The impact of optical soiling losses on the electrical production of CSP power plant

The installation of a concentrated solar power plant (CSP) is still growing all around the world especially in the MENA region. This region with semi-arid and arid climate enjoy high amount of solar irradiation but in the other hand harsh climatic condition, especially those related to the accumulation of dust. Dust affect the solar reflectors on the solar field of a CSP plant and can drastically affect the optical efficiency. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of dust on the electrical production of a linear Fresnel power plant of 5 MW in the climate conditions of Benguerir (mid-south of Morocco). The results show that the accumulation of dust on the solar reflector will decrease the electrical production with an average of 22% per day for a period of two weeks from 28 April to 11 May 2018 in comparison to the electrical production with a clean solar reflector. In other words, the power plant can lost up to 300 MW of his total electrical production only on the dry period of the year from 28 April until 24 August 2018.