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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Performance enhancement of solar photovoltaic (PV) module using
a novel flat plate (NFP) glass cover by reducing the effect
of bird dropping (BD) settlement
Anil Kumar Sisodia
1,2
&Ramkumar Mathur
1,3
Received: 19 April 2021 /Accepted: 17 August 2021
#The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
A massive bird dropping (BD) deposition on the common rectangular flat plate (RFP) of photovoltaic (PV) module is a matter of
great concern in Western Rajasthan (WR) that diminish the overall energy production capacity of the system remarkably. In this
research article, a prototype novel flat plate (NFP) design of a front glass cover of PV module is proposed to prevent the impact of
BD settlement by the restriction of bird’s sitting/movement on the front glass cover. In this regard, the performance analysis of
PV module with common RFP and newly designed NFP glass covers has been assessed at the different inclination β°(0–90). The
BD accumulation onto the both glass covers was explored by the optical transmittance profiles at the different tilt angles, i.e.,
explained by bird movement on each flat glass surfaces. Consequently, a significant amount of output electric energy has been
gained in NFP design rather than RFP corresponding to particular tilt regions TR I (0° ≤β≤25°), TR II (25° ≤β≤60°), and TR
III (60° ≤β≤90°). According to the results achieved, an excellent level of improvement in average power loss, ~ 97.85%,
corresponding to optimal TR (III) has been detected by employing NFP glass collector.
Keywords Bird dropping (BD) deposition .PV module soiling .Novel flat plate (NFP) design .Power loss .Western Rajasthan
(WR)
Introduction
The accumulation of bird droppings (BDs) on a flat plate
photovoltaic (PV) collector worsens the situation that addi-
tionally diminishes the performance of a solar PV module
day by day, especially in the climatic conditions of WR
(N24° 37′00″to N30° 10′48″/E69° 29′00″to E76° 05′
33″) commonly which is characterized by its “high rate of
dust deposition”and “small frequency (10.4–20.5 days in a
year) of rainfall with poor intensity”in a year (Singh et al.
2005). An enormous settlement of BDs and dust fouling (i.e.,
“soiling”) on a flat glass cover of the PV module is a critical
challenge for the sustainability of output solar power genera-
tion capacity of PV systems in the Western desert region (i.e.,
“Thar”) throughout the year (Fig. 1).
Partial shading (i.e., non-uniform illumination) due to sur-
rounding fixed objects like building, tower, tree, and passing
clouds (i.e., dynamic shadow) is a key issue that strongly
affects the overall performance and decide the life of a solar
PV plant. In addition, the deposition of surrounding location
and environment-related fine dust particles like as salt, plant
products, debris, soot, and BD (i.e., static shadow) on the
surface of PV module are promptly observed (Mekhilef
et al. 2012;Appelsetal.2013; Maghami et al. 2016; Said
et al. 2018; Smestad et al. 2020) in daily examples.
Common soling factors like fallen leaves, BDs, and water
streaking can reduce the energy efficiency up to 10–30% ad-
ditionally (Dabhi et al. 2017) as well. Furthermore, the dirt
deposition can be also in a main aggressive form of the
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
*Anil Kumar Sisodia
anilsisiitd@yahoo.co.in
1
Department of Physics, Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan Government
College, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University,
Ajmer, Rajasthan 305009, India
2
Department of Physics, Government Bangur Postgraduate College,
Pali, affiliated to Jai Narayan Vyas University,
Jodhpur, Rajasthan 306401, India
3
Department of Physics, Dayanand College, Ajmer, affiliated to
Maharshi Dayanand University, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305001, India
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16082-9
/ Published online: 26 August 2021
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2022) 29:6104–6124
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.