- Client
- EPC contractor, MBR Solar Park phase 6 (DEWA and Masdar)
- Site
- Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, UAE
- Capacity
- 1,800 MW
- Industry
- Renewable
- Result
- Soiling data follows the trackers and drives the cleaning robots, with less manual work.
Project Background and Scale
The plant incorporated both tracker systems and automated cleaning robots, making it an ideal environment to implement advanced soiling measurement techniques. With dozens of weather monitoring stations and dedicated soiling index units deployed across the site, the project aimed to achieve high precision in performance monitoring.
Such large-scale deployments highlight the importance of standardisation and compliance with international benchmarks. Systems were designed to meet stringent requirements, ensuring reliability and consistency across the entire installation.
Application of Soiling Index Measurement System (Two PV Panel System)
Installation of Two panel conventional Soiling Index Measurement unit on Tracker based system along with autocleaning robots enabled.
MBR Solar Park- UAE 1800 MW project is one of the largest project in UAE & is jointly developed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) as a part of 6th phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park (MBR Solar Park).
Aeron Systems have been selected as a supplier of Meteorological Station suppliers by EPC contractor. The project was divided in 4 batches as a plan of development by the IPP developer. Aeron has supplied 54 Weather Monitoring stations (Meteorological stations) & 24 Soiling Index measurement units. (SIMS-100) which falls under CLASS-A category & is in compliance with IEC 61724-1:2021 standards.
In grid-scale solar PV plants, soiling dust and particulate deposition on solar modules can cause annual energy losses of up to 7%. These losses, if left unmonitored, directly impact system yield and revenue. By quantifying soiling losses in real time, operators can plan cost-effective cleaning strategies and enhance O&M practices, thereby maximising generation efficiency
As the power plant is being developed with the innovative technologies & the new challenges for the suppliers to comply to new design requirements. As a part of project- We at Aeron were able to design & develop the Two panel conventional soiling loss measurement system which was installed on the Tracker system without disturbing the tracker system & auto cleaning robots.
Two panels of the array has to be used for the comparative study of soiled panel & clean panel, As the arrays are equipped with the autocleaning robots, we have used the stopper mechanism on the same, which will cut off cleaning robot’s path before the clean panel.
Two panels (Clean & Soiled)- communicates to the solar panel interface module & their losses have been calculated from Short circuit current reduction principle.
The system comprises the following components:
1. ARN-SPIM2000 – Solar Panel Interface Module
o Measures short-circuit current (Isc) for both the:
Clean (reference) panel
Soiled (test) panel
o Captures synchronized readings within 2 seconds for data consistency.
2. ARN-XG-920 – Data Logger
o Gathers and logs:
Panel electrical measurements
Real-time surface temperatures via external sensors
GPS location data
3. Module Surface Temperature Sensors
o Affixed to both panels for real-time module temperature tracking.
o Aeron make Rigel PT1000 is a Class A sensor complying to the IEC61724-1:2021 standards.
4. Tracker angel measurement sensors
o Sensors installed on the tracker to measure the inclined angel
5. System Identity
o Integrated offering is marketed as ARN-SIMS100.
o Connected to SCADA system for precise Measurement of Soiling Loss.
Soiling Ratio Calculation
Based on the value of Effective Irradiance of Clean PV module and the Short circuit current of the soiled PV module along with the Module temperature data of Soiled PV module, the data logger calculates the Soiling Ratio.
The calculated SR (Soiling Ratio) reflects real-time degradation due to dust accumulation. The soiling ratio measured by the method described above is an instantaneous value. The instantaneously measured values typically show noise due to irradiance fluctuations, angular misalignment of the two reference devices and other factors. Therefore, the instantaneously measured values shall be integrated to compute a daily average value.
Using Plant PV Modules for Accurate Results
To ensure highest fidelity in Soiling Loss Index computation, Aeron recommends using 2 PV modules sourced from the solar plant itself (one for clean, one for soiled).
By using site-matched PV modules, the STC characteristics are identical to those of energy-generating modules, ensuring accurate and comparable soiling loss assessment across the plant.
Conclusions :
Effective implementation of Traditional Soiling index measurement system helped to reduce the manual efforts & capture the precise data as per the tracker movement, and automate the Robots to clean the panels to reduce the soiling loss effectively.
Author : Mr. Sagar Pathak & Mr. Saurabh Dey
