of new cleaning methodology
plications for the production of electricity using solar energy and and conclude with critical review. The first part focus on the dust
hybrid systems, including solar chimney, concentrated solar power concepts, metrology, chemical and physical characteristics, and
plants, and photovoltaic cells (PV) (Waterworth and Armstrong, impact on PV performance. The second part revised and discussed
2020)(Franzese et al., 2020)(Kazem et al., 2012). PV are a success- the dust cleaning methods and highlight the advantages and dis-
ful application after the many developments that have been ach- advantages. The selection of the best method in term of technical
ieved by this technology, either in increasing its electrical and economic aspects for a specific system related to location
productivity or reducing its prices (Darwish et al., 2013). The environmental parameters is specified through proposed meth-
disadvantage of this technology is its vulnerability to different odology in part three. Also, critical review is presented to highlight
external weather conditions such as lack of solar radiation in some the potential problems and topics worth to be investigated by re-
areas, temperature, relative humidity, wind, clouds, shade, and dust searchers. However, the papers selected in this review cover the
(Chaichan and Kazem, 2016). The researchers have found several last thirty years with more focus on the period from 2015 to 2020.
methods and techniques to mitigate the negative effects of some of The methodology is built around two central questions, which
these factors, taking full advantage of the positive effects (Kazem are (1) What are the impacts of dust on PV panels, and (2) What are
and Chaichan, 2016b). As a simple example, high solar radiation the techniques used to mitigate, and clean, dust accumulation on
causes a rise in the temperature of the cells resulting in deterio- PV panels?
ration in their electrical efficiency (Al-Waeli et al., 2017d). The re- To answer these questions, we developed the following key-
searchers created new systems to take advantage of this heat while words to search for appropriate research works: dust impact on PV;
increasing the electric power produced by the cell at the same time PV dust accumulation; PV cleaning and dust mitigation for PV
using the concept of photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems (Al-Waeli systems. The inclusion criteria were set for research that aims to
et al., 2017b) (Al-Waeli et al., 2017a). The PV/T used air, water, present a clear procedure to examine the effects of dust accumu-
nanomaterials, and phase-changing materials with nanofluids to lation on PV or propose a technique to mitigate the accumulation of
cool the PV cell (Al-Waeli et al., 2017c) (Al-walei et al., 2017). Thus, dust.
the cell’s production, and electrical efficiency has improved while The reviewed impacts of dust are limited to the definition of
taking advantage of the stored heat for other applications (Al-Waeli dust and description of dust accumulation and its taxonomy as
et al., 2018). described in this paper.
Among these weather condition factors that negatively affect The reviewed techniques are reviewed according to their tech-
the performance of PV cells is the accumulation of dust and pol- nical and conceptual designs. Other aspects such as life cycle
lutants on the cell surface, which acts as a barrier between PV and assessment, life cycle analysis and life cycle costs are out of scope.
irradiation (Chaichan et al., 2015). Dust impact on PV productivity is The keywords were used to acquire research from web-based da-
one of the most important problems facing PV utilization in dusty tabases which are google scholar and ScienceDirect. Moreover, the
countries. Besides, the amount of dust suspended in the air, which assessment of the acquired sources was made to filter out replicates
reduces PV productivity in desert areas, which enjoy high irradia- and studies that lack relevance to the problem addressed in this
tion and large spaces, and suitable for the construction of PV sta- review. The assessment was mainly done over two-stages which
tions as claimed by Ref. (Dida et al., 2020). It is found that 8.41% are filtration through reading the abstract and through reading the
reduction in the maximum power occurred in dusty PV module entire research paper.
compared with cleaned one. This paper contains the following sections and subsections: dust
H.A. Kazem et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187 3
characteristics, accumulation, and impact on PV module; PV intensity of dust depends on several factors, the most important
cleaning: review and classification; PV cleaning methodology; weather conditions of which are:
critical review and conclusions. “
1 - The abundance of dust or soft sand loose on the surface of the
earth and spread in large areas (Hosseini et al., 2019).
2. Dust characteristics, accumulation, and impact on PV
2 - Dryness of the atmosphere as this drought helps to disinte-
module
grate the sand and dust (Rashki et al., 2018).
3 - The activity of the air currents, which leads to high dust and
Dust is a term that is referred to materials suspended and spread
fine sand (Onishchenko et al., 2019).
by air such as soil particles (which form the bulk of suspended dust
4 - Blowing of surface winds carrying dust and sand. The latter
in the air), smoke from the plant, kitchens, cars, electric power
two processes usually occur when a cold air front passes on
plants, fog, and particulate matter from burning fossil fuels, electric
warm ground (Gavrilov et al., 2018) (Trinh et al., 2018).
power or motor vehicles and mechanisms (A.A. Kazem et al., 2014)
(Guo et al., 2015). Fig. 1 illustrate dust accumulation on PV panel.
It may be surprising to know that sea, and ocean spray is a
Suspended airborne substances are also formed from organic
source of dust as it produces about 200 million tons of salty dust
matter such as bacteria and pollen, inorganic from storms, factory
every year (Steffan et al., 2018) (Patrick L. Kinney, 2018). After the
smoke, forest fires and vapors from volcanoes. Some of these con-
water evaporates, the chemicals and salts in it remain stuck in the
stituents of dust consist of small measurements and solid particles
air (N. Li et al., 2018).
that can remain suspended in the air for long periods of time (Guo
Dust storms often carry tons of dust in the air and transport
et al., 2015). They also travel with distances far from their source by
them, sometimes, as far as 300 km (Steffan et al., 2018) (S. Y. Jiang
wind movement. Dust represents a complex group with wide
et al., 2018). During the famous Great Dust Storm of 1933 in the
variations in size, shape, distribution, and concentrations.
south western United States, about 40 tons of dust per square
Dust is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the level of a
kilometer hit New England, which is very far from the starting point
windstorm suddenly increases. This phenomenon results in a sharp
of the storm (Ahmed I. Rushdi, Zanna Chase, 2018) (Richon et al.,
difference in the atmospheric pressure system for both summer
2018).
and winter (Usov, 1991). The intensity of the dust increases as wind
There is always a staggering amount of dust suspended in the air
speed increases and the sun’s surface warms. Dust follows the
(Bolles et al., 2019). The dust that settles every year in the United
density of the type of land that passes through it or rose from, and
States is estimated at 43 million tons, of which 12 million tons are
its effects are not at the same frequency there are other secondary
caused by factories and cars (J, 2019) (Parajuli and Zender, 2018).
influences such as humidity or wind deviation or depressions or air
Dust sometimes contains pollutant gases in the atmosphere in
altitudes (Touati et al., 2017).
the form of soot (Parajuli and Zender, 2018), and transmitted with
As the sun rises, it starts to send its hot rays to the surface of the
fine dust particles over long distances (Blondet et al., 2019), as well
earth, drying the soil, causing dust to be created and suspended in
as dust can contain some harmful elements such as fluorine
air. When the sun sets and the wind movement decreases, dust is
(Parajuli and Kim, 2019), which shows its negative impact on the
deposited on objects. Occasionally, dust escalates in seasons other
soil, as well as phosphate dust that affect the soil and change the
than the hot one, due to the intensity of the wind or the location or
specifications and kill plants (Qing et al., 2015). Table 1 lists some
destination of its blowing and this can be happened in cold winter
types of dust polluting the atmosphere, its sources, and its impact
days (Jones et al., 2018). The passive cooling of PV due to over-
on the environment.
heating because of dust accumulation has been investigated by
The dust storms began to increase throughout the world espe-
(Nizetic et al., 2017). However, air cooling found to be more
cially in the desert areas, which are beyond the borders of the
promising in term of technical and economic aspects. Active cool-
countries and their intensity is increasing with a clear escalation in
ing was also discussed in (Ni zetic et al., 2018). The dryness of the
their frequency (Love et al., 2019).
atmosphere helps to provoke dust unlike the humid weather (Badi
Because the potential of ideal solar irradiation is concentrated in
et al., 2018). Dust is a common phenomenon throughout the Middle
countries in the solar belt region, including the Middle East and
East and North Africa and abounds in the country on the outskirts
North Africa, such countries have higher solar potential than many
of deserts when the rain stops and vegetation covering the soil is
other regions of the world, but with this potential there is a large
removed (Ghazi et al., 2014). The season is different in countries
inhibitor that is pollution and dust, which demands frequent
affected by the climate of the Mediterranean Sea than in countries
cleaning that increases the cost of PV systems. These two chal-
affected by the tropical rainy summer. In the first countries, dust
lenges, such as pollution and dust, as well as high-temperature
storms usually abound in late spring and early summer. The
levels, cause a significant reduction in the efficiency of PV and in-
crease the cost of electricity, preventing such systems from
competing with fossil fuels such as natural gas or oil (Namdari et al.,
2018).
In non-desert areas, pollution is also caused by multiple human
activities, snow and other particles (Bodenheimer et al., 2019). The
presence of relatively high humidity in the air with dust may form
thin surface layers on the PV which cannot be removed by wind or
using regular cleaning techniques, especially in the desert areas
where the use of water is difficult because of its scarcity (Hachicha
et al., 2019). The authors of Ref (Ghazi et al., 2014). showed that
many densely populated areas of the Middle East and North Africa
have high rates of dust accumulation.
After dust storm the wind speed decelerates, heavy particles
begin to accumulate and settle. Small molecules, however, remain
Fig. 1. Dust accumulation on PV panels. suspended in the air for days or months depending on their size
Table 1
Some dust types, sources, and its impact on the environment.
Dust type references Source Effect
Ash (Kaldellis and Fragos, 2011)(Darwish et al., The use of coal in large Substitution of the soil properties for the worse to contain the ash on
2015)(Kazem et al., 2014)(Saedodin et al., quantities in power plants the small minutes that form a soft layer on the surface of the soil that
2017)(Kaldellis and Kapsali, 2011) is deposited over it, in addition to this ash contains some harmful
elements.
Soot (Koval et al., 2018)(Hacke et al., 2015) (Darwish Incomplete burning of coal or Contamination of the atmosphere to contain atoms of soot (soot) on
et al., 2015) petroleum products some harmful gases, in addition to inconvenience.
Cement dust (El-Shobokshy and Hussein, 1993a)(Alnasser Cement factories Contains elements of potassium and calcium and damage the soil and
et al., 2020)(Li et al., 2020) plants
Mining plants (Adıgüzel et al., 2019)(Zitouni et al., 2019) Lead melting, zinc, copper It depends on the type of manufacturing; it contains lead, zinc, copper,
dust and iron mills stations … etc. iron, cadmium and fluorine, etc. They are all harmful to the
environment.
Phosphate, (Zhang et al., 2013)(Kazem and Chaichan, 2019) Phosphate mines, potassium Destroy soil and kill plants.
potash, soda, salts factories, soda factories
and detergent and detergents.
dust
and weight (Namdari et al., 2018). The accumulation of dust and dust accumulated was studied experimentally using 100 glass
aggregation on the surfaces of the PV panels cause a haze of solar samples. The results showed dust deposited at a rate of 15.84 g/m2
irradiation and acts as a shadow; leading to increase the temper- (for tilt angle of 0 ) to 4.48 g/m2 (for tilt angle of 90 and the de-
ature of the PV. The temperature, in turn, reduces the efficiency and viation is 135 from north), with a drop-in permeability of up to
performance of PV (Kazem et al., 2017). 52.54e12.38% for the same conditions. Ref (Al-Waeli et al., 2017a).
The effect of the accumulation of dust on the surfaces of PV proposed a mathematical model for estimating the optimal incli-
panel has been studied with extreme concentration because of its nation angle that causes the lowest negative impact of dust accu-
great importance, especially in the countries located in the solar mulation and pollution. The model was validated against
belt zone and its surroundings, which are mostly desert countries. experimental results. The results of the study showed that the
Ref (Mazumder et al., 2014). claimed that the deposition of the voltage produced by the PV drops by more than 60% when the dust
amount of dust by only 4 g/m2 with particle diameters ranging from deposition density is about 4.71 g/m2.
0.5 to 10 mm, causing a deterioration in the electrical efficiency of In Jordan, Ref (Essalaimeh et al., 2013). studied the negative
the cell up to 40%. While Ref (Dorobantu et al., 2017). studied the impact of dust accumulation on PV performance. The results
impact of pollution resulted from traffic, and dust rising from it and showed a degradation of productivity of 31e35% during August
found that this type of dust and pollutants accumulates rapidly 2010. In Qatar, which is characterized by its high relative humidity
causing a clear reduction in the performance of PV, which can be up and it’s attached to the desert, Ref (Guo et al., 2015). studied the
to 20%. The results of the study also showed that the accumulation effect of dust accumulation on stabilized PV. The results of the
of this type of dust, even in a very thin layer will cause deterioration study showed that PV lost 0.4e0.8% of its daily production power
in the performance of PV may reach 40%. Ref (Zorrilla-Casanova due to accumulated dust. PV may lose from 12% to 24% of electricity
et al., 2011). investigated the daily energy produced from a PV for generated if it is not cleaned every month.
an entire year; concluded that the average daily loss of energy due On Crete island, the results of a practical study conducted by Ref
to the accumulated dust on the surface of the PV was about 4.4%. (Kymakis et al., 2009). on PV showed that the deposition of dust on
However, if the rain breaks for long periods without precipitation, it these modules caused an energy deterioration at an annual rate of
will cause a significant increase in daily energy losses, which could 5.86%, and this rate represents a small percentage compared to the
reach 20%. Ref (Rahman et al., 2012). used artificial dust made of deterioration of energy resulting from the accumulation of dust in
clay and talc and worked on a bulletin on the surface of PV in the Middle East. Ref (X. Li et al., 2018). practically investigated the effect
laboratory at variable concentrations. The researchers found the of dust on absorption and emittance of sunlight from PV. In this
efficiency of PV less due to dust accumulation and that the dete- experimental work, the researchers monitored the daily deposition
rioration in the electrical efficiency of the PV could rise to 50%. Ref of dust and simulated the density of this deposition and the
(Kimber et al., 2007). concluded that the daily decrease in PV effi- reduction in the irradiation absorption. Eleven days after exposure
ciency in hot climates without precipitation may reach 0.2%/day, to dust accumulation, the electrical efficiency of the studied PV was
which means a decline in PV productivity up to 56.2% per year reduced by 19.23%. This represents an average dust deposition
depending on the location of the system. Ref. (Anderson, M., density of 7.07 g/m2/day.
Grandy, A., Hastie, J., Sweezey, A., Ranky, R., Mavroidis, C., & Ref (El-Shobokshy and Hussein, 1993a). developed a mathe-
Markopoulos, 2010) compared the effect of both dirt and dust matical model between the dust daily deposition rate and the
accumulation on the one hand and clouds on the other and found deterioration of irradiation. This model is a function of the metro-
that both cause blocking of solar irradiation and prevent access to logical conditions and the time interval between the fall of rain and
PV in whole or in part, both of which result in the same effect in the the subsequent precipitation season. The researchers estimated the
degradation of the performance of PV and energy generated. The monthly decline in energy produced by dust deposition. The re-
researchers also explained that heavy cloud conditions cause less searchers concluded that the monthly degradation rate of PV pro-
absorption of solar irradiation and result in a decrease in the effi- duced in desert regions is much higher than the degradation in the
ciency of PV from 20% to 30%. PV productivity established in green agricultural areas.
Ref (Elminir et al., 2006). investigated the accumulation of dust Dust is not only a problem for PV but also for all other solar
impact on PV systems in Egypt in term of energy production and applications. Ref (Chaichan et al., 2018a). carried out a practical
efficiency. The author claimed that PV efficiency had decreased by study, showed a miniature model of a solar concentrated power
17.4%/month for the PV system installed at a 45 angle to the south. station and the effect of accumulation and deposition of dust and
In the same study, the effect of the PV tilt angle on accumulated dirt on its productivity. Leaving the studied system vulnerable to
external weather for two weeks resulted in a 22% reduction in packaging materials, deterioration of interfaces, deterioration of
productivity. The researchers also studied many of the detergents the semiconductor device, and deterioration due to leakage of
currently used to reach the cleaner that is best used to restore lost moisture.
efficiency due to accumulation of dust. The system recovered 14.5%, The corrosion of PV parts is mainly caused by moisture leakage
17.39%, and 19% efficiency lost when using water, alcohol, and so- to the PV internal parts. The most important is the material con-
dium cleaner, respectively. tained in this moisture. Ref (Jorgensen et al., 2006). compares the
The results of Ref (Chaichan et al., 2018b). study showed that properties of some adhesives used in PV packaging. The studied
preventing the accumulation of dust with continuous cleaning to properties are moisture transfer and interstitial adhesion when the
preserve the transparency of the collector of a solar chimney is very cell is exponentially exposed to moist heat. The researchers found
important in maintaining optimal solar chimney performance. that composite glass structures of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and
aluminum glass surfaces resist compounds that stimulate corrosion
2.1. Erosion of aluminum. The use of materials with porous back cover allows
the entry of moisture at high rates but at the same time allow the
The dust and sand erosion impact the glass surface roughness exit of harmful substances, causing a low rate of corrosion.
and the transmittance and reduce the PV productivity. Ref The main cause of corrosion is the humidity that enters the PV
(Romanov et al., 2002). analyzed the airborne fine dust particles cell through the edges of the chips (Kempe, 2005). The retention of
using a vacuum chamber and carbon films. The analysis of dust moisture in the cell envelope increases the electrical conductivity
samples showed that these particles have average diameters of of the material, causing the corrosion of the metal joints of these PV
10e15 nm. These nanoparticles are a layer that adheres to the PV cells and the deterioration of their performance due to increased
surface and is difficult to clean using a piece of cloth or nylon and leakage currents. Corrosion also reduces adhesion between metal
moving them causes scratches of the glass. The results of the study cells and the frame. Fig. 2 illustrates the corrosion of the PV cell at
showed that atmospheric carbon films are usually homogeneous or its edges as well as corrosion in the coupling case (Munoz et al.,
spherical and this confirms their formation of nanoparticles. Par- 2011).
ticles of this size are difficult to clean and contact with the surface Ref (Wohlgemuth and Kurtz, 2011). performed a test called 85/
causes erosion. 85, which is a rapid examination of the deterioration in PV per-
Ref (Tagawa et al., 2012). examined the effect of sand erosion on formance due to the effect of humidity and temperature of
the permeability of PV glass and surface roughness using a glass “(T ¼ 85 C/RH ¼ 85%) according to IEC 61215“ (International
sample that simulates the surface. The results of the study proved Electrotechnical Commission, 2016). The study results showed
that there was damage to the glass surface due to sand erosion and that corrosion occurred 1000 h after the survival of the PV in
roughness. It was also found that there was deterioration in the conditions of 85 C and 85% relative humidity.
light transmittance through the damaged glass surface, which
resulted in deterioration in the PV efficiency due to the quantitative
erosion of sand. 2.3. Morphology
2.2. Corrosion “The morphology of dust particles has irregular forms, tends to
be spherical and not all of them are completely opaque.
Corrosion is degradation of materials’ properties due to in- “Ref. (Adinoyi M J, 2013) studied the dust microscopy figures using
teractions with their environments, and corrosion of most metals is an electronic scanning microscopy (SEM) to illustrate the
inevitable. While primarily associated with metallic materials, all morphology shape of a dust (Fig. 3). The picture shows that dust
material types are susceptible to degradation. “The effect of fouling particles are of different sizes and irregular. The heterogeneous
on the PV efficiency was mainly the corrosion of fouling. Ref (Hacke distribution of dust particle sizes and shapes affects the dust
et al., 2015). measured the effect of three soil types (Arizona road shading impact on the PV surface, causing a decrease in the
dust, soot, and sea salt) on glass corrosion for variable relative generated power.
humidity (RH) conditions (from 39% to 95% at temperatures up to Ref (Mehmood et al., 2017). analyzed the impact of environ-
60 C). Arizona road dust caused a low corrosion rate and had little mental dust and dry clay on PV glass. The study was conducted in
sensitivity to RH change. The soot sample did not cause any Saudi Arabia where morphological analyzes of total dust were
apparent corrosion at studied relative humidity conditions. Sea salt performed using optical microscopy spectroscopy and electronic
showed a significant increase in the corrosion rate of the glass scanning (SEM-EDS). Using the dynamic light scattering method
surface by increasing RH. Deposition of sea salt on PV’s front surface (DLS), the researchers analyzed the total dust particle size distri-
also showed an increase in surface stress, and the leakage of current bution from this study area. The results of the study showed the
from the cell circuit to the ground resulted in an increase in the need for a higher cleaning tangential force to remove dry mud from
performance degradation over time. the surface of the glass because of high cohesion forces measured
Ref (Carlson et al., 2003). examined the possibility of electro-
chemical corrosion in thin-film PV made of tin-oxide glass. This PV
operates under conditions of high temperature and RH at high
voltages. Corrosion in these cells is associated with the removal of
the tin oxide layer from the glass due to the accumulation of so-
dium between the glass and the tin oxide close to the surface. For
this to happen, moisture must reach the edge of the cells. The
growth of this type of corrosion is controlled by the use of zinc
oxide as a conductive transparent oxide electrode or by controlling
the growth conditions of tin oxide. In the same context, Ref
(Quintana et al., 2003). stressed that the deterioration in the PV
performance lead to failure with the age of cells advanced depends Fig. 2. Corrosion effects on PV module at (a) the edge and (b) the junction box (Munoz
on several factors including loss of adhesion, deterioration of et al., 2011).
- Different types of collectors have been used starting from the

