With the rise of Air pollution in China, the government is encouraging its people to use solar power as a cleaner source of energy. Ironically, the same air pollution is resulting in fall of efficiency of installed solar panels.The particulate matter is not only settling in people’s lungs but also reduces the amount of sun rays reaching the solar arrays, as per a study that was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA last week.
The Western China has less industrialization and urbanization yet a drop of 10% is expected, as found in a study.The worst case scenario occurred in winter when pollution caused the same blocking effect as that by clouds. The average drop in sunlight reaching the photovoltaic panels became 20% due to winter pollution.
This waste of energy is certainly a challenge in China’s ambitions for solar energy. Last year China became the largest solar producer by installing and boosting its previous solar plants to produce over 77 Gigwatts and now it aims for 105 Gigawatts by the end of 2020. Clean air would serve as a plus point in reaching its goals.
Making use of the data from NASA’s satellite, Princeton University was able to reckon the amount of sun radiation reduced by the aerosol components, including sulfate, nitrate, and carbon particulate matter –components of the pollution. By examining the data of China from 2003 to 2014, researchers found that in Northern and Eastern China (the most pollute areas of China) air pollution could reduce the solar energy generation by 1.5 kilowatt hours per square meter daily. That means a 35% reduction in the production capacity in the eastern province of Shandong (one of the top provinces with largest annual solar capacity).