Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Investigation of optimal tilt angles and effects of soiling on PV energy

production in Pakistan
Asad Ullah, Hassan Imran, Zaki Maqsood, Nauman Zafar Butt*
Department of Electrical Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Tilt angle of photovoltaic (PV) panel strongly contributes to the amount of solar radiation harvested by
Received 29 April 2018 the PV panel. In this paper, we model the optimal PV tilt angle for Lahore and some of the other major
Received in revised form cities in Pakistan using the available solar radiation data from NREL and ESMAP. The model is used to
18 January 2019
propose an optimal schedule for PV tilt in Lahore involving four adjustments in a year that can provide
Accepted 21 February 2019
~6.6% increase in the yearly energy generation relative to a fixed tilt. The model is validated with PV tilt
Available online 26 February 2019
experiments. Moreover, a simple model is developed to estimate the upper/lower bounds of soiling
losses in Lahore using the reported distributions for aerosol particulates. We show that the power loss
Keywords:
PV panel
due to soiling could be up to 10% for a lightly soiled panel and could go up to 40% for a heavily soiled
Tilt angle optimization panel. We further explore the tilt angle effect on the soiling losses in Lahore by doing soiling experi-
Tilt adjustment schedule ments. For a period of 100 days, dust deposition on a horizontal panel results in 26.2% energy loss as
PV energy production compared to a clean panel. For the same period, the corresponding loss for a vertical tilt was 13.5%. The
Soiling loss prediction variability of soiling effects with respect to tilt is used to predict an optimal tilt angle when the soiling
losses are significant. These findings provide important insights into the protocols of tilt adjustments in
presence of environmental dust for PV systems in Pakistan and further highlight the significance of
soiling losses for the typical aerosol conditions in Lahore.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction geography (latitude) of the location, climatic conditions and, in

Energy and environment are among the major challenges for the
world now-a-days necessitating a dire need of clean and cost
effective energy resources. Among different renewable energy
sources, solar photovoltaic has attracted a lot of attention due to its
wide availability and economic feasibility [1]. The performance of a
solar panel strongly depends on the amount of solar radiation
absorbed by the solar panel, which further depends on the orien-
tation and tilt angle of the panel [2]. Based on the path of the sun
and location of the solar panel an optimal tilt angle exists that re-
sults in the maximum solar radiation harvested over a defined
period of time [3,4]. Although solar trackers can track sunrays in
real time to approach the best tilt angle continuously, this solution
can be expensive for both residential users and big solar plants [5].
An alternative is to find optimum schedules for periodic adjust-
ment of tilt angle throughout the solar year [6]. Although an
optimal tilt angle for a given location is primarily affected by the
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: nauman.butt@lums.edu.pk (N.Z. Butt).
particular, the effect of dust (soiling) and shading can also have a
significant effect on the choice of optimum tilt [7].
Over the years, many researchers have explored methods to find
optimal tilt angles, optimal schedules for tilt adjustment and the
effect of tilt on soiling losses in different locations around the globe.
These reports are summarized below.
1.1. Basic tilt angle optimization studies
J. Kern [8] obtained the optimal tilt of solar collector as a func-
tion of latitude, weather data and character of the energy demand.
M.M. Elsayed [9] carried out an analysis which include the effects of
number of glass covers, latitude angle, clearness index and ground
reflectivity in order to find optimal tilt angle of a solar collector. A.K.
Yadav [10] provided various methods for determining optimal solar
panel tilt angle using different techniques. S.S. Soulayman [11]
developed a theoretical method to estimate the optimal tilt angle of
a solar collector of free orientation during any period of time in the
year for equator facing surface in northern hemisphere. YP Chang
[12] estimated the optimum tilt angles of solar collector for seven

