The performance of a soiled CSP system in Inner Mongolia under various weather conditions

Sand/dust storms (SDSs) are a common natural phenomenon occurring in the spring in arid and semi-arid areas. To investigate the influence of sand/dust on the performance of concentrating solar power (CSP) systems, the effects of four SDS events and four natural dust deposition (NDD) periods were tested from March 7 to June 11, 2021, and were compared with the performance of the clean state. The results reveal that the sand/dust concentration on the mirror increased significantly after the occurrence of SDS events. In particular, after a severe sandstorm, the dust density was found to have reached 6.177 g/m2, which was 2.09 times that under the NDD exposure period of 40 d. With the increase of the dust density by 1 g/m2 after the occurrence of the four SDS events, the average reflectivity, energy flux density, and thermal efficiency were found to have decreased by 12.1%, 11.9%, and 12.5% respectively, whereas they decreased by 13.7%, 10.5%, and 13.7% under the four NDD periods.