New Energy Oasis (NEO)

Testing and evaluation program in NEO

Overview of Current and Future Projects

Dr. Raed A. Bkayrat,

Manager Technology Application and Advancement Group (TAAG)
Economic Development, KAUST
Technology Application and Advancement Group
(TAAG)

New Energy
Oasis
(NEO)

Advance
Technical
Science
and
Business TAAG and
Technology
consultation
Training

Pilot
Projects
+
Prototyping
2
Research-Driven Commercial Innovation

Scale market

Production
Industry
Technology
Pilot Commercialization

Bench Research

concept Basic Science Developmental Commercial

Technology Maturity

3
Technology Application and Advancement
Establishing the “Push and Pull” Factors

Saudi
Industry

International
Technology
Providers

4
Dust Mitigation Initiative
New Energy Oasis (NEO)
Technology Application and Advancement Group (TAAG)

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 6

Background
Background Proposed Solutionss
Proposed Solutions
• Areas with large solar energy potential are the dustiest in the world with limited rainfall Dust Mitigation
• Domestic oil consumption is projected to consume 45% of total oil produced in the Kingdom by 2030 Coating Solar Panel
Reliability
•At the current pace, domestic demand for power is expected to nearly triple by 2030 Performance Efficiency Dry Wet
• Energy demand continues to increase at an alarming rate in the Kingdom (50 barrels of oil/person
annually) without a sustainable energy solution
Passive Coatings Active Cleaning

Sputtering Super- Ultrafine Clean Rotary

Current Condition PCO EDS
Coating Hydrophobic TiO2 Fizz Brush
• The lack
Current Condition
of government incentives has limited the widespread of large-scale solar farms
• Current wet cleaning methods are expensive & inefficient due to the scarcity of water in the region
• The optimum frequency of cleaning needs to be determined (e.g. $6,650/month - KAUST solar Technology Environmental Field
Economics O&M
panels) Maturity Durability Evaluation
• Remote areas requiring solar panel cleaning have limited access to water
• The drop of solar energy efficiency over three months without cleaning ranged between 30-45%
1. What is the level of maternity of each proposed technology?
• Dust storms result in a 60% decrees in solar energy efficiency
2. What are the predicted results for each Proposed Solutions? What is the impact on glass
• The Net Present Value of solar panels reduce by 1% annually due to panel degradation surfaces?
• Leveled Cost Of Energy (LCOE) of solar in the Kingdom can’t compete with conventional electricity 3. Are the Proposed Solutions focused on the right areas? How easy are they to implement?
rates (SR/kWh) 4. Is the implementation order clear? How will the effects of the Proposed Solutions be verified?
• High installation, running, O&M costs (MENA) prevent solar generation from reaching Grid Parity 5. What is the impact on the bottom-line LCOE? What is the cost of the proposed solution?
6. Are the results reproducible?
Goals Effect Confirmation
Goal
1st to understand & quantify the impact of soling on the performance of solar systems.
2nd to develop a number of dust mitigation products & technologies and measure their efficacy through Preliminary Results
reproducible test procedures. • The increase in system efficiency goes up to 30-45% increase when system is cleaned after
3rd to evaluate different mature dust mitigation technologies and solutions. three months of no cleaning
This is to validate the ability of achieving 100% dry-type cleaning solutions & to recommend cleaning • Dust deposits on solar panels show physical irregularities with chemical traces of salt,
frequency based on field testing of technologies and site-specific cleaning method. metals, hydrocarbons, and biological content
Root Cause Analysis
1. How does the system actually behave with the Proposed Solutions that are being
Cause-Effect Infrastructure Utilities proposed for implementation in place? (passive vs. active)
Diagram 2. How will you measure the effectiveness of the Proposed Solutions?
Connection to gird
Dust Mitigation 3. What have we learned that does or does not improve the situation?
Mounting structure 4. In light of learning, what should be done?
R&D Endorsements
Solar Efficiency

arrangement 5. How should the way we work or our standards be adjusted to reflect what we
Proximity to service O&M subsidies learned?
Follow-up Actions
Reduced