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.02.114
0960-1481/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843
cities in Taiwan by employing nonlinear time-varying particle-
swarm optimization to maximize the output electrical energy of
the modules. R. Tang [13] estimated the optimum tilt angles for
solar collectors in China and outlined contour map of the optimal
tilt angle of the south-facing collectors based on monthly hori-
zontal radiation of 152 places around the country.
1.2. Optimal number of adjustments and associated increase in
annual production
V.H. Morcos [14] developed a mathematical model to calculate
the total radiation on a sloped surface and found that changing the
tilt angle eight times in a year is necessary to maintain the total
radiation to its maximum value which achieved a yearly gain in
total radiation of 6.85% more as compare to flat plate collector in
Assiut, Egypt. H.M.S. Hussein [15] developed a theoretical analysis
of the instantaneous, daily and yearly enhancement in solar energy
collection of a tilted flat plate solar collector augmented by a plane
reflector. K.K.Gopinathan [16] calculated optimal tilt and orienta-
tion for summer, winter and annual collection by estimating the
monthly average daily irradiation on surfaces tilted towards the
equator for two locations in Lesotho. D. Jain [17] studied optimal
inclination angles for solar arrays in Bharat and found that on the
basis of energy gain, the monthly optimal angle arrangement is best
as compare to the other arrangements.
1.3. Optimal tilt angles for different climate zones and their
variability
T.O. Kaddoura [18] investigated PV panel optimum tilt angles for
various cities of Saudi Arabia and found that adjusting tilt angles six
times in a year harvests 99.5% of the solar radiation that could be
attained with daily PV panel adjustment. M. Benghanem [19]
analyzed the optimal choice of the tilt angle for solar panel in
Madinah, Saudi Arabia and found that the loss in the amount of
collected energy with yearly fixed angle is around 8% as compare to
monthly optimum tilt angle. F. Jafarkazemi [20] investigated the
optimum tilt angles for PV panels in Abu Dhabi, UAE and advised to
change the tilt angle at least twice a year. His calculation showed
that monthly optimum tilt angles for south-facing surface changes
from -9
in June to 52
in December. H. Moghadam [21] investi-
gated the optimum tilt angles of PV panels in Zahedan and Bandar
Abbas, two cities of Iran and found that only two time adjustment
of tilt angle led to about 8% increase in the total received energy in a
year. M. Lave [22] studied that energy production of solar panels is
increased up to 10e25% with increasing latitude for a fixed tilt
angle in the US. A. Ikoedem [23] developed a polynomial model for
determining the winter season optimal tilt angle for fixed-tilt PV
installations in Uyo metropolis, Akwa state of Nigeria and found
that optimal winter season tilt angle is 24.73
. M.J. Ahmad [24]
researched on optimal tilt angle for solar panels in India and found
that optimal tilt angle changes between 0
and 58
from summer to
winter in New Delhi. H.R.Gosh [25] estimated the optimum tilt
angle for solar collector in Dhaka, Bangladesh and found that
theoretical optimum tilt angle for PV panels for MareSep is 10
and
for OcteFeb is 40
. M. Kacira [26] investigated the optimum tilt
angles in Sanliurfa, Turkey and found that monthly optimum tilt
angle varied from 13
in June to 61
in December and gain in solar
radiation received by solar collector at monthly and seasonal op-
timum tilt angles over fixed tilt angle is 1.1% and 3.9% respectively.
K. Ulgen [27] estimated the optimum tilt angles for solar collectors
in Izmir, Turkey and found that the optimum tilt angle changes
between 0
(June) and 61
(December) throughout the year. Bakirci
[28] performed the optimization of tilt angles in Turkey and found
that optimal tilt angle changed between 0
and 65
throughout the
831
year. D.Ibrahim [29] worked on optimal tilt angle in Cyprus and
found that optimal tilt angle for winter months is 48
and 14
for
summer months. H.K. Elminir [30] investigated the optimum tilt
angle for PV panels in Helwan, Egypt and found that the maximum
daily insolation in winter months on a south facing collector was
received with tilt angle around 43.33
, whereas during the summer,
the maximum daily insolation was incident on a nearly horizontal
surface. O.C. Aja [31] found that optimal tilt angle in Malaysia
changes between 0
to 27
from summer to winter months. S. Bari
[32] determined the optimum slope angle and orientation of solar
collectors for different periods of operation at any position in the
Malaysian territory and found that seasonal adjustments of the
solar collectors can receive up to 40% more solar energy as
compared to the fixed slope for the whole year. K. G.R. Saraf [33]
calculated optimal tilt angle for solar panels in Iraq to maximize
their performance and showed that approximately same amount of
energy is harvested when the tilt angle of solar panel is adjusted 8
times a year as compared to daily adjustment. M.A. Ahmed [34]
studied the efficient utilization of solar energy in Lahore, Pakistan
employing sunshine hour data and found that diffuse radiation is
maximum in the month of July and minimum during the month of
April. He concluded that with the exception of monsoon months
solar energy can be utilized very efficiently throughout the year. K.
Skeiker [35] did the same study in Syria and found that maximum
solar generation over a year is achieved by changing tilt angle of the
solar panel 12 times. Yakup [36] determined the optimum tilt an-
gles for Brunei Darrusalam using the mathematical model and
found that changing the tilt angle 12 times in a year achieve a yearly
gain in solar radiation of 5% more than the case of a solar collector
fixed on a horizontal surface. W.G. Le Roux [37] researched on
optimal tilt and azimuth angles in South Africa and found that
annual insolation for optimally fixed solar panel is 10% more than
the horizontal solar panel and annual insolation for solar tracking
collector is 45% more than the horizontal collector. A.A. Abasi [38]
estimated global and diffuse solar radiation for Nawabshah,
Pakistan. L.C. Navntoft [39] analyzed four years of solar UV radia-
tion measurements on horizontal and tiled planes located at the
Plataforma Solar de Almeria, Spain.
1.4. Soiling losses studies in Pakistan and other climates
Asl-Soleimani [40] investigated the effect of tilt angle and air
pollution on solar power generation in Tehran, Iran and found that
30
is the annual optimal tilt angle for solar panel and air pollution
can reduce the energy output of solar modules by more than 60% in
a year. MA Afridi [41] investigated the soiling effect on PV panels in
Peshawer, Pakistan and found through experiments that horizontal
tilt angle had the significant soiling loss of about 2% in three months
whereas other tilts had smaller soiling loss. MM Rahman [42]
investigated soiling effect on PV panels in Bangladesh and found
that reduction in the peak power generated from PV panel due to
soiling could be upto 20% in a month. A.A. Salim [43] studied the
effect of long term accumulation of dust on PV array output by
constructing a PV test system at a solar village near Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia. He found that the reduction in the energy output from the
unclean array reached 32% at the end of the eight months with the
fixed tilt of 24.6
. M.J. Adinoyi [44] studied the effect of dust
accumulation on the power outputs of PV modules in Dhahran,
Saudi Arabia and found that more than 50% decrease in power
output could be experienced if no cleaning is performed on mod-
ules for a period of time that exceeds six months and a single dust
storm can reduce the power output of PV module by as much as
20%. H.K. Elminir [45] studied the effects of dust on the transparent
cover of solar collectors in Egypt and found that dust deposition
density goes from 15.84 g/m2 at 0
tilt angle to 4.48 g/m2 at a tilt
832 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843