highest published work: solar PV, solar collector, mirror, and
glass. The tested collectors and technology are PV amorphous,
monocrystalline, and polycrystalline, also integral tube, double-
glazed, “non-selective surface steel absorber plate. “Also, “Fiber-
glass containment, evacuated-tube double-annulus glass flow
passages with selective absorber coating and cylindrical re-
flectors. “However, most of the studies in literature found to be
on PV system. This is useful for provision, comparison, and
verification.
- Investigation of dust pollutants placed outdoor more than in-
door. From one side it is good to compare with outdoor results of
related work. However, effect of other outdoor environmental
parameters (i.e. wind speed, humidity, etc) will affect the result
accuracy.
- Based on Table 2 summary, the PV daily power losses and
Fig. 3. Dust sample’s SEM micrograph (Adinoyi M J, 2013). decrement in PV efficiency was shown in Fig. 5 (a) and (b),
respectively. From Fig. 5 (a) it is found that the daily power
losses ranged from 0.05% in Oman (lowest) to 1.15% in
when interacting between clay and glass. The results showed that Bangladesh (highest). This is not necessary mean that the results
the presence of alkaline compounds in the mud are chemically are same everywhere in the country despite that there are many
active and significantly affect the optical specifications of the glass parameters reduce the comparison accuracy (i.e. different type
covers. Compounds found in dust particles Na, K, Mg, Ca, O2, Si and of PV technology, different design elements, etc). However,
Fe are irregularly distributed. Fig. 4 represents SEM images of dry these results give clear experimental prove that there are daily
mud on the PV surface. power losses and it will accumulate with time and it is different
A-Panel surface top view B-Cavity forms (squares) C-Glass from site to site. The method of cleaning, periodicity, cost, and
interference dry mud (white color) D) Mud residue after its removal efficiency varies and depends on the details of the case study.
from panel surface. - Fig. 5 (b) shows some published results in different countries
However, there is enormous research going on since 1960 to related to monthly reduction in PV efficiency. Despite the used
investigate the dust characteristics, impact, and mitigation on solar PV technology, design elements, and environment parameters,
PV systems. Table 2 illustrates some research conducted with key it is clear seen that the monthly reduction is high and some-
findings in the last 40 years. times approach 80%. This will reflect on the energy cost, payback
The following points observed and highlighted from Table 2: period, etc. For that it is important to clean the PV periodically
with less cost and resources. The essential question is: what
- Most published work tested sand particles. However, dust and type of cleaning and frequency is suitable for the system in
sand particles are geographical side specified. It is different in specific location? The next section will answer this question.
composition, shape, size, etc. based on the geographical
location. 3. PV cleaning: review and classification
PV are installed outdoors and exposed to all the environmental