center

Cost of cleaning Dust deposition Moving Forward

• Assigned advisory committee: Tom Missimer, Kim Choon Ng, and Ghassan Jabbour, Moa’awia
Access to Water Dust Composition
AlMasri, Maen AlAmad
No Proven reliable Aerosol • Stakeholders: SABIC, glass & solar companies, solar project developers, utility companies,
solution High Temperature technology developers
Clay presence
Lack of Rain 1. What do we need to learn next?
High Humidity 2. What remains to be accomplished?
Organic material 3. What other parts of the organization need to be informed of this result?
presence Wind
4. How will this be standardized and communicated?
O&M Weather
Project Developer: Hashim Al-Zain Version 0.2 Updated: 24 March 2012 Team Sponsor: Raed Bkayrat
Dust Mitigation Program

• How is Dust Mitigation Initiative executed?

• Providing solution for Dust effects on solar PV

• Evaluating of different technologies and solutions

• Field testing

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 8

Temperature and Dust Effects
Analysis

• Temperature
• Testing and verifying the effects of temperature on decay
coefficients

• Dust
• Testing and verification of performance against dust accumulation
• 1 month Test vs. round-the-year Test

• Other Factors
Dust Accumulation Test

• Standard sample collection and data analysis method

• Lab analysis of dust samples

• Spectral analysis and effects of dust on transmission of light
• Weight analysis (can be used as a measure of dust accumulation
versus time)
• Physical Analysis (Shape, count, and size of particles)
• Chemical Analysis: Metals, Salts, PH, Biological Contents,
Hydrocarbons, etc

• Standard report template to be delivered

Benefits of the Dust Analysis

• Recommendation of coating materials and surface design

• Asses the performance of different PV technologies against dust effects (in the
future also solar thermal may be included)

• Recommendation of cleaning frequency (for different coatings and different

technology)

• Recommendation of cleaning techniques and methods

• Better understanding and predict O&M, LCOE, and other factors effected by dust

• Reduce the cost by using optimized service costs (faster ROI)

Other Parts of the study

• The study will include

• Effect of Tilt on dust accumulation

• Finding the optimum Tilt to increase harvested light( by reduction of dust accumulated
versus the reduced solar energy normal to the surface)

• Effects of humidity (in collaboration with other testing locations)

• Effects of temperature (temperature analysis is another test done at NEO)

• Effects of other environmental factors, like nearby factories and pollution of the air
(done by comparing different test locations)

• Effect of dust on the performance of mirrors and other concentrating optics

New Energy Oasis- DUST MITIGATION INITIATIVE (DMI)
Preliminary Results
Sample Results
System Performance Data

Kwh/Kwp Performance

4 50

45
3.5 System 1
40 System 2
3 Temperature
35
Specific Yield (Kwh/Kwp)

Temperature (0C)
2.5
30

2 25

20
1.5
15
1
10
0.5
5

0 0
27-Jan 6-Feb 16-Feb 26-Feb 8-Mar 18-Mar 28-Mar 7-Apr 17-Apr 27-Apr 7-May
Time

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 14

Dust Accumulation effect on PV performance

30-45% increase!
Efficiency drop due to dust Accumulation
10.00% 50

45
9.00%
40

Maximum daily temperature (oC)

8.00%
35
7.00%
Efficiency (%)

30

6.00% 25

20
5.00%
Efficiency String 2 Efficiency String 1 Max of Ambient Temp 15
4.00%
10
3.00%
5

2.00% 0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Day

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 15

Cleaning Program

Dust Effects on System Efficiency

12.00%

10.00%

8.00%
String Efficiency

String1 Eff
(%)

6.00% String2 Eff

String3 Eff
String4 Eff
4.00%
String5 Eff

2.00%

0.00%
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Day

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 16

Sample Results
Spectral Analysis and effects on
Transmission

• Effect of Dust on Spectral Transmission of the glass Duration of exposure to dust: 60 days
Effect of Dust on Glass Transmission
1.10
1.00
Relative Glass Transmission