angle of 90
in seven months. R.Appels [7] investigated the effect of for PV systems in Pakistan.
soiling on PV modules in Belgium and found that soiling on PV This paper is divide into 4 sections. Section 1 is the Introduction,
panels saturated after 5 weeks of exposure and caused power loss Section 2 is Background and methods, Section 3 is Results and
between 3% and 4%. S.A. Kalogirou [46] studied the effect of soiling discussions and Section 4 is Conclusions.
on solar panel in Cyprus and observed a reduction of 15% of PV
power due to soiling in 10 weeks of summer months. J.Cano [47] 2. Background and methods
developed an inexpensive soiling station which evaluates soiling
loss at different tilt angles of PV modules (0
, 5
, 10
, 15
, 20
, 23
, 2.1. Tilt angle
30
, 33
, 40
) in Mesa, Arizona and found that the 0
tilt angle
showed a 2.02% loss whereas 23
and 33
showed soiling loss close Tilt angle (b) of solar panel is the angle between the horizontal
to 1% in first three months. T. Sarver [48] investigated the impact of plane and the solar panel as shown in Fig. 1. It can vary from 90
to
dust on solar panels in USA for past five decades and found that 90
.
reduction in power output of a PV panel could be from 15% to 30%
for moderate dust conditions. He predicted soiling losses for eight 2.2. Solar hour angle
different tilt angles (0
, 5
, 11.6
, 15
, 21.5
, 25
, 30
and 35
) and
showed that maximum loss of insolation due to soiling was 32.32% Hour angle ðuÞ is the angle between the longitude of a particular
at 0
tilt angle in 32 days. M. Garcia [49] investigated the dust ef- location on earth’s surface and the longitude parallel to sun’s beam.
fects on PV panels in Navarre, Spain and found that power loses due The hour angle is zero at solar noon, negative during morning and
to dust ranged from 2% to 6% on the tracking surfaces and from 7% positive during afternoon. Since the earth revolves completely
to 9% on the horizontal surfaces from February 2005 to May 2006. T. every 24 h, therefore hour angle changes by 360
o
¼ 15o h per hour.
24h
Nagesh [50] experimentally investigated the effect of tilt angle on
the soiled PV module in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia. F.A. Mejia [51]
2.3. Declination angle
investigated the soiling losses on PV panels in California, USA over
the course of 2010 and found that soiling losses averaged 0.051%
The declination (d) of the sun is the angle between earth’s axis
per day overall and sites with small tilt angles had large soiling
and a plane perpendicular to a line between the sun and earth. The
losses. Sayigh [52] observed 64%, 48%, 38%, 30% and 17% reduction
earth’s equator is tilted 23.45
with respect to the plane of the
in transmittance of glass plates with tilt angle of 0
, 15
, 30
, 45

