LAUSR

Abstract This article presents an experimental study of dust effect on the photovoltaic system's performance for various tilt angles in semi-arid environment. For analysis, eight PV modules were installed on the roof of a building at tilt angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45° with an azimuth angle of 0°. Each pair of PV modules were installed at the same tilt angle. In each pair of modules, one was cleaned every two weeks and the other one was left under outdoor environmental condition. In order to analyze PV performances, the output power of the modules, as well as the climate parameters, were measured every one minute. The results showed that the reduction rate of PV performance due to dust accumulation is strongly dependent on the tilt angle. A dust storm has occurred in the mid-test period, which has reduced the daily average energy generated of PV modules at tilt angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45° by 58.2%, 27.8%, 21.7%, and 20.7%, respectively. However, for a few weeks before the dust storm, the average reduction ratio of the daily energy generated of PV modules due to dust accumulation was 8.6% for the horizontal module and 0.8% for the other tilted modules.