Mitigation of soiling losses by smart heating and night tilting for ASC and standard PV module glass

Soiling is a major factor for the power production of photovoltaic (PV) plants. Areas with high irradiance are most suitable for PV power production, but often also suffer from high airborne dust concentrations. Due to the impact of soiling causing high losses, this topic becomes more and more concern in PV research. Within this study, three different soiling mitigation approaches and also combination effects were investigated at outdoor conditions in the desert climate of Pakistan. This includes smart tilting during day and night, dew mitigation by smart heating, and the use of anti-soiling coatings (ASC). By use of these approaches, up to 50% reduction in soiling was observed, indicating a high potential for commercial application.