Seasonal Performance Assessment of Various PV Technologies in a Desert Climate through Device Simulations and Outdoor Measurements

Abstract

Middle East is considered as one the most promising areas for PV deployment due to its vast solar potential. Successful deployment of PV systems in the region is challenging, however, due to local weather conditions. Frequent dust storms in these areas cause heavy soiling on PV module surface and significantly affecting the solar panels performance. In addition, the combination of high ambient temperatures and increased UV irradiance levels pose additional challenges in PV module reliability. This work focuses on the influence of local climate effects on the performance and energy yield of various PV module technologies by processing local weather data over various periods. Simulation data are validated with outdoor IV measurements on various types of commercial c-Si based PV modules, located at KAUST University, Western Region of Saudi Arabia.