Coastal Fouling Impact in Solar Modules Efficiency in the Atlantic Region of Honduras

The efficiency of solar systems is affected by environmental factors, especially in coastal areas where dust accumulation on solar modules reduces output power. The growth of renewable energies has reduced dependence on fossil fuels, with photovoltaic solar energy being one of the most used due to its easy installation. However, fouling of solar modules can lead to losses in power generation. It is surprising that the sea and ocean spray are significant sources of dust. This study focuses on quantifying how sea fouling affects efficiency and causes power losses in solar modules in the coastal region of Honduras. In this study, these losses were quantified during 14 days in a month, making nine daily measurements on rooftop solar modules, leaving two reference modules (clean) and two test modules (dirty), finding average daily losses of up to 5.91% in monocrystalline module and 6.18% in polycrystalline module. Temperature, wind speed and particles of 0.3µm, 2.5µm and 10µm accumulated in the modules were related to the average power losses. It is highlighted that the 10µm particles are the most related to these losses, with an R2=0.9404 in monocrystalline and a R2=0.9191 in polycrystalline. These findings are fundamental for the design and installation of photovoltaic systems in coastal areas, as they highlight the importance of the losses in the design and installation of photovoltaic systems in coastal areas.