factors. These variables differ from one region to another and may
sometimes reach a severe degree (acid rain, pollution, dust, and
snow). The other weather variables (such as solar irradiation,
temperature, and RH) cause a clear impact on PV performance, and
some of these variables, such as wind velocity, can damage the PV
structure (Chaichan et al., 2015). Ref (Darwish et al., 2013). deter-
mined the value of this damage caused by the air condition to be up
to 25%. PV cleaning is a challenge because of the high pollution
intensity in cities. Proper periodic PV cleaning can be considered
the best way to reduce negative environmental impacts, so as to
ensure a high rate of productivity, and efficiency (Biris et al., 2004).
One of the easiest ways to clean PV is manual cleaning, which de-
pends on water to remove dust accumulated on the PV. The use of
this traditional method requires labor in addition to its high cost,
when clean water is scarce and sometimes not available. Ref
(Alvarez et al., 2020). investigated the frequency and cost of
cleaning methods. The study proposed cleaning methodology to
select the best strategy, which is related to the cost, equipment
efficiency and other system parameters. Most PV’s are covered with
tempered borosilicate glass, which is easy to clean with water. In
newly produced PV, a tight glass is used to help absorb light and
less reflectivity, but even these surfaces are subject to accumulation
and deposit of fine nanoparticles and also require effective clean-
ing. Current cleaning methods include manual and semi-automatic
Fig. 4. SEM images of clay sediments on glass substrates (Mehmood et al., 2017). roads that require large quantities of water and require heavy labor,
Table 2
Summary of related research conducted of dust impact on PV system.
Type of collector & Composition/name/chemistry Type Methodology Tested parameters Location Year Authors/
technology reference
PV panel and glass “Quartz silicates (SiO2 ), about 75%; and feldspars (NaALSi3 O8 ; Natural/ A 100-glass sample tested with different tilt and The power variation has been Egypt 2006 Elminir H K
CaAlSi3 O8 ; KAlSi3 O3 ) about 20%. “ outdoor azimuth angles. investigated. The monthly decrease et al. (Elminir
in PV efficiency is 17.4%. et al., 2006)
PV panel “The experimental dust was prepared from Artificial/ Five different dust particles have been The normalized, current, voltage, KSA 1993 Elshobokshy
limestone rocks containing the minerals calcite indoor investigated. Solar simulator used in the lab power, and IeV characteristics was et al. (El-
and silica. (carbon 5 mm), (cement(10 mm), (limestone with microscopic test. investigated. The monthly decrease Shobokshy
(50,60,80) mm). “ in PV efficiency is 19.8%. and Hussein,
1993a)
Thermal collector Sand particle Natural/ Dust accumulation on solar collector Thickness in mm and weight in g/m2. Iran 2012 Niknia (
outdoor investigated in term of thickness and weight. The energy gain measured and Niknia et al.,
simulated for different cases. 2012)
Mirror surface Coarser mode of airborne dust. Experiment the impact of dust Natural/ The particle size-distribution measured on a Particle per m2 per hour, and mass Israel 1997 Sergy
on a reflector. indoor surface. concentration. Biryukov
(Biryukov,
H.A. Kazem et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187

