Research shows that Saharan dust events can hit solar energy output hard. So what can be done to better manage the problem? Climate Now reports from Andalucía on efforts to beat the dust.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Climate Now, and this month we're here in southern Spain to report
00:09on the rising issue of Saharan dust hitting solar energy production.
00:14According to recent research, a big dust event can actually reduce electricity output from
00:19panels like this by up to 80%, and it's proving to be a significant challenge.
00:25The prediction of dust must be one of the most complicated things out there.
00:34Well that's our story coming up, but first the very latest data from the Copernicus Climate
00:39Change Service, which shows that we've just had our 12th consecutive month of record high
00:44temperatures.
00:46May 2024 was the warmest May on record, with temperatures globally 0.6 degrees Celsius
00:52above the 1991 to 2020 average.
00:57To put the last 12 months into context, this graph of global temperature anomalies since
01:011979 shows how the planet has warmed significantly in the past decade.
01:07In May 2024, we saw extreme weather in many areas.
01:11In southern Brazil, widespread flooding displaced more than half a million people.
01:15The Delhi region of India hit 49.9 degrees Celsius, its highest temperature on record,
01:21and Finland issued a heatwave warning with highs over 27 degrees Celsius.
01:27This map of precipitation anomalies shows how May was drier than average in the east
01:31of Europe and southern Spain and Portugal, and much wetter than average from Ireland
01:36to Italy.
01:37Heavy rain led to flooding in southwestern Germany, Belgium and northern Italy.
01:45And now to our report on the impact of Saharan dust on solar energy production.
01:52Since 2020, the number of Saharan dust events in Europe has risen.
01:56Researcher Eduardo Fernandez took these photos showing the intense dust storm of March 2022
02:01at the University of Jaén in Andalucía.
02:10The dust reached as far north as Denmark.
02:13In Spain, it hit solar energy hard.
02:222022 was an extreme example, but even small amounts of dust can reduce the sunlight reaching
02:28solar cells.
02:29So here they're comparing different systems to see how they perform.
02:33And every detail counts, as Professor Florencia Almonathid explains.
02:38These modules here don't have a frame.
02:40We're preventing dust from accumulating in those areas, which can cause big problems.
02:48Dusty panels like these ones can lose 15% of their capacity.
02:52In the lab, the team is investigating different dust-resistant solar cell coatings.
02:57And they test how dust accumulates, depending on whether the weather is warmer or colder,
03:02wetter or drier.
03:03They found that Saharan dust is particularly problematic.
03:18Washing commercial solar plants like this is expensive, so the operators use weather
03:22data to plan their cleaning sessions, depending on dust events and rainfall.
03:27Juan Fernandez heads operations at renewables company Sonidix.
03:34This is becoming more and more important for us, not only from the standpoint of managing
03:39soiling, but also from the standpoint of managing generation and what the grid and the end consumer
03:47needs.
03:49Solar energy is growing rapidly in Europe, so the dust issue is becoming more acute.
03:53A severe Saharan dust event could actually bring a significant drop to the production
04:00of within the grid, and that for the grid operator could become an issue.
04:04So anticipation, forecasting and being able to manage this proactively is really the name
04:10of the game.
04:11The recent rise in Saharan dust events could be connected to changes in the atmosphere.
04:16So is there a link to climate change?
04:18For dust expert Eduardo Fernandez, there's a chance.
04:31Well, that's all we have time for, but please head over to euronews.com slash climate now
04:40to learn more about how our planet is changing, and I'll see you soon.