earth’s orbit around the sun so declination varies from 23.45
north
and 60
respectively in Kuwait. R. Levinson [53] studied the soiling
to 23.45
south during a year. The declination angle of the sun can
and cleaning effects on reflectance in USA and found that solar
be estimated as [57].
absorptance ranged from 1.4 to 3.5 for the soiled samples and 1.1 to
3.1 for the wiped samples in 5e8 years. A.Y. Al-Hasan [54] found a

23:45p 2pð284 þ nÞ
new correlation to predict the amount of beam solar radiation that d¼ sin (1)
180 365
would reach the surface of the modules as a function of sand dust
particles size and amount accumulated on the surface when they where n is the day of the year, i.e. n ¼ 1 for 1st January.
are used in dusty environments. W. Javed [55] studied the charac-
terization of dust accumulated on photovoltaic panels in Doha,
2.4. Zenith and azimuth angle
Qatar and found that dust accumulation rate and particle size both
decrease as exposure time increases and dust consists primarily
Zenith angle (q) is the angle between the sun and a line vertical
limestone and dolomite, with quartz as a minor component.
to earth’s surface as shown in Fig. 1. It can be estimated as [6].

1.5. Need for soiling/tilt investigations for Pakistan cosq ¼ sinfsind þ cosfcosdcosu (2)

To date, studies on tilt adjustment and the effect of soiling are where f is the latitude of the location.
relatively unexplored for Pakistan, although, the country has a huge The azimuth angle (g) is the position of sun with respect to the
potential for solar photovoltaics and tremendous opportunities can north-south axis as shown in Fig. 1. It varies from 180
to 180