1998)
PV system Ash Artificial/ Two PV module (clean and dusty) was tested Dust mass deposition, current, Greece 2011 Kaldellis et al.
indoor and compared. voltage, power, efficiency, and yield. (Kaldellis et al.,
2011)
PV system Natural of dust in atmosphere. Natural/ Amorphous, mono- and poly crystalline PV The monthly decrease in PV Mexico 2011 Cabanillas et al.
outdoor modules tested for dust impact. efficiency is 13.0%. Maximum power, (Cabanillas and
and dust characteristic. Munguía, 2011)
Glass plate Suspended dust. Experiment solar transmittance variation Natural/ One-year measurements of dust on Glass plate. Transmittance dust factor, tilt angle, Egypt 2000 Adel A. Hegazy
with tilt angle. outdoor The plate cleaned in duration of 1 month. transmittance reduction, and dust (Hegazy, 2001)
weight.
Solar air heater Natural dust Natural/ One-year measurements of dust on Glass plate. Dust density transmittance, Thailand 1999 Mastekayeva
outdoor The plate cleaned in duration of 1 month. transmittance reduction, and dust et al.
weight. (Mastekbayeva
and Kumar,
2000)
PV system Mud, polyethylene, and talcum Artificial/ One-month measurements of dust on Glass Dust density transmittance, Malaysia 2011 Shaharin A.
indoor plate. transmittance reduction, and dust Sulaiman et al.
weight. (Shaharin A.
Sulaiman,
Haizatul H.
Hussain, Nik
Siti H. Nik Leh,
2011)
PV system Natural dust Natural/ Mars dust simulant JSC-Mars1 used in an Dust particle size, and electrostatic Bangladesh 2006 Mazumder
outdoor experiment to investigate the impact. charge. et al.
(Mazumder
et al., 2006)
PV system “Test dust (ISO 12103-1 A2, Powder Technology Inc.) Artificial/ Solar simulator, and test chamber. Three Dust deposition density, solar China 2011 Hai Jian et al.
SiO2 ð68 76:9%Þ; Al2 O3 ð10 15%Þ; Fe2 O3 ð2 5% Þ ; indoor different solar cells used. intensity, and output reduction. PV (Jiang et al.,
Na2 Oð2 4% ; CaOð2 5%Þ; Mgo ð1 2%Þ; TiO2 ð0:5 1%Þ; efficiency decrease 26.0% 2011)
K2 O ð2 5%Þ. “
PV system “Ash less 10 mm, Limestone less 60 mm, Red soil less 150 mm” Artificial/ Two identical PV module tested for different PV module output power and Greece 2010 Kaldellis et al.
indoor dust particles. efficiency. (Kaldellis et
al., 2010)
Glass plate “Natural examine by SEM contain artificially contaminated Natural/ Dust collected on four glass samples with Transmittance dust factor, tilt angle, Belgium 2012 Reinhart Appels
(sand (250 mm), clay (68 mm) and cement (10 mm)) “ indoor different tilt angles. After that indoor PV system and transmittance reduction. et al. (Appels
used for testing. et al., 2012)
PV system “General air pollution refer to resource carbon-fuel based Natural/ Two copper Indium diselenide PV modules PV power and efficiency. China 2007 Huey Pang et
electricity-generation, factory and vehicle emissions“ outdoor tested for a period of time. al. (Pang et
al., 2007)
(continued on next page)
7
Table 2 (continued )
8
PV system Sandy soil Natural/ Solar part investigated before and after dust PV power Italy 2011 Pavan, A.M.
outdoor cleaning. Regression models has been et al. (Massi
developed. Pavan et al.,
2011)
PV system “Harmattan dust (December, January and February) “ Natural/ Two amorphous PV modules, clean and dusty, PV module power Nigeria 2012 Sanusi. Y. K
outdoor for two months in 2006 and 2008. (Sanusi, 2012)
PV system “Air pollution. The monthly decrease in PV efficiency is 60.6%.” Natural/ Two sets of PV panels tested in different Tile angle, PV power and energy Iran 2001 Al-Soleimani
outdoor locations. et al. (Asl-
Soleimani et al.,
2001)
PV system “Urban air pollution (densely populated) “ Natural/ Experiment on two top roof PV module for two The current, voltage, power, and IeV Greece 2010 Kaldellis et al.
outdoor months. The dust accumulation investigated. characteristics was investigated. (Kaldellis and
Kokala, 2010)
PV system “Used clay and refer to natural dust chemical composition of Artificial/ PV module tested in the lab based on dust mass Dust mass deposition, current, India 2013 E. Suresh
natural dust which are basically SiO2 andAl2 O3 ” indoor variation. voltage, power, and efficiency. Kumar et al. (E.

S. Kumar, B.
Sarkar, 2013)
PV system SiO2 , CaCO3 , Gibson (CaSO4: .2H2 O), Dolomite Natural/ Dust size, shape and disruption was tested on PV PV power losses Iraq 2013 Abd Salam AI-
CaMgðCO3 Þ2 ,Anorthite CaAl2 Si2 O8 ,Kaolinite Al2 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 ,Ti, outdoor for street lighting. Ammri et al.
Cr, Mn, Fe and Cu. The effect of dust and ether impurities on PV (Al-Ammri
panel performance et al., 2013)
PV concentrators Fine and coarser dust (size fractions: less than 2.5 mm (fine Artificial/ Solar simulator used to test the performance of Dust size distribution mean value K.Sudia 1993 Elshobokshy
particles) and 2.5e15 mm) indoor PV in term of dust accumulation. and standard deviation. Also, IeV et al. (El-
characteristics, current, voltage, Shobokshy and
power, and fill factor. Hussein,
1993b)
SPOT satellite image Halite NaCl; chlorite MgAl2 (OH),Dolomite CaMgðO3 Þ2 Natural/ The size of dust particles near highway was Dust particle radius distribution, and Alaska 1995 J. Keller et al.
Calcite CaCO3 , Feldspar KAlSiO3 O8 ,Albite NaAlSi3 O8 outdoor measured and analyzed dust load. (Keller and
Lamprecht,
1995)
PV system “Red soil, limestone and carbonaceous fly-ash particles“ Artificial/ Two identical PV module tested for different Energy yield, capacity factor, Greece 2011 Kaldellis et al.
indoor dust particles. efficiency reduction, and efficiency. (Kaldellis and
Kapsali, 2011)
PV system “Red soil, fly-ash, sand, calcium carbonate and silica” Artificial/ Two identical PV module tested for different PV voltage, current, and power. Oman 2014 H A Kazem et al.
indoor dust particles. (Kazem et al.,
2013)
PV system “Halite(NaCl), chlorite (Mg Fe Al2 (OH)), calcite(CaCO3 ), Natural/ Dust samples collected in 24 different locations Wind frequency, solar intensity, total Libya 2006 Sarah. L. O’Hara
dolomite outdoor in Libya for more investigation monthly deposition, dust volume, et al. (O’Hara
(CaMgðCO3 Þ2 ), feldspar(KAlSio3 O8 ), quartz ð Sio2 Þ, and albite and mineral composition. et al., 2006)
ðNaAlSi3 O8 Þ”
PV system e Natural/ PV module tested for different dust particles. PV voltage, current, and power. Algeria 2012 A Benatiallah
outdoor et al.
(Benatiallah
et al., 2012)
PV system “Biological plants (moss, lichen), Iron oxide, an organic Natural/ A 60 kW PV system tested for pollution effect. PV IeV characteristic, voltage, Switzerland 1998 H. Haeberlin
component ðMg; Al; Si; P; S; K; Ca; Ti; Fe; CuÞ” outdoor current, and power. et al. (Haeberlin
and Graf, 1998)
PV system & thermal Red soil, Limestone, Ash Artificial/ Two identical PV module tested for different Energy yield, capacity factor, and Greece 2011 Kaldellis J K
collector indoor dust particles. efficiency et al. (Kaldellis
and Fragos,
2011)
Thermal collector limestone, cement, and carbon Artificial/ PV system and thermal collectors investigated Performance degradation due to dust Saudi Arabia 1979 B. Nimmo et al.
indoor for dust impact accumulation (Nimmo, B.,
Said, 1979)
PV system “three types of commercial PV modules were used: Natura/ Three different PV technologies investigated in Dust composition, power, energy, Mexico 2002 J. I. Acedo (J. I.
amorphous, monocrystalline, and polycrystalline” outdoor term of dust impact. and efficiency. Acedo, 2002)
PV system “Mono-crystalline, poly crystalline, amorphous, dust free Natural/ Different PV systems investigated in term of The monthly decrease in PV Kuwait 2010 F. Wakim
coatings, self-cleaning glass. “ outdoor dust impact efficiency is 17.0%. (Wakim F,
1981)
PV& Thermal collectors “Double-glazed, integral tube, non-selective surface steel Artificial/ Impact of dust on one PV, and two solar thermal PV and thermal collector efficiency. KSA 1990 S. A. M. Said
absorber plate. Fiber-glass containment, Evacuated-tube indoor collectors was investigated. (Said, 1990)
double-annulus glass flow passages with selective absorber
coating. Cylindrical reflectors, PV panel with glass cover.
Silicon quarter-circle segments. “
PV system “Mono-crystalline, poly crystalline, Pmax loss can be from 18 Natural/ Solar simulator used to test the performance of The current, voltage, power, and IeV Senegal 2013 Ababacar
to 78% respectively for the polycrystalline module (pc-Si) and outdoor PV in term of dust accumulation. characteristics was investigated. Ndiaye et al.
monocrystalline module (mc-si). Imax loss can vary from 23 to (Ndiaye et al.,
80% for respectively pc-Si and mc-Si modules. However, Vmax 2013)
and Voc are not affected by dust accumulation for both
technologies studied. FF may decrease from 2% for the pc-Si
module to 17% for the mc-Si module. “
PV system & thermal “Ash, sand and Red soil. Effects of dust accumulation on Artificial/ Intensive review of dust problem in term of Current, voltage, IeV characteristics, USA 2013 T. Sarver et al.
collector performances of thermal and photovoltaic flat-plate collectors indoor physical, chemical, metrological properties. energy yield, capacity factor, (Sarver et al.,
(cement, carbon) “ outdoor Also, electrical and thermal performance of PV efficiency reduction, and efficiency. 2013)
and thermal collector was investigated.

