Table 2 Summary of selected reports of dust effects on the performance of PV panels in some countries of the MENA and the Far East regions

Egypt: Helwan

6 months

The decrease in efficiency for an amorphous silicon solar cell is 66% after 6 months without cleaning.

[53]

Egypt: Helwan

7 months

Decrease in the PV output of about 17.4%/month.

[54]

Egypt: Beni Suef

3 months

The overall power capacity dropped by more than 50% compared with the reference PV panel which was cleaned regularly.

[55]

Egypt

21 days

5% reduction of the output for 15° tilt angle.

[56]

Egypt

All the performance parameters due to the dust accumulation on the PV modules are degraded relative to that of the clean module. Also, the worst-case performance is recorded for the cement–dust accumulation as the power is reduced by 67% compared with the clean module and 40% reduction in efficiency.

[57]

Libya

Feb–May 2011

The polycrystalline PV panel power output was reduced by 50%. However, this reduction decreases in the range from 2 to 2.5% by weekly washing.

[58]

Saudi Arabia

6 months

The PV panels lost 40% of their efficiency.

[59]

Saudi Arabia

1 month, 6 months

33.5% and 65.8% reductions in efficiency after 1 month and 6 months, respectively.

[60]

Saudi Arabia: Dhahran

6 months

A power decrease of about 50% can occur in reference to PV modules when they are left uncleaned for 6 months.

[61]

Saudi Arabia

1 year

7% efficiency reduction per month for PV panels

[62]

Saudi Arabia, Madinah

2 months

A power decrease of about 28% in a PV module.

[63]

Kuwait

6 days

17% of PV power is lost due to dust deposition on PV modules.

[64]

Kuwait

3 months

A total soiling loss of 45.8% was noticed for the city Azda and 42% for Sawda after 3 months of operation.

[65]

Kuwait

monthly

It was noticed that under the effect of dust accumulation in April, May, October, and December, the PV panel efficiency experienced a significant decrease by 15.07%, 13.74%, 10.685%, and 8.742%, respectively, compared with the PV panel cleaned on a daily basis.

[66]

Qatar

1 month

15% PV energy yield decrease. Moreover, the soiling loss, can reach up to 68% without rain or cleaning after 234 days.

[67]

Qatar

8 months

50% degradation of power output was recorded due to an 8-month exposure without cleaning.

[68]

Qatar, Doha

140 days

Efficiency loss of the PV panel over 80%.

[69]

Iraq: Baghdad

2 weeks

Leaving the system exposed to external conditions for 2 weeks, caused losses of 22% of its efficiency.

[70]

Iraq: Baghdad

34 days

Maximum losses of the output power due to accumulation of dust on the fixed solar panels is about 31.4% and 23.1% at tilt angles 30° and 45°, respectively.

[71]

Iraq: Baghdad

1 month

The dust accumulation on the surface of PV panel causes decrease in the performance about 35–65% for 1 month accumulated time.

[72]

Iraq: Baghdad

Daily, weekly and monthly

The average degradation rate for solar modules exposed to the dust was 6.24% for 1 day, 11.8% for 1 week, and 18.74% for 1 month.

[73]

Iraq: Baghdad

1 month

Power output decreased by around 26% when the panels were not cleaned for 1 month.

[74]

UAE

5 weeks

The output power reduction after 5 weeks was about 10%.

[75]

UAE

1 year

70% of PV efficiency degradation was recorded when the PV module was not cleaned for over a period of 1 year.

[76]

Oman (Northern)

3 months

A decline in the productivity of the PV module up to 35–40% after exposure to the weather conditions for more than 3 months

[77]

Adrar, Algeria

2 months

The output power decreased by as much as 28.62% after exposure to the outdoor climate for 2 months.

[78]

Morocco, Rabat

9 days

The soiling rate can reach up to 18% for a period of exposition of 9 days starting from 25 July 2016.

[79]

Morocco

1 week

The soiling effect can reach up to 12% for the glass samples. However, the soiling effect can reach up to 35% after only 1 week for the mirror type.

[80]

Palestine

1 week

5 to 6% decrease in the solar panel efficiency

[81]

Iran, Tehran

10 months

Air pollution can reduce the energy output of solar module by more than 60% in Tehran.

[82]

Iran, Tehran

70 days

A power reduction of 21.47%

[83]

East China

1 week

The average dust density is 0.644 g/m², and the dust reduces the output power of photovoltaic modules by 7.4%.

[84]

Indonesia, Surabaya

2 weeks

Reduction in power output was around 10.8% and a decrease in output power during cloudy conditions of more than 45%.

[85]

Pakistan

6 weeks

Efficiency of the PV panel tilted at 33° decreased dramatically by 86%.

[86]

Pakistan, Taxila

3 months

Monocrystalline and polycrystalline PV modules showed about 20% and 16% decrease of average output power, respectively.

[87]

Pakistan, Bahawalpur

3 months

The drop in efficiency due to dust accumulation on polycrystalline PV modules was less in June and July when compared with that in August. The average output power was reduced up to 18% for August, 22% for June, and 16% for July.

[88]

Pakistan

24 h

The modules mounted at a tilt angle of 20° showed a soiling loss of 0.981% while the soiling loss decreases to 0.889% at a higher tilt angle of 33.5°. On the other hand, the module mounted at 0° tilt angle had the maximum soiling loss equivalent of 2.015%.

[89]

Thailand, Bangkok

2 months

The performance ratio of the PV panels due to accumulated dust was reduced by 1.6–3% after 1 month exposure to dust accumulation. This ratio was reduced to 6–8% after 2 months exposure.

[90]

India: Delhi

1 month

After 10 days of no cleaning, the energy generation reduced by 15% of the generated energy when panels were properly cleaned; after 15 days of no cleaning, it reduced by almost 25% in the examined case. It was also observed that the dust deposition in heavily polluted environment stick to the panel, and dry cleaning alone is not sufficient.

[91]

India: Gujarat, Surat

8 weeks

The efficiency was reduced by 44% after 8 weeks of dust accumulation, and the transmissivity was reduced by 50%.

[92]

India, Mumbai

100 days

It was found that the soiling loss during the non-monsoon days is reduced by 35–40%.

[93]

Nepal (Kathmandu)

5 months

The efficiency of modules was reduced by 29.76%.

[94]