Pollution cuts solar yield by 25% - Times of India

Do to the air pollution in India it can reduce the solar yield by 25%. India is getting ready to accept the new renewable energy technologies for power generation but the air pollution creates the problem. In a recent study, it is found that dust and the particulate matter may be the reducing solar yield in Northern states by 17% - 25% annually. Half of this reduction is due to the dust on the photovoltaic solar panels. And the other half is due to solar dimming. The study recommends creating clean air which will help to provide more power using solar energy. Currently, India is on a mission to have 1000GW power generation at the end of 2022. So mere cleaning of solar panels will not give this results. We need to reduce the air pollution and that will give way to sunlight to enter the Earth. 

A 2016 study from Baghdad, for instance, found an 18.74% decline in efficiency for solar modules left uncleaned for a month. Another 2014 paper from Colorado, USA found that 4.1% light transmission was lost for every g/m2 of dust accumulated on the photovoltaic plate. But all these results air pollution is neglected. For a city like Delhi, there will be both the dust particles and air pollution to control the solar yield. So before starting renewable energy mission, we need to clean our air. 

Pollution cuts solar yield by 25% - Times of India