Photovoltaic (PV) module efficiency is much lower when operating in outdoors than under controlled laboratory conditions. Dust accumulation on the surface of PV modules results in lower performance and daily energy losses due to the decrease in glass cover transmittance. These losses in energy output are significant in large PV farms especially in arid and desert areas. In this research, the effect of dust accumulation on the performance of crystalline PV modules was investigated experimentally under outdoor conditions in a Saharan environment at the city of Ouargla, Southeast of Algeria. In addition, the power generation of a 30 MW grid-connected PV power plant installed in the same area before, during and after a sandstorm was evaluated. The results showed that approximately 4.36 g/m² of dust accumulated on the PV module's surface after 8 weeks of outdoor exposure without cleaning. This caused a drop in PV energy production of 8.41%, 6.10% and 0.51% in maximum power output, short circuit current and open circuit voltage respectively in comparison to a cleaned PV module. Furthermore, deposited dust on the surface of the PV modules at this farm from this sandstorm led to a 32% reduction in generated energy (i.e. 5.18 MWh).

在室外操作时，光伏（PV）模块的效率要比在受控实验室条件下低得多。由于玻璃盖透射率的降低，PV模块表面上的灰尘积聚会导致性能下降和每日能量损失。在大型光伏电站中，尤其是在干旱和沙漠地区，能源输出的这些损失非常严重。在这项研究中，在阿尔及利亚东南部Ouargla市的撒哈拉沙漠环境中，在室外条件下，通过实验研究了粉尘积累对晶体光伏组件性能的影响。此外，还评估了沙尘暴发生之前，之中和之后安装在同一地区的30 MW并网光伏电站的发电量。结果表明约4.36 g / m ²室外暴露8周后未经清洁而积聚在PV模块表面上的灰尘。与清洁的光伏组件相比，这导致光伏发电量分别下降了8.41％，6.10％和0.51％，分别是最大功率输出，短路电流和开路电压。此外，沙尘暴在该农场的光伏组件表面上沉积的灰尘导致发电量减少了32％（即5.18 MWh）。