Influence of environmental factors on the power produced by photovoltaic panels artificially weathered

Solar energy is an important renewable energy source and a great option to mitigate the greenhouse gases produced by fossil fuels in electricity production. The common way to use solar energy is through photovoltaic technology. This technology converts solar photons into electricity. However, power...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Sánchez Balseca, Joseph|||0000-0002-1741-3229, Pineiros, José Luis, Pérez Foguet, Agustí|||0000-0002-2737-4710
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/406964
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/406964
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113831
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Photovoltaic power generation
Solar energy
Renewable energy
Sustainability
Environmental statistics
Weathering
Energia solar fotovoltaica
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Recursos energètics renovables::Recursos solars fotovoltaics
Descrição
Resumo:Solar energy is an important renewable energy source and a great option to mitigate the greenhouse gases produced by fossil fuels in electricity production. The common way to use solar energy is through photovoltaic technology. This technology converts solar photons into electricity. However, power production by photovoltaic panels (PV) is strongly related to environmental, manufactured, and maintenance factors. The present work analyzed the exposure of PV panels to environmental conditions at different stages in their lifetime (new, five, ten, 15 years, and 20 years). For this purpose, the PV panel was subjected to a simulated weathering process. A Generalized Linear Model (GLM) approach was used to evaluate the influence of environmental conditions (meteorological and air pollution) on power production, which follows a Binomial Negative distribution due to the overdispersion. The proposed method was performed in the tropical Andean during the winter season and in the presence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Generally, the specific humidity and temperature were the meteorological significant covariates, while the PM2.5 was the air pollution significant covariate. Higher power production efficiencies were obtained in the presence of precipitation and wind velocity as significant covariates. The model evaluation had adequate criteria values, NSE between 0.76 and 0.96, and correlation coefficient between 0.87 and 0.98 using a new and weathered 15-year PV panel, respectively.