Measuring soiling and non-uniform soiling of pv modules without a clean reference device

Abstract

A device or system to measure a soiling level and/or soiling level non-uniformity, or power loss arising from soiling including soiling non-uniformity, representative of a PV module. In one respect, a device comprising at least a first transparent window and at least two sensors, wherein said sensors comprise a soiling sensor, an irradiance sensor, or a photovoltaic device, and wherein at least two of said sensors are configured to measure separate regions of said first transparent window and at least one of said sensors is a soiling sensor configured to measure a soiling level of said first transparent window or of a second transparent window substantially close to said first transparent window, and wherein from said measurements of said sensors said device determines a soiling level and/or a non-uniformity of said soiling level of said first transparent window. In another respect, a device or system configured to determine from said measurements an equivalent power loss of a photovoltaic module having said soiling level with said non-uniformity. In another respect, a device or system comprising a photovoltaic module or an input for a photovoltaic module and configured to determine a power loss of said photovoltaic module due to soiling, including non-uniform soiling.