be foreseen in the near future. S.F. Khahro [56] evaluated solar
energy resources by determining optimal tilt angle for a location in 2.5. Sunrise and sunset angles
Sindh, Pakistan and predicted that half-yearly adjustment can
provide 3.1% more energy harvesting as compared to a fixed yearly Sunrise and sunset occur when the sun is at horizon. So, sunrise
tilt. Increasing tilt adjustment frequency to 4 and 12 times in a year
was shown to provide a marginal benefit. There was no experi-
mental verification for the predictions and the climate effects such
as soiling were not incorporated. The understanding of soiling ef-
fects is particularly important for Pakistan as presence of aerosol
particulates/dust is quite abundant in the country and dust storms
are frequent. In this paper, we study a range of schedules for tilt
adjustment for Lahore, Pakistan and validate the simulation results
with experimental measurements. The optimal tilt angle for Lahore
is compared with other locations across Pakistan. We further
measure the effect of soling as a function of tilt angle experimen-
tally and quantify the power loss due to soiling in Lahore. We also
predict the upper and lower bounds for the extinction coefficients
and the associated power losses for typical aerosol particles re-
ported for Lahore. Our finding can strongly contribute to the un-
derstanding of tilt angle adjustment cycles and the soiling effects Fig. 1. Zenith, Azimuth and Tilt angle [6].
 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843
angle (usr ) and sunset angle (uss ) can be obtained by equating the
cosine of zenith angle with zero in equation (2)
2.6. Surface albedo
Surface albedo (r) is defined as the ratio of irradiance reflected
to the irradiance received by a surface. The reflected portion is not
only determined by properties of the surface itself but also by the
spectral and angular distribution of solar radiation reaching the
Earth’s surface [58]. Typical albedo values for different ground
surfaces can vary from 0.04 for fresh asphalt [59] to 0.9 for fresh
snow [60].
2.7. Global, beam, diffuse and reflected radiation
Global solar radiation (Hg ) is decomposed into three compo-
nents: direct or beam radiation (HB ), diffuse radiation (HD ) and
reflected radiation (HR ). Direct or beam radiation (HB ) is the solar
radiation which directly comes from the sun and reaches the earth’s
surface without being considerably dispersed. Diffuse radiation
(HD ) is the scattered solar radiation which eventually reaches the
earth’s surface after scattering by clouds and other particles. Re-
flected radiation (HR ) is the solar radiation which reaches the tilted
solar panel after reflection from ground.
2.7.1. Direct beam radiation (HB )
Direct beam radiation incident on a tilted surface can be
calculated by Ref. [61].
HB ¼ Hb Rb
where Hb is the direct beam radiation on a horizontal surface and
Rb is the tilt factor defined as the ratio of the direct beam radiation
incident on tilted surface to that falling on a horizontal surface. Rb
for the northern (  ) hemisphere and southern ( þ ) hemisphere is
defined as [6].
sinðdÞsinðf±bÞuss þ cosd cosðf±bÞsinðuss Þ
Rb ¼
uss sindsinf þ cosdcosfsinuss
2.7.2. Diffuse radiation (HD )
Diffuse radiation incident on a tilted surface can be calculated as
[61].
HD ¼ Hd R d
where Hd is the diffuse radiation on a horizontal surface and Rd is
the tilt factor for the diffuse radiation defined as the ratio of the
radiation flux incident on a tilted surface to that of incident on a
horizontal surface. If sky is considered as isotropic source of diffuse
radiation [62] then Rd can be defined as [61].
1 þ cos b
Rd ¼
2 angle for January, [n, m] ¼ [1,31] and to find annual fixed optimum
To incorporate the conditions of partly cloudy sky, an aniso-
tropic model such as Hay model can be used [63].
 
Hg  Hd 1 Hg  Hd
Rd ¼ Rb þ ð1 þ cosbÞ 1 
Ho 2 Ho
where Ho is the daily extraterrestrial solar radiation on a horizontal
surface.
Unless mentioned otherwise, the isotropic method is used in
this study. A comparison between the isotropic vs. anisotropic
833
models is presented in Section 3.1.
2.7.3. Reflected radiation (HR )
The ground reflected (albedo) radiation incident on a tilted
surface can be calculated as [64].
HR ¼ Hg Rr (9)
where Hg is the global radiation on a horizontal surface and Rr is the
tilt factor for the reflected radiation and defined as the reflected
radiation ratio between tilted and horizontal surfaces. Rr can be
defined as [64].
1  cos b
Rr ¼ r (10)
2
If no information is available about ground surface then value of
ground albedo (r) is assumed to be 0.2 [19].
So, the total solar radiation (HT ) incident on a tilted surface can
be calculated as
HT ¼ HB þ HD þ HR (11)
2.8. Tilt simulation and optimization
The optimum tilt angle estimation is based on maximizing the
solar radiation incident on a tilted surface over a period of time. The
amount of solar radiation incident on a solar panel is the sum of
(4) direct beam, diffuse and ground reflected radiation. We applied
solar radiation transposition model which estimated solar radiation
on a tilted surface from solar radiation components incident on
horizontal surface.
A MATLAB code was developed to calculate the total solar ra-
diation (HT ) incident on a solar panel using equations (1-11). Data
for solar radiation are usually available for horizontal surfaces. Solar
radiation data of past 17 years were used in this MATLAB code
(5) which is acquired from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) website [65] and Energy Sector Management Assistance
Program (ESMAP) website [66]. National Renewable Energy Labo-
ratory (NREL) is located in Golden, Colorado. It performs research
on photovoltaics (PV) under the National Center for Photovoltaics.
It also provides data for global, direct and diffuse radiation for years
2000e2014. Energy Sector Management Assistance Program
(ESMAP) gathers solar radiation data from 9 automated solar sta-
(6) tions in Pakistan. Data includes solar radiation levels, temperature,
air pressure and wind speed for years 2014e2017.
The MATLAB code varied the value of tilt angle from 90
to 90