0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
Week 1
0.50
Week 2
0.40
Week 3
0.30
Week 4
0.20
0.10
0.00
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Wavelength (nm)
• Clarify the behavior of different technologies under
the effect of dust • Particle Size Distribution
• Information to be extracted:
• Study the behavior of a specific product under dust • Most common Particle Size
accumulation • Total No of particles (particle/m2)
• Currently this is only for direct light. In the future, • Estimation of Area Blockage (%)
(Versus Time)
further tests will also include the diffused, scattered,
reflected and absorbed light
Sample Results
Physical Analysis of Dust Particles

• Particle Shapes
• Particle-to-surface interaction
• Detailed study on local dust characteristics
• Other physical characteristics
Sample Results
Physical Analysis of Dust Particles

• Particle Shapes
• Particle-to-surface interaction
• Detailed study on local dust characteristics
• Other physical characteristics

Weekly Dust Accumulation

Sample Results
Chemical Analysis and Composition

• Data that can be extracted:

• Dust content Chemical Distribution (Chemical Composition of
the dust)
• Availability of Salts
• Metal Contents of the dust
• Hydrocarbons content
• Biological Content of the dust (from existence of bacteria and
other information, Not easy to get, needs expert analysis)
• Existence of a specific element and its quantity
Further Studies- Dust Analysis

• Effect of change of tilt

• Find the optimum tilt angle to install to minimize dust
• Effect on different coatings

• Effects of wind speed and direction

• Effect of dust on the Panels/Modules:

• The effect of module edge on dust collection
• Effect of height from the ground
• Effect of dust on Mirrors, concentrators and receivers

Weekly Dust Accumulation

Sample Results
System Performance Data

• The Plots for the performance is being recalculated and not available for
the time being but the constitute the following plots
• Efficiency(%)= (AC Energy Output/ Solar Irradiation Energy Input)
• Specific Yield (Kwh/Kwp) = (Energy Output/Peak power rating of the
system)

Module Temperature Effect

18%

17%
Energy Conversion Efficiency

16%

15%

14%

13%

12%

11%

10%
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Daily Maximum Module Temperature oC

Eu = Generated Energy / Incident Irradiation Energy (%)

Linear Eu
Dust Accumulation on the surface

Dust accumulation on the surface of PV panels in

New Energy Oasis (NEO)/KAUST

TAAG - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Dust Mitigation Program

• Dust Evaluation
• Chemical Composition Analysis
• Physical Properties Analysis
• Rate of Accumulation Analysis
• Spectral Behavior Analysis
• Dust Effect on Performance
• Performance Testing Protocol
• Performance of different technologies under Dust Accumulation
• Cleaning Frequency and LCOE optimization
• Cleaning Techniques
• Dust Mitigation Techniques
• Active Techniques
• Passive Techniques

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 24

Dust Mitigation Techniques

• Passive Techniques
• Dust Mitigation Coatings (NTU, AUC,KAUST, Others)
• Evaluation of different Coatings
• Optimum Tilt Angle
• Active Techniques
• Electro-Dynamic Screen (EDS)
• Dry-Type Rotary Brush

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 25

Results- Dust Control Program

• SulferCell
• Jump (around the day of cleaning)
• Decline (Efficiency vs time) (daily yield)

• ShowaShell performance testing

• efficiency of different sections vs time (or Kwh/Kwp)

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 26

Optimized Cleaning Procedure

• Finding the optimal cleaning

frequency

• Finding the optimal cleaning

procedure

• Reduce the O&M costs of running

the system and the overall LCOE

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 27

Solar Panel Cleaning Device (Dust
repellant EDS Screen)

• Design of active coating material

• Same technology used on Mars rovers

• Working with international technology providers to develop a dust

repellant transparent screen

• Optimized for operation in Saudi Arabia

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 28

Cleaning device (Robotic)

• Dry-type cleaning/dusting robot for PV panels

• Using minimal amounts of water for cleaning PV panels

• Aimed for high reliability long life operation with minimal

maintenance

• Automated robotic device

• Reduces the O&M costs

KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 29

Raed Bkayrat, Technology Advancement Group
raed.bkayrat@kaust.edu.sa