Soiling loss on PV modules at two locations in India studied using a water based artificial soiling method

India, being a country in the sun-belt region, has an abundance of solar energy. However, it is seen that photovoltaic (PV) modules in India suffer from more power loss than many other parts of the world due to soiling. In our study, we had developed a water - based artificial dust deposition chamber inside a laboratory environment, by which we can deposit dust with a uniformity of 93% on a glass substrate for dust densities upto 0.6mg/cm² which signifies approximately 30% of J_sc loss due to the effect of soiling on PV modules. The dust samples were collected from the surface of PV modules deployed in the field. We have compared soiling losses from two locations, namely Mumbai and Gandhinagar, in India by water - based dust deposition method. We have also investigated the dust sample collected in Mumbai in 2013 and 2016. It is seen that the soil composition changes with time. This would be the major challenge to find an effective method of mitigating dust deposition on PV modules.