@article{10272/24511,
year = {2019},
month = {7},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24511},
abstract = {Soiling is an issue that impacts the performance of photovoltaic (PV) technologies as it attenuates the amount of solar resource reaching the solar cells. The chemical composition of the soil is essential to define cleaning strategies of photovoltaic companies. This paper reports the characterization of the chemical and physical properties of the soiling deposited on photovoltaic modules located in the Atacama Desert. The particle size, shape and chemical composition of dust were studied at 4 different locations (denoted as L1 to L4) with samples taken from the ground and the module surface. It was found that, most deposited material exhibits a diameter between 1 µm and 60 µm. The determination of the particle shape factor shows that smaller particles tend to have a circular appearance, while larger particles exhibit a prismatic form. These small particles show a shape factor close to 1 and occur at the 4 locations with the greatest frequency, 40–70%. The mineral species in both the deposited and ground dust, which were identified by means of X-ray diffraction, were albite, anorthite, calcite, cristobalite, gypsum, halite, quartz, muscovite and orthoclase. The compounds occurring with the highest frequency in both the module and ground dust at all locations were quartz and anorthite. Differences between the locations were found. Calcite was found only at L3. Gypsum was not detected at L1 and L3 but was present in L2 and L4. Similarly, cristobalite was found only at L1 and L3, halite was found at L2 and L3, and muscovite was found at L1 and L2.},
organization = {The authors acknowledge MINEDUC-UA project codes ANT 1755, CONICYT/FONDAP/15110019 “Solar Energy Research Center” SERC-Chile, the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO) with contract No 17PTECES-75830 under the framework of the project “AtaMoSTeC” and the Unidad de Equipamiento Científico “MAINI” of the Universidad Católica del Norte for the support in the preparation of samples, analysis and generation of data through the XRD team, and
FIC-Regional Project EQU-25 Conicyt 2009-2010. In addition, we acknowledge at international level the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Germany) for their “Solar Collaboration between Chile and Deutschland (Solar Child)” project No 01DN14005, as well as the Spanish Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness “PVcastsoil” project N° ENE2017-83790-C3-1-2-3-R in collaboration with the European Regional Development Fund.},
publisher = {Elsevier},
title = {Physicochemical characterization of soiling from photovoltaic facilities in arid locations in the Atacama Desert},
doi = {10.1016/j.solener.2019.05.034},
author = {Ferrada, Pablo and Olivares, Douglas and del Campo, Valeria and Marzo, Aitor and Araya, Francisco and Cabrera, Enrique and Llanos, Jaime and Correa-Puerta, Jonathan and Portillo, Carlos and Román Silva, Domingo and Trigo-González, Mauricio and Alonso Montesinos, Joaquín and López Rodríguez, Gabriel and Polo, Jesús and Batlles, Francisco J. and Fuentealba, Edward},
}