Abstract
Solar energy is mostly harnessed in arid areas where a high concentration of atmospheric dust represents a major environmental degradation factor. Gravitationally settled particles and other solid particles on the surface of the photovoltaic panels or thermal collectors greatly reduce the absorbed solar energy. Therefore, frequent cleaning schedules are required, consuming high quantities of water in regions where water precipitation is rare. The efficiency of this cleaning maintenance is greatly improved when methods to estimate the degree of cleanness are introduced. This work focuses on the need for better detecting the degradation created by dust deposition, considering experimental data based on different air pollutants, and analyzing the resulting thermal and visible signatures under different operating environments. Experiments are performed using six different types of pollutants applied to the surface of parabolic trough collectors while varying the pollutant density. The resulting reflectivity in the visible and infrared spectrum is calculated and compared. Results indicate that the pollutants can be distinguished, although the reflectivity greatly depends on the combination of the particle size of the pollutant and the applied amount, with greater impact from pollutants with small particles.