in 0.5
step for each day of the year. Resulting daily irradiation
values are cumulated for every single tilt angle value for our desired
time interval [n, m] and then optimal tilt angle is found by
searching the tilt angle which gives maximum (HT ) for this given
time interval [n, m]. Here, ‘n’ and ‘m’ are the starting and ending
day numbers for a particular time interval. E.g. To find optimum tilt
(7)
tilt angle [n, m] ¼ [1, 365]. Similarly, optimum tilt angle for any
desired time interval can be found by setting the day numbers. The
computer simulation flow chart is shown in Fig. 2.
This study of finding optimal tilt angle is mainly done for Lahore,
(8)
Pakistan and partially extended to one city from each province of
Pakistan. The latitude and longitude of Lahore, Pakistan are 31.5
N
and 74.3
E. The annual mean value of global horizontal irradiance
for whole Pakistan is 2071 kWh/m2 [67]. The multiyear mean
(2000e2012) of annual global horizontal irradiance for Pakistan is
shown in Fig. 3. It can be observed that the country has an excellent
834 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843
Fig. 2. Simulation flowchart.
radiation budget especially in the southern and central parts of its
geographical map.
2.9. Soiling model
The dust accumulation on the PV panel is a complex phenom-
enon that involves deposition, adhesion, and, removal of the at-
mospheric dust/particulates and is influenced by many factors such
as panel material, weather conditions, and, geographical location.
We have developed a simple model to estimate the losses due to
soiling as a function of increasing concentration of the soiling
particles deposited on the panel. The size distribution of soiling
particle is taken from the reported particle distributions found in
Fig. 3. Multi-year mean (2000e2012) of annual Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) for
Pakistan in kWh/m2 [67].
aerosol measurements for Lahore [68]. The extinction (scattering)
coefficient for the soiling is computed using Mie scattering theory
[69,70] using an open source software tool ‘Mie Simulator’ [71].
Considering the particles as perfect dielectric, the extinction coef-
ficient (kext ðl; r)) is the same as its scattering coefficient and the
cumulative loss in the spectral solar incidence can be written as
[72].
ð
∞ ð
∞
DIm ¼ I0 dr dl½kext ðl; rÞnðrÞ f ðlÞ (12)
r¼0 l¼0
where I0 is the solar spectral intensity, r is the particle radius, l is
the wavelength of light, n is the concentration of particles depos-
ited on panel, f ðlÞ is the wavelength function of light, and, m is the
refractive index of particle (taken to be 1.5 which is close to the
reported value for aerosol particulates in Lahore [68].
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Optimum tilt angles for Lahore
The optimum tilt angles for Lahore were found using MATLAB
optimization code discussed above. The monthly optimum tilt an-
gles for Lahore are shown in Fig. 4. The results are obtained using
both isotropic (eqs. (6) and (7)) and anisotropic (eqs. (6) and (8))
models for diffused radiation. The two models closely match except
for winter months when cloudy conditions are more prevalent.
Fig. 4 shows that monthly optimum tilt angle for Lahore varies
between 61.5
and 6.5
towards the south (negative sign means
towards the north) throughout the year. During summer months
i.e. from 21st June to 20th September, the sun is on Tropic of Cancer
(i.e. 23.5
north) and at summer solstice, sun reaches high in the
sky at meridian passing (see Fig. 9) and the optimum tilt angle
reaches a lowest value. During winter months i.e. from 21st
December to 20th March, the sun is on Tropic of Capricorn (i.e.
23.5
south) and at winter solstice, the sun reaches to a maximum
of 35
above the horizon (see Fig. 9) and the optimum tilt angle
reaches to its maximum value of about 61.5
. In equinox months i.e.
March and September, the optimum tilt angles are 32
and 25

