Modelling soiling: status, resources and challenges

Outlines

Soiling consists of the buildup of dust and particles on the photovoltaic modules and can significantly reduce their efficiency. It causes substantial energy and economic losses worldwide, especially in deserts and arid locations. Understanding and modeling soiling is therefore critical for predicting performance losses and optimizing maintenance strategies. This workshop offers an introduction to the world of soiling modeling, from fundamental concepts, to modeling approaches, and recent advances.

Confirmed speakers and tentative titles

• Álvaro Fernández Solas, Industrial Engineer & Scientific Researcher at DLR (German Aerospace Center). PhD in Photovoltaic Energy

Title: Introduction to soiling and modelling approaches

• Thore Müller: Co-Founder, serving as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at (PVRADAR, Germany)

Title: Soiling modelling through Python

• Leonardo Micheli, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Title: Challenges in soiling mapping and mitigation

About Álvaro Fernández Solas

Industrial engineer and researcher in the field of agrivoltaics at DLR – Solar Research Institute. He received my Ph.D. from the University of Jaén in the field of photovoltaic energy and have a robust academic track record. His research interests include: Agrivoltaics, PV modeling, PV soiling and O&M optimization of PV systems. He possess versatile programming skills such as Python, MATLAB, and LabVIEW. Such skills have enhanced his ability to develop models for PV systems and contribute to data-driven research. He demonstrated project management skills through successful coordination of research projects. His passion lies in advancing sustainable energy solutions, he is actively engaged in optimizing the performance and efficiency of PV systems in various environmental conditions. He is open to collaboration and networking opportunities in the PV energy sector

 About Thore Müller:

He completed his master studies after a combination of an internship and a master’s thesis on concentrated solar power at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Almería, Spain. Spending eight months on site, he was involved in the critical phase of mounting a big test rig on parabolic trough power plants, worth approximately half a million euros in material. Apart from his practical and scientific tasks, he filled in as a substitute for the responsible engineer for half a year. He organized tools and material, supervised the workshop, communicated with suppliers and coordinated mechanics and engineers involved in the project. Thore Müller is Co-Founder, serving as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at PVRADAR, Germany. PVRADAR is a software platform for transparent assessment of climate related performance losses, optimization of mitigation strategies and modeling of economic scenarios: : assess soiling losses based on satellite data, select a cost-optimal cleaning strategy from dozens of alternatives in PVRADAR´s database, simulate bifacial gain improvements from the use of albedo enhancing materials.

About Leonardo Micheli: YOU HAVE HIS BIO ALREADY

Past Events

• Workshop on the O&M of Solar Plants using Advanced Technologies & AI

On March 18, 2024, IOM Solutions held a virtual Workshop on AI Application in Fault Detection and Maintenance Strategies for PV and CSP Technology. In this Workshop event we covered the lastest developments on O&M of solar power plants and how AI is integrated in this field.These Workshop included the world leading companies in these technology fields – PVRADAR Labs GmbH, Volateq, OTT Kipp en Zonen, Fracsun, and NTNU.

Fabian Wolfertstetter – Volateq

After his graduation as a physicist at the University of Munich, Fabian did his PhD in solar energy engineering at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) at CIEMAT’s renowned Plataforma Solar de Almeria in southern Spain. He led multiple international R&D projects in the field of energy meteorology and soiling, image analysis, sensor development and performance analysis for both CSP and PV technologies. He joined Volateq in 2022 to lead their PV and soiling product developments.

Marc Korevaar – OTT HydroMet

Marc Korevaar received his Ph.D. degree from the Delft University of Technology in 2013 for his research on applied physics of EM-CCD based detectors. Since 2013 he works at Kipp & Zonen in Research & Development. There he is involved in development of new solar energy detectors, their calibration and radiometry. Kipp & Zonen is a leading manufacturer of measurement instruments for meteorology and solar energy.

Catlin Mattheis – Fracsun

Catlin Mattheis has been working in the solar industry for 17 years. He began his career in the EPC side of the industry, working on some of the earliest C&I projects in the US. Performing site evaluations and production/yield analysis all the way to getting boots on the roof from time to time, he developed a passion for being part of the solar revolution. From EPC he moved upstream in the market and worked for a panel manufacturer in Singapore. During this time Catlin, Bryan and Scott had been working to fill a gap in the industry and build a best-in-class method for measuring soiling loss. Their first patent was issued in 2015 for this method and in 2017 they were awarded the first of two grants through the US Department of Energy. This grant program propelled their sensor into the mainstream where they are now monitoring soiling loss in 27 countries across over 11GW of solar assets. The team has now set their sites on a goal set from the beginning, and AI powered soiling loss model that will finally allow project developers to use reliable soiling loss data during project development and beyond.

Mohammadreza Aghaei – NTNU

Prof.Dr.-Ing. Mohammadreza Aghaei received a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy in 2016. He joined Fraunhofer ISE as visiting scholar in 2015. He was a Postdoctoral Scientist at Fraunhofer ISE and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB)-PVcomB, Germany, in 2017 and 2018, respectively. He has been joined to the Solar Energy Engineering program at the University of Freiburg, as a Guest Lecturer in 2017. He was involved in several national and EU- funded research projects dealing with energy systems, energy flexibility, solar photovoltaics, and smart/autonomous technology. Currently, he is the coordinator of an EU Horizon 2020 project “COLLECTiEF” – Collective Intelligence for Energy Flexibility at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Norway. He is also a professor in the Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH), Solar Energy Engineering program at the University of Freiburg. He is also an IEEE senior member, and he authored over 140 publications in internationally refereed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings.

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE59LBwNro0&list=PLw1Jjsp2NyODf7a6hszmcrpuTWhmWn6vE