Research on Photovoltaic Arrays and Dust Deposition
A Special Issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717) belonging to the section "Energy Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 January 2027 | Viewed by 781
Editors
Interests: electromagnetic scattering simulation and applications; solar power generation technology; particle physics
Interests: sand control project; sand disaster prevention; dust emission; aeolian sand-flow dynamics; eco-industrial system optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: soil particle deposition; wind and sand transport; sand control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Dust deposition on photovoltaic (PV) arrays is a critical issue that directly degrades energy conversion efficiency, increases operation and maintenance costs, and shortens the service life of PV systems, particularly in arid, semi-arid, and desert regions. With the rapid expansion of large-scale PV power plants in desert and Gobi areas, the accumulation of wind-blown sand and atmospheric dust on panel surfaces has become a major operational bottleneck, significantly reducing energy yield and increasing maintenance costs. Thus, understanding the coupled processes of sand-dust transport, deposition, adhesion, and resuspension on PV surfaces is essential for developing effective mitigation strategies. Addressing these challenges requires interdisciplinary approaches combining atmospheric physics, particle mechanics, surface engineering, and intelligent control.
This Special Issue on “Research on Photovoltaic Arrays and Dust Deposition” seeks high-quality works that focus on the latest advances in the interaction between sand-dust sedimentation and PV systems. Topics within the scope of this issue include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Mechanisms of sand-dust transport, deposition, and adhesion on PV surfaces;
- Numerical modelling of dust accumulation processes under windy and dusty conditions;
- Field measurements and model-predicted power losses of PV systems;
- Anti-soiling and anti-sand coatings for photovoltaic glass;
- Automated dry/wet cleaning technologies for dusty environments;
- Wind-sand flow fields around PV arrays and their influence on dust settlement;
- Atmospheric dust deposition prediction;
- Economic and life-cycle assessment of dust mitigation strategies for desert PV farms;
- Optical properties of dust particles, including mechanisms of light transmittance attenuation in PV cover glass, non-contact soiling detection using spectroscopic techniques, and remote sensing inversion of dust deposition density.
Prof. Dr. Xingcai Li
Dr. Jianhua Xiao
Prof. Dr. Zhongju Meng
Dr. Wenjun Zhao
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- photovoltaic arrays
- dust deposition
- soiling losses
- anti-soiling coatings
- pv cleaning technologies
- particle adhesion and resuspension
- particle optical characterisitics
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