The world is a big place but even things that are far away can have serious local consequences. The effects of distant Canadian wildfires on air quality in Florida is a good example.
Europe is increasingly becoming reliant on solar energy to meet its targets for climate change mitigation and energy security. According to new research by four Hungarian universities, mineral dust carried on the wind from the Sahara Desert is not only reducing electricity generation from solar power across Europe but it is also making it harder to predict what gets generated.
The Sahara releases billions of tons of fine dust into the atmosphere each year. Tens of millions of tons reach European skies where the tiny particles scatter and absorb sunlight, reduce the amount of light reaching the surface, and even promote cloud formation. All of these things reduce the output of photovoltaic systems.
In addition, conventional weather forecasting tools don’t consider the effects of Saharan dust events, so that scheduling of solar power for the energy system becomes less reliable. Incorporating these events into new forecast models will be essential.
Apart from the atmospheric effects of the dust, there are also long-term impacts due to dust contaminating and eroding the physical infrastructure of solar panels thereby further reducing their efficiency and increasing maintenance costs.
Over time, south-to-north transport of Saharan dust is likely to become more pronounced due to a steeper thermal gradient. Currently, the quantities of atmospheric dust, the dynamics of its transport, and the physical properties of the dust itself are not very well understood. Understanding these things will be crucial for Europe’s energy future.
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The shadow of the wind: photovoltaic power generation under Europe’s dusty skies
Photo, posted March 11, 2023, courtesy of Mark Wordy via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
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