Plastic films & glass With a bucket full of sand dust, the air pressure regulator, one Natural/ 10 glass plates used to collect the dust and dirt Transmittance, and dirt correction Kuwait 1973 H. Garg (Garg,
plate small and one large glass samples close to each other were outdoor for investigation factor 1974)
taken out
PV system “Soiling measurement equipment has been introduced based Natural/ The performance of PV tested in term of dust PV current and soiling ration USA 2013 M. Gostein et al.
on the measurement of two co-planar PV modules, one of outdoor accumulation. (Gostein et al.,
which is regularly cleaned, and the other of which naturally 2013)
accumulates environmental contaminants. “
PV system Natural dust [temperature, humidity, wind speed] Natural/ PV systems in Iraq and dust storm impact was Dust accumulation, size, shape, and Iraq 2014 A. A. Kazem
outdoor investigated. characteristics et al. (Ali A.
Kazem et al.,
2014)
PV system “Effect of soiling and dust accumulation on the performance of Natural/ Intensive review of dust problem in term of Current, voltage, IeV characteristics, United states 2016 Suellen C.S.
various solar technologies“ outdoor physical, chemical, metrological properties. energy yield, capacity factor, Costa et al.
Also, electrical and thermal performance of PV efficiency reduction, and efficiency. (Costa et al.,
and thermal collector was investigated. 2016)
PV system “Effect dust, Humidity and air velocity on PV cell” Natural/ Intensive review of solar energy in Malaysia was Energy, power, and efficiency. Malaysia 2012 S. Mekhilef
outdoor conducted. et al. (Mekhilef
et al., 2012)
PV system Effect of the Shading surfaces by photovoltaic cell Artificial/ Images of surrounding objects were used as the Sun position Italy 2012 Orioli et al.
indoor background on which the solar disk was (Orioli and Di
depicted during the day and at different hours. Gangi, 2012)
PV system “poly-[2-(3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)-5-methoxy-p- Artificial/ Intensive review of PV polymer morphology Efficiency, optimization of United Kingdom 2005 J. E. Slota et al.
phenylenevinylene] (MDMO-PPV): PC61BM films prepared on indoor was conducted. morphology (Slota et al.,
C60/MHA patterned substrates“ 2010)
PV system Natural of dust in atmosphere Natural/ Wind velocity, and air born dust impact on PV PV IeV characteristic, fill factor, Belgium 1999 Dirk Goossens
outdoor module was investigated. voltage, current, and power. et al. (Goossens
and Van
Kerschaever,
1999)
PV system “to determine the impact of the different selected dust (red Artificial/ The performance of PV tested in term of dust PV IeV characteristic, voltage, Palestine 2011 Maher Al-
soil, sand, white soil) on the PV module performance, “ indoor accumulation. current, and power. Maghalseh (Al-
Maghalseh,
2018)
PV system Sand particle Natural/ Electrostatic force used to remove the dust Cleaning efficiency investigated in Japan 2015 H. Kawamoto
outdoor accumulated on the glass of PV module. term of average electrostatics, et al.
frequency, surface loading, particle (Kawamoto and
dimeters, and power consumption Shibata, 2015)
PV system Mono-Crystalline, Semi-Flexible Natural/ Outdoor experiment of two types of PV module PV power, and efficiency. Qatar 2012 Farid Touati
outdoor to investigate dust impact et al. (Touati
et al., 2012)
(continued on next page)
9
Table 2 (continued )
10
PV system Limestone, Ash and Red soil Natural/ Three different PV technologies investigated in Dust composition, PV power, and Greece 2007 Tian W et al.
outdoor term of dust impact. temperature. (Tian et al.,
2007)
PV system “Microtrac S3500 Particle Size Analyzer supported by Natural/ Energy consumption data from database was Energy consumption KensukeNishioka 2017 Tsuyoshi Sueto
Microtrac FLEX Software was used to characterize the dust outdoor used. et al. (Hirano
particle size distribution” et al., 2017)
PV system “SEM is used to determine the morphology of dust particles as Natural/ Measurement of aerosol was conducted in Micrograph, and spectrums of Bernd Webera 2012 Gladis Labrada
well as the nature of interaction between the dust particles. “ outdoor Mexico-city. particles, and particle size Delgado et al.
distribution. (Labrada-
Delgado et al.,
2012)
PV system “Microtrac S3500 Particle Size Analyzer supported by Natural/ Impact of dust fouling of solar collector PV current, voltage, power, IeV, and KSA 2014 Syed A.M. Said
Microtrac FLEX Software was used to characterize the dust outdoor transmittance was investigated. transmittance. The monthly decrease et al. (Said and
particle size distribution. “ in PV efficiency is 7.0%. Walwil, 2014)
Evacuated tube Dust impact on electrical performance Natural/ Water desalination plant used evacuated tube Daily heat, water production, UAE 2003 Ali M. El-

collector outdoor was investigated. transmittance, and heat collector Nashar (El-
ration. Nashar, 2003)
PV system Samples of dust from six locations northern Oman has been Natural/ PV module used indoor to investigate dust PV cure, voltage, power, efficiency, Oman 2016 H. A. Kazem
investigated. The focus was on the physical properties and the outdoor physical impact on the performance losses, size, and weight et al. (Kazem
effect on electrical behaiviour. and Chaichan,
2016b)
PV system Dust samples from some locations in UAE has been tested and Natural/ Different dust samples from UAE used to PV cure, voltage, power, efficiency, UAE 2016 Z. Darwish et al.
their impact on PV was investigated and modelled. outdoor investigate the impact on PV performance and losses. (Darwish et al.,
2016)
Fig. 5. (a) Daily PV power losses, (b) monthly PV efficiency reduction due to dust accumulation on PV.
increasing the cost. other regions. Ref (Alagoz and Apak, 2020). investigates contribu-
There are many PV cleaning methods, including manual, me- tions of surface acoustic waves (SAW) to dust removal process from
chanical, chemical, electrostatic, and even human use, and some of PV panel surfaces. A detailed theoretical analysis was provided for
these methods may be effective in some areas but may not be in this acoustic dust removal approach by considering particle
detachment mechanisms for the inclined panel surfaces, and some
experimental results demonstrating the advantages and disad-
vantages of this technique were discussed. Most often, the cleaning
technique is not very effective in removing small particles of dust
(nanometers). Also, some of these methods may help to accelerate
the process of PV corrosion because of their interaction with certain
types of impurities. Modern cleaning techniques, such as electro-
static and electrostatic power (Calle et al., 2008), are currently
being considered using a robot to clean PV (Anderson et al., 2010)
and the use of a highly reflective water cleaner of modern methods
that have proven effective in cleaning PV (A.A. Kazem et al., 2014).
The next subsections will discuss and detail some of the most
important and recent methods that are currently being used PV
cleaning.
Fig. 6. Concept diagram of forced air flow-based cleaning (Assi et al., 2012).
3.1. Forced air flow of air conditioning systems it was less than 1 mm, was able to clean the dusty PV and enable
them to restore their normal functioning. Rainfall reduces daily
This method has been proposed by Ref (Assi et al., 2012). and has losses to minimum limits of less than 4.4%. However, in dry seasons
been used in practice in the UAE and can be used in many other where the rain is interrupted, dust accumulation can lead to daily
developed countries where air conditioning is widely used. In this losses in PV performance that rise to more than 20%.
method as shown in Fig. 6, air flowing from fans used in air con- Ref (Tanesab et al., 2016). conducted a study of the deterioration
ditioning systems is directed to flow directly on the solar panels to of PV productivity in the Perth, Western Australia, which is char-
remove the dust forcibly. acterized by its mild climate. The results of the study showed that
Ref (Assi et al., 2012). proposed the use of forced air flow from PV productivity (which were left to be cleaned by rain and wind)
the air conditioning system to remove dust and cooling the PV. The varies from season to season during the year. The highest decrease
researchers identified the proposed cleaning system for areas with in the productivity of these cells was recorded at the end of the
dust storms, high irradiation and ambient temperatures. It is found summer and spring and increased productivity at the end of
that the proposed system promising to increase the PV productivity autumn to reach the maximum at the end of winter. The re-
as it reduces the PV temperature in addition to PV cleaning. searchers suggested that rain remains a clean-up technique that
Ref (Alqatari et al., 2015). developed a model to study the output reduces the accumulation of dust on the PV, as well as it is less
of three techniques used to remove dust from PV. The techniques expensive and effective.
were electrodynamic screens, super hydrophobic nano-coatings Ref (Paudyal and Shakya, 2016). examined the effect of dust
and air-blowing mechanisms. Researchers used meteorological accumulation on PV in the Kathmandu (characterized by heavy
data from six locations in Saudi Arabia. Authors have shown that air rainfall during the winter with the deposition of dust in large
blowing technology, while not as prominent as the other two quantities during the summer season). The results of the practical
technologies; it was applied in a self-cleaning solar system devel- measurements showed that the density of dust deposition for 5
oped in the UAE (Tanesab et al., 2016) and can be applied to all months caused a decrease in the efficiency of dusty and naturally
types of roofs. polluted PV up to 29.76% compared to cells cleaned daily. The
largest dust density accumulated at the bottom of the PV at a rate of
6711 g/m2 throughout the study period.
3.2. Natural cleaning using rain and wind In a theoretical study, Ref (Y. Jiang et al., 2018). simulated the
suspension of dust particles with diameters ranging from 0.1 to 100
In natural cleaning, the falling rainwater on the surface of the mm to determine the effect of using natural cleaning of PV by air
tilted PV is used as the panels are usually fixed at a tilt angle to movement at a speed of 0.23e57.56 m/s. The simulation included
enable them to capture the optimal irradiation. One of the disad- the effect of dust adhesion on the surface, hydrodynamic force, and
vantages of this method is that it does not completely clean the PV torque. The study showed the effect of particle size and its
as this cleaning process leaves behind the dust attached to the PV composition on the possibility of cleaning and the speed necessary
surface resulting from its interaction with the moisture of the at- for air to carry out the removal process. Dust particles with a
mosphere. These adhesion molecules usually require heavy rain to diameter greater than 1 mm are easily removed by wind. The
remove. This method is unreliable, especially in the presence of removal of smaller particles by wind was ineffective because of the
severe pollution and insufficient rainfall (Kimber et al., 2007). A need for high shearing velocity to achieve particle separation from
sharp decrease in electricity generated from the PV emerged after a the surface.
light rain caused the formation of a layer of clay on the PV surface. Ref. (AlBusairi H A, 2010) investigated the accumulation of dust
Wind movement, especially when it is a moderate speed and on PV in Kuwait (which environment is desert with high RH). While
does not cause dust, can naturally clean the PV surfaces facing its dry dust has a limited impact on the productivity of PV, dust
movement. Although forecasting precipitation times and amounts accumulation on these panels followed by light rain or high hu-
is not possible with high accuracy, rain can increase the efficiency of midity produces a sticky layer on the surface, especially those with
the PV surface by preventing or reducing the accumulation of small tilt angles. The same situation is repeated with dusty rain,
pollutants. The use of special surfaces such as these increases the which forms a layer on the surface of the PV requires expensive
PV capital cost, but in return will be the best solution when it is cleaning. The results showed that the highest monthly loss in open
necessary to establish PV stations in remote areas where the peri- circuit voltage due to dust accumulation during May ranged from
odic maintenance cannot always be possible. 37% at 0 cell’s tilt angle to 4% for 90 inclination. The authors
Ref (Zorrilla-Casanova et al., 2011). found that rain water, even if demonstrate that RH and rain have a significant effect on the
Fig. 7. Automatic solar panel water cleaning system (Zorrilla-Casanova et al., 2011). Fig. 8. Manual cleaning (Elnozahy et al., 2015).
Fig. 9. Cleaning using vacuum section (Al Shehri et al., 2016).

