scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Rohit Pillai

Bio: Rohit Pillai is an academic researcher from Indian Institute of Science. The author has contributed to research in topics: Photovoltaic system & Renewable energy. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 5 publications receiving 780 citations.

Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of dust on PV system performance and identifying challenges to further pertinent research are discussed. And a framework to understand the various factors that govern the settling/assimilation of dust and likely mitigation measures have been discussed in this paper.
Abstract: The peaking of most oil reserves and impending climate change are critically driving the adoption of solar photovoltaic's (PV) as a sustainable renewable and eco-friendly alternative. Ongoing material research has yet to find a breakthrough in significantly raising the conversion efficiency of commercial PV modules. The installation of PV systems for optimum yield is primarily dictated by its geographic location (latitude and available solar insolation) and installation design (tilt, orientation and altitude) to maximize solar exposure. However, once these parameters have been addressed appropriately, there are other depending factors that arise in determining the system performance (efficiency and output). Dust is the lesser acknowledged factor that significantly influences the performance of the PV installations. This paper provides an appraisal on the current status of research in studying the impact of dust on PV system performance and identifies challenges to further pertinent research. A framework to understand the various factors that govern the settling/assimilation of dust and likely mitigation measures have been discussed in this paper. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

800 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the influence of dust settlement on the operating characteristics of photovoltaic systems to better understand losses in performance attributable to soiling, which is a complex performance issue to accurately quantify.

103 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a real-time performance assessment of a recently commissioned 5.25 kW, integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system installed at the Center for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore is presented.

35 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an innovative low internal-volume stepped solar-still has been commissioned and tested for its productivity under sealed and unsealed conditions, and the results of the experimental investigation have been discussed in this article.
Abstract: Safe water is fundamental to life and sustainable development. Despite modern civilization pacing into the 21st century, global access to safe water is disparate and inadequate particularly in south Asia and Africa. The need of the hour is to promote appropriate technologies, such as desalination, which are economically viable and environmentally conducive. With increasing stress on renewable energy use, technologies based on effectively harnessing solar energy would prove sustainable. Solar-still is a desalination technology that effectively harnesses solar energy. Solar-stills generate safe water from either contaminated and/or brackish water. They are an enabling domestic technology that can suit de-centralized operation and maintenance. Their fundamental dependence on solar energy and relatively low yield has thus far impeded wide-spread adoption. The current article discusses the prospects of solar-stills as a safe-water technology. Subsequently, an innovative low internal-volume stepped solar-still has been commissioned and tested for its productivity under sealed and unsealed conditions. The results of the experimental investigation have been discussed in this article. The salient contribution in this article pertains to the performance of a stepped solar-still under sealed and unsealed conditions. Such an investigation has been found to be crucial, but hitherto unattended to.

11 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of soiling problems, primarily those associated with sand and combined dust-moisture conditions that are inherent to many of the most solar-rich geographic locations worldwide.
Abstract: The energy delivery of a solar-energy system is generally associated with the sun's available irradiance and spectral content, as well as a variety of environmental and climatic factors and inherent system and component performances. However, other external factors relating to geographical location and conditions can have even greater impacts on system performance. Among these, soiling is a commonly overlooked or underestimated issue that can be a showstopper for the viability of a solar installation. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of soiling problems, primarily those associated with “dust” (sand) and combined dust–moisture conditions that are inherent to many of the most solar-rich geographic locations worldwide. We review and evaluate key contributions to the understanding, performance effects, and mitigation of these problems. These contributions span a technical history of almost seven decades. We also present an inclusive literature survey/assessment. The focus is on both transmissive surfaces (e.g., those used for flat-plate photovoltaics or for concentrating lenses) and reflective surfaces (e.g., mirrors or heliostats for concentrating power systems).

696 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review and evaluate key contributions to the understanding, performance effects, and mitigation of power loss due to soiling on a solar panel, and present a few cleaning method to prevent from dust accumulation on the surface of solar arrays.
Abstract: The power output delivered from a photovoltaic module highly depends on the amount of irradiance, which reaches the solar cells. Many factors determine the ideal output or optimum yield in a photovoltaic module. However, the environment is one of the contributing parameters which directly affect the photovoltaic performance. The authors review and evaluate key contributions to the understanding, performance effects, and mitigation of power loss due to soiling on a solar panel. Electrical characteristics of PV (Voltage and current) are discussed with respect to shading due to soiling. Shading due to soiling is divided in two categories, namely, soft shading such as air pollution, and hard shading which occurs when a solid such as accumulated dust blocks the sunlight. The result shows that soft shading affects the current provided by the PV module, but the voltage remains the same. In hard shading, the performance of the PV module depends on whether some cells are shaded or all cells of the PV module are shaded. If some cells are shaded, then as long as the unshaded cells receive solar irradiance, there will be some output although there will be a decrease in the voltage output of the PV module. This study also present a few cleaning method to prevent from dust accumulation on the surface of solar arrays.

628 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of dust accumulation, humidity level and air velocity on the performance of photovoltaic cells was investigated and the authors concluded that in order to have a profound insight of solar cell design, the effect of these factors should be taken into consideration in parallel.
Abstract: The environmental and economical merits of converting solar energy into electricity via photovoltaic cells have caused an ever increasing interest among developed and developing countries to allocate more budget on photovoltaic systems in order to boost up their efficiency in recent years. Besides the material and design parameters, there are several omnipresent factors such as dust, humidity and air velocity that can influence the PV cell's performance. There have been a handful of studies conducted on the effect of various influential parameters on the efficiency and performance of photovoltaic cells; however none has taken all these three parameters into account simultaneously. In this study the impact of dust accumulation, humidity level and the air velocity will be elaborated separately and finally the impact of each on the other will be clarified. It is shown that each of these three factors affect the other two and it is concluded that in order to have a profound insight of solar cell design, the effect of these factors should be taken into consideration in parallel.

519 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review direct and indirect environmental impacts of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) development, including impacts on biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change, soils, water resources, and human health.
Abstract: Renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuel-based energy, but its development can require a complex set of environmental tradeoffs. A recent increase in solar energy systems, especially large, centralized installations, underscores the urgency of understanding their environmental interactions. Synthesizing literature across numerous disciplines, we review direct and indirect environmental impacts - both beneficial and adverse - of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) development, including impacts on biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change, soils, water resources, and human health. Additionally, we review feedbacks between USSE infrastructure and land-atmosphere interactions and the potential for USSE systems to mitigate climate change. Several characteristics and development strategies of USSE systems have low environmental impacts relative to other energy systems, including other renewables. We show opportunities to increase USSE environmental co-benefits, the permitting and regulatory constraints and opportunities of USSE, and highlight future research directions to better understand the nexus between USSE and the environment. Increasing the environmental compatibility of USSE systems will maximize the efficacy of this key renewable energy source in mitigating climatic and global environmental change. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

451 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a brief review of the energy yield losses caused by dust deposition on solar collectors, with particular emphasis on flat-panel photovoltaic (PV) systems, is presented.

380 citations