The Indexing Development for Assessing Impact of Wildfire Smoke on Photovoltaic System Performance

Comprehending the impact of wildfire smoke on photovoltaic (PV) systems is of utmost importance in ensuring the dependability and consistency of power systems, particularly due to the growing prevalence of PV installations and the occurrence of wildfires. Nevertheless, this issue has not received extensive investigation within the current literature. A major obstacle in studying this phenomenon lies in accurately quantifying the impact of smoke. Conventional techniques such as aerosol optical depth (AOD) and PM 2.5 are inadequate for accurately assessing the influence of wildfire smoke on PV systems due to the complex interplay of smoke elevation, dynamics, and nonlinear effects on the solar spectral irradiance. To address this challenge, a new methodology is developed in this research that employs the optical properties of wildfire smoke. This approach utilizes the spectral response (SR) of PV devices to estimate the theoretical reduction in PV power output. The findings of this study enable precise measurement of the power output reduction caused by wildfire smoke for different types of PV cells. This newly devised method can be adopted for power system operation and planning to ensure the stability and reliability of power grids. Additionally, this study highlights the need to consider different PV cell technologies in regions at high risk of wildfires to minimize the power reduction caused by wildfire smoke.