Steven KwokOver the past several years, China has become famous for its disgusting hazy weather. One of the main causes is that there’re a huge number of PM2.5 particles that are produced and float in the air. The PM2.5 levels in many parts of China have continuously reached the peak and even broken the historical record. It is said that 1/7 of Chinese land is shrouded by haze – which is scaring both Chinese and numerous people in the world.
Those who are exposed to PM2.5 particles for a short-term period can get health effects like eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath; while those exposed to PM2.5 for a long while can be associated with increased rates of chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function and increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease.
After the opening remarks, let's return to the main topic. Can the household/distributed photovoltaic power systems function properly, in the hazy weather?
Of course not. Recently researchers have chosen a distributed photovoltaic system located in Shanghai, China as a sample, and made a comparison between its performance in a sunny day (December 1) and that in a hazy day (December 20).
As shown in the diagram above, the power generation of distributed photovoltaic systems can indeed be impacted by the hazy weather, with lower power generation.
We know that PM2.5 particles mainly come from the emissions produced by factories, motor vehicles and the combustion of coal to gain heat in winter. Therefore, wearing anti-haze masks and using air purifiers indoors are NOT the methods to solve the haze issue fundamentally.
Instead, the whole community should focus on the source and try to replace the traditional energy with clean/renewable energy. As one type of clean energy that has great potential in the popularization within modern cities, distributed photovoltaic power systems can better achieve not only energy saving but also zero emissions. Additionally, the systems are able to support people's daily power use, connect to the grid and then help mitigate the hazy weather.
Even less power can be generated in the haze, photovoltaic power systems are of great significance in the pollution. They’re changing people’s living habits into more healthy ones. Also on the other hand, they are drawing scientists’ attention to the improvement of power conversion efficiency. comment↓