Fig. 11. Fully automated cleaning system (Anderson et al., 2010).
amount of dust accumulation on PV not less than the effect of

suspended dust in the air. method may be very expensive in PV stations with extended space,
and the cost increases when used in areas suffering from water
scarcity.
3.3. Water cleaning Ref (Moharram et al., 2013). proposed a cleaning system that
uses small amounts of water and energy to clean PV, and studied
In this method as shown in Fig. 7, a hose from the flowing water the difference between the use of water and water mixed with the
is channeled to the PV surface to extract the accumulated dust surfactant experimentally. The water system used is of uncom-
particles. This method requires large quantities of water and the pressed type. The results of the study showed that the PV efficiency
use of pumps to achieve the high pressure that is required. In decreased by 50% within 45 days when uncompressed water was
modern methods, compressed water is sometimes mixed with a used. In the second case (the use of the water mixture with the
special cleaning agent that helps remove dust more effectively. ionic and cationic surfactants in cleaning) the efficiency remained
Water is also useful in PV cooling and is very similar to cleaning the constant for the same system and for the same period and weather
PV with rainwater. The disadvantage of this method is the difficulty conditions. The researchers concluded that the use of the proposed
of using water in scarce areas. It also causes a large loss of water, in water system with a combination of surfactants is suitable for the
addition to the possibility of causing chemical deposition on the PV conditions in Egypt.
edges. The use of water pumps with high pressure means Ref (Elnozahy et al., 2015). empirically studied the use of water
consuming part of the PV generated power, which means reducing in cleaning and cooling the PV in a hot and arid area and compares
the efficiency; there is also the risk of blockage of water pipes or the performance of this unit with another left without cooling and
break them, in addition to the possibility of a thermal shock of hot cleaning. The researchers used an automatic water control system
PV when water falls, which will certainly be cooler than the surface based on the temperature of the PV back side. The water spray
of the plate. PV cleaning is usually done at noon after sunset, and as cooled the PV to a temperature close to the ambient temperature,
these PV will leave wet to dry, there is a risk of attracting more dust and it controls the spraying time to clean the PV surface. The results
particles to accumulate on the PV surface especially since the air of the experimental study showed a reduction of 45.5% in the
stagnation and the most important period of deposition of dust surface temperature of the headboard and 39% for the rear surface.
particles begin after sunset. Heat shocks are usually avoided by During the study period, the efficiency of the cleaned and cooled
using water at temperatures close to the PV temperature by leaving panel was 11.7% compared to the non-cleaned and non-cooled
water tanks heated by the sun. Ref (Zorrilla-Casanova et al., 2011). panel, which was 9%. However, Ref (Chaichan et al., 2015). pro-
found that using water to clean PV is the optimal method. This posed the use of a surfactant of sodium origin or alcohol to treat
Fig. 10. Automatic cleaned PV (Mani and Pillai, 2010). Fig. 12. Solar PV cleaning using automated brushes (Moreno et al., 2006).
Ref (Al Shehri et al., 2017). conducted an empirical study to

determine the efficient use of both nylon, cloth, and silicone rubber
foam brushes as shown in Fig. 9, to improve the PV efficiency. The
results of the study showed that some of the materials used in the
study had positive results on the PV efficiency. The authors claimed
that they did not notice a clear and permanent negative impact
affects the PV efficiency when using these materials. In another
study, the same research team (Al Shehri et al., 2016) concluded
that the use of a brush of good quality is absolutely necessary to
obtain effective cleaning quality without any negative impact on
the PV surface.
Fig. 13. Schematic of electro-dynamic screens (Mazumder et al., 2006).
3.5. Mechanical cleaning
From the previous methods, sometimes it necessary to use

mechanical devices such as engines or robots to operate brushes or
scanners, in addition to the use of high-pressure water filters with a
water storage tank (The German Solar Energy Society, 2008). Ref
(Mani and Pillai, 2010). found that the PV cleaning requires periodic
cleaning once a week during the dry days, and this cleaning is
increased to one daily cleaning in the conditions of accumulation of
dust at high rates. In mechanical cleaning automation is used as
shown in Fig. 10, the system is controlled by using a precise
controller with the help of sensors. This method can be considered
very useful in the case of water cleaning is not possible. Although, it
is possible to use water, direct contact with the brushes with the
weight of the mechanical devices can cause scraping of the surfaces
of the cleaned panels. In this method, the power consumption is
more than any of the other cleaning methods mentioned above,
and the mechanical parts used need maintenance. To date, this
method full effectiveness has not been confirmed for severe dust
accumulation.
Ref. (Anderson et al., 2010) designed a mechanical device used
to clean PV using injected water directed to the surface of the PV as
shown in Fig. 11. The results of the study showed that an increase in
Fig. 14. EDS before (up) and after (down) the voltage applied (Mazumder et al., 2011). the efficiency of the studied PV up to 15%. Ref (Moreno et al., 2006).
used a low-mass mechanical dust mop technique and found that
this dust removal technology improved PV efficiency by 7%. It
vehicles pollution stack on PV. The use of non-ionized distilled should be emphasized here that the use of automated cleaning
water in the cleaning such PV caused a 14% reduction in PV- technology is of high initial and operational cost, and such devices
generating power for six consecutive weeks of exposure, so the need complex mechanical and control designs as shown in Fig. 12.
researchers did not recommend it for such cases.
Ref (Jiang et al., 2016). has developed a model to estimate the 3.6. Electrical screens (EDS)
dust cleaning frequency accumulated on the PV in desert areas. The
researchers based their model and practical measurements data on The electro-dynamic display (EDS) on a PV as shown in Figs. 13
the speed of dust deposition and the relationship between the and 14, can ensure automatic and continuous removal of accumu-
accumulated dust density and the deterioration in the PV perfor- lated dry dust without the use of water or any mechanical moving
mance. The results of the study showed that the frequency of parts (Mazumder et al., 2006). This method of removal depends on
cleaning the PV of the study area is about 20 days when the con- the conversion of dust into active dust and uses an electric field of
centration of accumulated particles is about 100 mg/m3 and the high voltage supply to generate electricity on a screen that charges
deterioration in the power generated from the PV is about 5%. dust particles and facilitates their removal by moving them over the
edge of the plate surface. The researchers found that through the
3.4. Manual cleaning use of this method can remove 90% of the dust accumulated within
2 min of operation of the system. It has been used in the dry, arid,
In this approach, PV are cleaned from accumulated dust and dirt and desert areas (Mazumder et al., 2011). Fig. 13 shows a typical
using a technique like cleaning building windows by using brushes EDS scheme.
with soft bristles that can avoid scratching the clean surface as This method is characterized by its speed in removing dust
shown in Fig. 8. In these brushes there is the possibility of direct compared to other methods; its energy consumption is limited and
and continuous supply of washing water. This can be considered does not require a complex control system, as the system is
better than cleaning PV with rainwater or compressed water. controlled using a small controller connected to sensors. A poten-
However, there is the possibility that direct contact with the surface tial disadvantage of this system is the possibility of degradation of
of the PV may cause slurry, as the movement of the brushes and the screen due to ultraviolet irradiation. The system also needs
their pressure on the surface of the painting cannot be guaranteed high-voltage supply to generate the electric field, which reduces
to be in equal pressure along the PV area. This method is expensive the generation efficiency by 15%. Studies have shown that this
compared to the above methods because it requires skilled labor. method is not effective in removing wet dust particles or that of
Fig. 15. Super hydrophobic coating Kleen-Boost (Park et al., 2011).
accumulated dust within 2 min. References (Bock et al., 2008) and

