Performance enhancement of solar photovoltaic (PV) module using a novel flat plate (NFP) glass cover by reducing the effect of bird dropping (BD) settlement.

A massive bird dropping (BD) deposition on the common rectangular flat plate (RFP) of photovoltaic (PV) module is a matter of great concern in Western Rajasthan (WR) that diminish the overall energy production capacity of the system remarkably. In this research article, a prototype novel flat plate (NFP) design of a front glass cover of PV module is proposed to prevent the impact of BD settlement by the restriction of bird's sitting/movement on the front glass cover. In this regard, the performance analysis of PV module with common RFP and newly designed NFP glass covers has been assessed at the different inclination β° (0-90). The BD accumulation onto the both glass covers was explored by the optical transmittance profiles at the different tilt angles, i.e., explained by bird movement on each flat glass surfaces. Consequently, a significant amount of output electric energy has been gained in NFP design rather than RFP corresponding to particular tilt regions TR I (0° ≤ β ≤ 25°), TR II (25° ≤ β ≤ 60°), and TR III (60° ≤ β ≤ 90°). According to the results achieved, an excellent level of improvement in average power loss, ~ 97.85%, corresponding to optimal TR (III) has been detected by employing NFP glass collector.