Abstract

The Atacama Desert is one of the world's top places for the development of photovoltaic (PV) projects due to the abundant sunlight available for conversion into electricity. The desert environment, however, adversely affects the optimal performance of PV systems. These effects can be caused by high temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, or concentration of dust in the atmosphere. This study evaluates the soiling effects on the energy production of PV systems at the Atacama Desert Solar Platform (PSDA), and attempts to determine their possible relationships with local atmospheric variables. In particular, the research focuses on the cementation processes that typically occur on glass panels during a typical day, as influenced by solar radiation, humidity, ambient temperature and wind speed, and on quantifying their effects on the optical properties of PV panels as well as their energy production. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the presence of hygroscopic particles (gypsum) that interact with humidity, promoting the adhesion of insoluble substances onto the glass cover of PV modules. This effect is intensified due to the prolonged exposure times to local environmental conditions, reaching an average deposition density of 0.7 mg cm(-2) during four weeks of exposure. In terms of glass transmittance effects, typical optical losses of 38% relative to the clean condition were also measured, while the PV current density dropped at a rate of 21 mA cm(-2)/mg cm(-2).