(Sims et al., 2003) found that the primary variable when using this
cleaning method is voltage. The screen used in the study removed a
clear part of the accumulated dust even when using a low voltage.
The researchers concluded that the relationship between the
voltage and the removal of the dust is a direct relationship, the
greater the voltage, the greater the amount of dust removed from
the surface of the board studied. The use of a dynamic electric
screen to clean PV has high initial and operational costs. This
method does not contain any cleaning fluid, so it cleanses specific
types of dust and is unable to remove wet mud particles that can
stick to the PV surface.
Fig. 16. Super hydrophobic glass coating fabricated using RML patterning technology
(Bodenheimer et al., 2019).
3.7. Super hydrophobic aircraft (SHOP)
In this method, cleaning is done by using a porous surface on the

cement origin, and its efficiency is limited to the state of micro and outer layer. The principle of this method is to paint the PV surface
small particles. This system is effective in dry climates and can with a hydrophobic coating and a thin layer acting as a barrier,
increase the durability of the PV and reduce the damage caused by which makes the water collect on the surface of the panel cannot
ultraviolet irradiation using polymer or weather-resistant glass stick to the surface because of this barrier. Water droplets roll from
instead of screens. the surface in the same way the ball rolls on a slide by tilting the PV
Ref (Biris et al., 2004). used electric dynamic screen to protect surface at an angle as shown in Fig. 15. Rainwater or water used for
the PV from the accumulation of dust. The results of the study cleaning settles in the low areas on the PV surface and then evap-
showed that by increasing the electrical voltage, the amount of dust orates quickly leaving the waste that has been dissolved and
removed increased. Ref. (M., 2011) studied the effect of the use of removed. There is still a need to verify the possibility of using this
the electrical dynamics system to remove dust from PV was method and economic feasibility in various weather and environ-
investigated with the study of the effect of the mass of dust accu- ment conditions (Park et al., 2011).
mulated on the surface. The researchers concluded that the acti- There is always a risk of low screen efficiency in preventing dust
vation of the electrodes of the system with a gradual effort causes accumulation due to ultraviolet radiation, which can reduce the
the charging of the dust particles with static electricity and facili- effectiveness of the screen, and generally can reduce the effect of
tate the process of removal using an alternating electric field. This this irradiation using water-proofing glass or paint as shown in
method enabled researchers to remove more than 90% of the Fig. 16. This method (SHOP) is effective in the rain but not effective
in the dry environment. This type of coating does not allow the dust
Fig. 17. Solar panel glass before and after ultrasonic cleaning with 20 kHz (Vasiljev et al., 2013).
to stick to the PV surface but needs to use water to remove this dust. vibrating will be a suitable cleaning method.
So, this method needs water or precipitation to be effective. A study In the gulf collaboration council (GCC) countries, where the
conducted by Ref (Cuddihy, 1983). showed that the PV surfaces weather is more shining, humid, worm and dusty, many re-
treated in this manner tended to reduce the accumulation of dust searchers investigated dust and cleaning methods. These countries
most of the time. This technique has been developed using precise have desert and close to the sea and ocean. As example in Oman,
structures or nanostructures. which is characterized by its long-standing on the Sea of Oman and
the Indian Ocean and on its north borders lay the desert of Najd and
3.8. Super water jet (SHIP) the Empty Quarter, so it is characterized by the presence of dust
storms coming from the desert in addition to the high relative
The nano-film made of titanium oxide, was used chemically, and humidity in the coastal areas. Relative humidity causes adhesion
added to the PV surface to form a Super Hydrophilic surface. In this between dust particles and surfaces due to the capillary adhesion
method, the water surface is specially designed to reduce the dust force (Jagdish et al., 2017). This association excels other bonding
accumulation. This technique has benefited from all the advantages mechanisms such as van der Waals force. There is a strong rela-
of (SHOP), but it can also interact with organic dirt chemically with tionship between the deposition and accumulation of dust and
ultraviolet light and works to break down the dirt and dissolve it in relative humidity in the atmosphere. The location of Oman over-
water (Thongsuwan et al., 2011). This method is more effective as it looking the Indian Ocean makes the air loaded with moisture,
acts as a suspension material between the dust and the PV surface. which increases the particles of sodium chloride, which can absorb
This method can work much longer than a surface (SHOP) (Verma water. Therefore, the presence of molecules of sodium chloride
et al., 2011). But, as time progresses, and the efficiency of this layer within the chemical composition of the dust particles accumulated
deteriorate due to ultraviolet radiation, dust starts to accumulate. on the PV surface will cause the melting of this substance in the
This cleaning method is somewhat effective with rain, but in dry water and the danger of the entry of this water into the cracks of the
climatic conditions regular washing should be used. Ref (He et al., panel. After the water evaporation at morning it will leave this salty
2011). found this cleaning method is not suitable for use in dry material in the panels’ cracks and surfaces, which means it in-
areas. Ref (Nakata and Fujishima, 2012). uses TiO2 film and optical creases hazardous pollutant accumulation on the PV surface.
stimulation to make this film chemically stable, solid (Graziani Many researchers have investigated the effect of negative dust
et al., 2014), non-toxic, economically accepted, and transparent accumulation on PV performance. Ref (Kazem et al., 2013)(Kazem
for visible light. Most studies in this field have concluded that this et al., 2014). studied lower PV productivity in Oman and GCC due to
method of PV cleaning reduces the dust deposition but does not dust accumulation. PV were left for 45 days without cleaning and
enable the full recovery of the PV efficiency. studied the effect of non-cleaning all this period on the generated
electrical power. The PV efficiency decreased from 16% to 8% for 45
3.9. Self-cleaning ultrasonic days, which means, it lost about 50% of its efficiency. After the
required cleaning of these PVs using water mixed with ions and
In this cleaning technique, high frequency standard ultrasound cationic substances, the PV recovered its initial efficiency (16%). The
(above human hearing, up to 20 kHz) is used. This technique is used authors found that only 9% of the area of Oman is suitable for the
to remove some of the contaminants that are immersed in water deployment of PV systems. These selected areas characterized by
media. These pollutants can be dirt, oil, grease, polishing com- moderate temperatures and low level of pollution and dust. Ref
pounds, and mold release agents. The materials that can be cleaned (Kazem, 2011). explained that the low power of PV produced de-
in this method include metals, glass, ceramics, etc. The process pends on the quality and level of accumulated dust. The researcher
takes place through the formation of the so-called cavity, as bub- studied and compared several types dust materials such as sand,
bles form in size of micron and grow up because of positive and calcium carbonate, silica, red soil, and ash. The results of the study
negative pressure waves alternately. Bubbles store large amounts of showed that the accumulation of ash causes the highest decrease in
energy before they explode. Temperatures within the cavity bubble electricity generated from PV as the effort of the PV containing ash
can reach very high levels, with pressures up to 500 ATMs. The decreased by 25% compared to a clean PV.
internal explosion occurs near the hard surface, changing the shape Ref (Fujiwara et al., 2011). studied the effect of physical prop-
of the bubble and turning it into a droplet of a size of about one to erties of accumulated dust on PV in different areas of northern
ten (1/10) of the size of the bubble. These droplets move at speeds Oman. The researchers found that the largest loss in electrical ef-
of up to 400 km/h toward the hard surface. This combination of ficiency was up to 0.05% per day with the deterioration of PV
high speed, temperature and pressure causes the release of con- productivity from 30 to 40% over three months without cleaning.
taminants from their bonds that cause adhesion with the surface. Ref (Kazem and Chaichan, 2016b). collected accumulated dust
The ultrasonic cleaning technique can reach the small cracks and on glass panels over a period of three months from six selected
can remove very fine dust particles effectively because of the small locations in Oman and assess their physical properties and the
size of the relatively large droplets. The size of the bubbles and the impact of these properties on the produced capacity. Most of the
size of the spray determine the resonance frequency of the trans- total dust particles (64%) have a diameter of 2e63 mm. The results of
former, usually in the ultrasonic transducers used in the cleaning the study showed that the effect of dust accumulation on PV
industry from 20 to 80 kHz as shown in Fig. 17. differed according to the geographical location. There was also no
Ref (Vasiljev et al., 2013). studied the use of ultrasonic cleaning significant energy loss when the concentration of the dust mass on
and found that surface immersion in an independent bath was the the PV surface was (<1 g/m2). The researchers compared daily
best method of ultrasonic cleaning to obtain positive results. Ex- maximum loss of efficiency with literature and concluded that the
periments have shown that the cleaning of the PV surfaces requires loss of efficiency was 0.05% per day, a small amount when
a thin liquid layer (<1 mm) to create the cavities needed to com- compared with neighboring countries. The results of the study also
plete the surface cleaning process. showed that non-cleaning of PVs exposed to weather conditions for
Ref. (Anderson et al., 2010) suggested the use of piezo elements three months caused a decrease in productivity by 35e40%. The
coupled with a self-cleaning PV to prove that piezo device if only researchers noted that the maximum cleaning period can be
installed at the edges of the PV at positions that allow it to form accepted is every three months.
streams of rotary air over the PV surface when the piezo devices are Ref (Kazem and Chaichan, 2019). collected observation of
Table 3
Comparison of cleaning methods.
No Cleaning system Advantages Disadvantages
1 Forced air flow of air Force air used and effective for dry cleaning. No power It is AC operation dependent. The air is hot which may reduce PV
conditioning systems consumption since it uses rejected air from AC. efficiency if stay for more time.
2 Natural cleaning using rain No cost or resources It is weather related method.
and wind
3 Water cleaning Effective to remove dust particles and cover all PV panel parts. Required water, pump, and controller. Sometime static system used,
Cooled or hot water could be used. and other time specific vehicle used.
4 Manual cleaning Environment friendly, no electricity needed human intervention is required, costly, need water
5 Mechanical cleaning Mechanical remove the dust using cloths. Scratching happened sometime.
(blowing or brushing)
6 Electrical screens (EDS) Efficient and effective to remove dust particles with no need to Required high voltage, converter, digital signal device and it is costly
moving parts
7 Super hydrophobic aircraft No moving parts. However, natural rain or dew is useful. No need Reduce the screen efficiency due to coating. Need more investigation
(SHOP) for water or human intervention. in different environment.
8 Super water jet (SHIP) No moving parts. More effective to breakdown dirt and dissolve it. Reduce the screen efficiency due to coating
9 Self-cleaning ultrasonic Use ultrasonic energy through the air to the surface. No water or Less effective with humidity. Need specific power supply.
people is needed
10 Heliotex’s automatic Water will reach all PV panel parts also it provides PV cooling Required water, filter and there is some waste
cleaning
11 Cleaning solutions Different chemical solution could be used. Reduce surface tension. Some solutions are costly and sometimes it produces a layer make
Safe and non-toxic. scatter for solar irradiation.
12 Vibrating/rotating the PV Useful for dry weather and accelerate the PV surface to remove Need motor, control circuit and power supply
panel dust particles. Automatic method
Liwa, Sohar, and then the capital Muscat. The researchers found
that the most important contaminants deposited on the PV were
the particulate matters (PM) resulting from the burning of fossil
fuels in the stacks of power plants, smelters in Sohar Industrial City,
and traffic.
Table 3 and Fig. 15 shows comparison and classifications of PV
cleaning methods, respectively. In Table 2 the comparison was
based on advantages and disadvantages. The comparison shows
that some of the cleaning methods are manual, automatic or pre-
ventive. Cost of the selected method is important and related to the
case study and many parameters need to be investigate before
cleaning method final selection. Some of these parameters are PV
system size, location, design elements, weather parameters, water
availability, dust characteristics, etc. However, based on Table 3, the
cleaning methods classified as shown in Fig. 18.
Table 4 illustrate a comparison between the main three methods
proposed in Fig. 18 based on operation cost, CO2 emissions, labor
costs, water wastage, air pollution, fuel consumption, human safety,
Fig. 18. Classification of cleaning methods.
advantages and disadvantages. Table 4 provides a general impres-
sion of the different aspects of PV cleaning methods, technologies
weather conditions data with the current, voltages, and the and approaches. However, further investigation is required to find
resulting power of six PV installed in six selected locations in Oman. indicators that accurately describe those technologies and to assess
The measurements showed that the highest percentage of dust them cost-effectively. Hence, it is part of the researcher task to
contamination resulting from human activities were serialized conduct deeper investigation of each aspect mentioned in Table 4.
Table 4
Comparison between various cleaning methods (Hassan et al., 2018) (Jaradat, M. A., Tauseef, M., Altaf, Y., Saab, R., Adel, H., Yousuf, N., & Zurigat, 2015) (Mondal and Bansal,
2015) (Mustafa et al., 2015) (Anderson et al., 2010).
Method Manual Automatic Coating method
Washing & brushing Water Spray Machine Static Portable Superhydrophilic coating Superhydrophobic coating
Robotic Cleaning Robotic Cleaning
Operational Cost “High “ “Medium “ “Low “ “Low “ “Low “ “Low “

