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dust measuring mechanisam on pv panel

Dulithk

Anybody here to suggest a method (sensor) to measure dust on a glass surface (photo voltaic) without going to image processing? #help

  • Fact: if a pparticular sensor is mounts in front of pv panel, shedding effect may occur 

  • Hi,

    Wouldn't a couple of light sensors work? One that is wiped (say) daily using an electric motor, acting as the reference light level. If there's significant difference between the two, then there is a loss of light, due to dust/dirt.

    The light sensor could be a small solar panel, but it might be easier to use a proper light sensor with a digital output, since you'll need a microcontroller anyway to activate the daily cleaning operation.

  • A variation on what Shabaz is suggesting is to shine a light onto the surface at a shallow angle so that most of the light is reflected towards a light sensor. Make sure the light sensor is shielded so it can only "see" the reflecting area. A black tube aimed at the reflecting area should work. Modulate the light source so you can just look for the amplitude of the ac component of light detected by the sensor. This will make the system insensitive to ambient light variations. Neither the light source nor the sensor need to be directly over the surface, so sunlight is not blocked. Dust will scatter some of the reflected light so the more dust on the surface, the smaller the ac signal.

  • I'm not meeting your criteria, but:

    buying a little drone with cam, to facilitate visual inspection from the ground, may be a realistic solution.

  • I think this this is an XY problem. Wouldn't just knowing that there is a decline in photovoltalic output power for a given solar irradiance, be enough to determine something is suspect.  I.e. wouldn't just a pilot cell (perhaps one that is self cleaning) or a power senor be enough?

  • Is there an electrostatic method for measuring dust? Bit like a gieger counter?