Experimental study on the effect of operational and environmental conditions on photovoltaic modules productivity in El-Oued region, algeria

[Display omitted] •RAGGIE photovoltaic modules are under study to show their energy behavior.•The optimal tilt angle of the studied photovoltaic modules in El-Oued region was 33°.•Manual solar path tracking allows photovoltaic module efficiency improvement of 1.63%.•The photovoltaic module energy output decreased by 34.68 % due to dust deposition of 14.5 g.m−2.•The levelized cost of energy is $0.037/kWh with a CO2 mitigation of 59.15 tons. This experimental study aims to track the changes in electrical properties and energy behavior of two technically identical photovoltaic modules of the RAGGIE type (RG-M165W model) under different operating conditions. The first is the reference photovoltaic module, while the second is the targeted photovoltaic module. Both modules were tested under the same climatic conditions in the Algerian region of El-Oued. Numerous practical experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effect of using a solar tracking system (a horizontal single-axis tracking system manually moved from east to west), changing the tilt angle of the photovoltaic modules, and the cleanliness of the effective photovoltaic module area on their productivity. The study results showed a convergence between experimental and theoretical results. The optimal tilt angle of the photovoltaic modules in El-Oued during the study days is 33°, and any inaccurate selection of this angle results in an efficiency loss of 19.31 %. Additionally, manually tracking the solar path improved the photovoltaic module efficiency by 1.63 %. A decrease in energy productivity by 34.68 % was recorded due to dust deposition of 14.5 g.m−2. Economically, it was shown that installing a photovoltaic system consisting of 14 RAGGIE modules can feed a typical Algerian house with 136.6 MWh over 25 years, with a Levelized Cost of Energy of $0.037/kWh, and the CO2 mitigation is 59.15 tons with a saving of $858.