CO2 Emissions “Medium “ “Medium “ “Low “ Nil “Low “ “Low “
Labor costs “High “ “Low “ Nil Nil “Low “ “Low “
Water wastage “High “ “High “ “Medium “ “Low “ “Low “ “Low “
Air pollution “Medium “ “Medium “ “Medium “ “Medium “ “Low “ “Low “
Fuel consumption “High “ High “Low “ “Low “ “Low “ “Low “
Human safety “Low “ “High “ “High “ “High “ “High “ “High “
Major Advantage Reliable Sustainable and require almost no human intervention Easier method to remove dust, especially for titled PV’s
Major Disadvantage Slow and labor intensive High costs of maintenance Reduced electrical efficiency due to reduced solar
irradiance absorption
Fig. 19. Methodology flowchart.
Also, the optimum, effective and cheapest method to be selected productivity and efficiency. However, cleaning methods still have
based on the PV system design, dust type and characteristics and attention with huge R&D to develop methods with low cost, high
finally the environmental parameters in the site. efficiency, more reliability, and less human intervention. There are
many gaps and points need investigation and studies. Furthermore,
4. PV cleaning methodology these points represent the researchers’ challenges to improve
cleaning methods in term of technical and economic aspects.
Based on the above discussion, Fig. 19 demonstrates a suggested
methodology that can be followed through research studies to It is important to know the dust characteristics and properties
determine an appropriate cleaning method described in the flow (composition, accumulation rate, size, shape, optical, electro-
chart. The first step to is acquiring the necessary information such static deposition behavior, etc.) in the location beside the
as PV and plant connections, current cleaning plan (if any) and environment parameters (wind speed and direction, humidity,
costs, schematics of the PV plant infrastructure, etc. This step is drops, storms, pollution, etc.) to search for the suitable cleaning
followed by performance evaluation of the PV to assess the cleaning methods in term of technical and economic aspects. Also, to
quality of the current cleaning strategy (if available). The first stage make sure what type of chemical solution (if needed) to remove
consists of analyzing the current cleaning strategy by investigating the dust particle in the location.
its quality, approach, speed and cost-effectiveness. This will serve It is found that the main dust pollutants types in many countries
as a benchmark to start cleaning method selection study. The sec- in literature found to be silica, red soil, limestone, ash, sand, and
ond stage is aimed to compare the different methods proposed by calcium carbonate. Other element has less impact on PV per-
researchers, scientists, and other companies to clean PV. The formance. However, the focus should be on cleaning methods
comparison is made through an evaluation criterion which are take in consideration the previous six pollutants.
made to find the optimum cleaning approach. The comparison is The type of methodology used to calculate cost of cleaning is
similar to Table 3 but is more specific and detailed. The most suit- important. However, in this paper the authors proposed a new
able solution to achieve the desired outcomes of the study will be methodology. Many parameters need to be provided related to
chosen. The proposed solution will be evaluated economically to fit the design elements, orientation, type of used equipment (PV
the cost-criterion of cleaning cost per PV and then compared to the technology), beside the parameters mentioned in the first point.
remaining techniques, discussed in stage 2. The second perfor- Dissolved surfactant, salts, and elements used with water for
mance evaluation will be done to assess the quality of the proposed cleaning which will be adhering on the PV glass surface need to
approach after its implementation. be taken in consideration on long term.
The cleaning periodic and expected percentage of dust removal
5. Critical review depend on the above elements and it is related to the investi-
gated case.
This paper reviews, investigates and summarizes published In general, weekly cleaning is recommended by many re-
work related to dust impact on PV and cleaning methods in term of searchers in dry spells and moderate dust accumulation. How-
developments and challenges. The review provided intensive look ever, direct cleaning should be adopting in case of dust storm.
at (1) dust characteristics, accumulation, and impact on PV, (2) PV Also, in some places may the periodic of cleaning needed is
cleaning: review and classification, (3) PV cleaning methodology. more than two weeks.
The research conducted for dust impact on PV and cleaning The humidity and dew that occurred with dust create soiling
methods in the few decades has been reviewed and discussed. situation and make the cementation, which make it difficult to
Many methods have been used manually, automatic, electrostatics, clean the PV. Besides, using water or solution will increase the
with or without water to clean dust and improve PV power cleaning cost. This issue represents a challenge to the
researchers and there is no specific costly effective method to strategies. Furthermore, hybrid cleaning method is worth to be
overcome this problem. investigated.
Another challenge is the method to accurately measure soiling
and dust thickness and adhesive properties. Declaration of competing interest
Use the R&D in nanotechnology and meteorology to find a new
cleaning material and coating to prevent different type of dust in The authors declare that they have no known competing
dry or humid weather locations. However, the new cleaning financial interests or personal relationships that could have
material supposed to be non-toxic, easy to apply for different PV appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
technology, high transparent to solar irradiation, and
inexpensive.
Acknowledgment
Researchers need to use more optimized method for water us-
age. Also, water recycling and filtering is important. Further-
“The research leading to these results has received Research
more, the power used to pump the water has to be minimized.
Project Grant Funding from Sohar University SUSF-2018-01 and the
Using censoring system to measure and detect the reduction in
Research Council of the Sultanate of Oman, Research Grant
PV efficiency and operate the automatic cleaning robot is a
Agreement No. ORG SU EI 11 010”.
challenge specially it will make the cleaning more accurate than
periodic methods. However, researchers need to investigate this
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Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

A review of dust accumulation and cleaning methods for solar

1. Introduction In addition, many contaminants and dirt resulting from human

Dust type references Source Effect

- Different types of collectors have been used starting from the

PV are installed outdoors and exposed to all the environmental

H.A. Kazem et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187

H.A. Kazem et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187

H.A. Kazem et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187

H.A. Kazem et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 276 (2020) 123187

Fig. 9. Cleaning using vacuum section (Al Shehri et al., 2016).

amount of dust accumulation on PV not less than the effect of

Ref (Al Shehri et al., 2017). conducted an empirical study to

From the previous methods, sometimes it necessary to use

Fig. 15. Super hydrophobic coating Kleen-Boost (Park et al., 2011).

accumulated dust within 2 min. References (Bock et al., 2008) and

In this method, cleaning is done by using a porous surface on the

No Cleaning system Advantages Disadvantages

Method Manual Automatic Coating method

Operational Cost “High “ “Medium “ “Low “ “Low “ “Low “ “Low “

Fig. 19. Methodology ﬂowchart.

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