The impact of extreme dust storms on the national photovoltaic energy supply

This study analyses the consequences of an extreme dust storm that occurred in March 2022 on the Spanish national photovoltaic (PV) energy supply. This event, indeed, substantially raised the particulate matter concentrations and the aerosol optical depths across the country, seriously affecting the surface radiation and posing a substantial threat not only to individual PV systems but also to the national electricity grid. The research, based on the analysis and the forecast of weather, environmental and electrical data, reveals that such event halved the capacity factor of the national PV fleet over a period longer than two weeks. A peak drop as high as 80% was registered, at national level, on the worst day. This underperformance also affected the market share of PV in the national electricity mix, whose monthly average value fell from the predicted 10.9% to 7.1%. Despite the expectations, however, no significant difference in soiling was found compared to the typical losses, thanks to the occurrence of heavier-than-usual rainfall events. This facilitated the recovery of the national PV capacity, which returned to the expected performance factors as soon as the sky cleared.