 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843
Fig. 4. Monthly optimum tilt angles for Lahore.
respectively, which are close to latitude of Lahore (31.5
). It is
important to mention that all the seasons are astronomical seasons
and referenced with respect to northern hemisphere.
The solar radiation received on PV panel as a function of panel
tilt angle over the year is shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b). During winter
months, maximum radiation is received at a higher tilt angle as sun
is not high enough at the horizon throughout its path (see Fig. 9).
During summer months, sun rises in the North-East (NE) and sets in
the North-West (NW) and the maximum solar radiation is received
for negative tilt angles i.e. towards the north. During equinox
months, the maximum solar radiation is achieved for tilt angles
comparable to the latitude of Lahore i.e. 31.5
. Moreover, the total
maximum solar radiation received over the year is at the tilt angle
of 31.5
which is the optimum fixed tilt angle for Lahore for the
whole year. In July and August, which are the months of the
monsoon rainy season, the variation of the solar radiation with
respect to tilt is relatively reduced due to the presence of clouds and
rain. As shown in Table 2 (appendix), the clearness index (K) rela-
tively drops in these months. Similarly, during the month of
January, there can be presence of fog or smog which can also impact
(a)
Fig. 5. Solar Radiation variation as a function of tilt angles over the year for Lahore (a) January to June (b) July to December.
835
Fig. 6. Optimum tilt angles for fixed, daily, monthly and seasonal adjustment for
Lahore.
the tilt dependence of its global solar radiation.
To get maximum energy production from PV panel over a year,
optimum tilt angles for various periodic intervals were found using
above discussed MATLAB optimization code and are shown in Fig. 6
which includes fixed, monthly, seasonal and daily adjustments.
3.2. Effects of tilt angle adjustment schedules
The comparison of energy harvested by PV panel during each
month of the year for daily, monthly, seasonal and biannual ad-
justments with fixed tilt adjustment is shown in Fig. 7(a)e7(d)
respectively. Among all of the aforementioned cases, the least solar
irradiance is received for the fixed tilt adjustment as expected.
Therefore, the fixed tilt angle is although the most convenient
option, it is not so efficient. On the other hand, highest amount of
solar irradiance (~2660 kWhr/m2) can be collected over the year
through daily tilt adjustment, but this may not be a practical choice.
The percentage difference in solar radiation collection of each
adjustment schedule with respect to fixed adjustment is shown in
Fig. 8. It can be seen from the figure that minimum percentage
difference lie in March and September (i.e. equinox months) and
maximum percentage difference lie in June and December (i.e.
summer and winter solstice months).
(b)
836 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 7. Comparison of fixed adjustment with other periodic intervals (a) fixed adjustment vs daily adjustment (b) fixed adjustment vs monthly adjustment (c) fixed adjustment vs
seasonal adjustment (d) fixed adjustement vs biannual adjustement.

Fig. 9. Sun trajectory over Lahore at solar noon on 21st Dec, 21st Mar & Sep and 21st
Fig. 8. Percentage differecne in solar radiation collection of adjustment schedule w.r.t Jun.
fixed adjustment.

Fig. 4), therefore there is a need for a tilt adjustment schedule

As optimum tilt angle rapidly changes during equinox months which minimize the tilt adjustment frequency and maximize the
and remains relatively steady during summer and winter (see energy harvested by PV panel. Based on sun trajectory over Lahore
 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843 837

(see Fig. 9), we propose two tilt adjustment schedules which

require six and four tilt adjustments over a year and results in a
better energy production from PV panel.
Fig. 9 shows sun’s trajactory over Lahore on equinoxes (i.e. 21st
March and 21st September) and solstices (i.e. 21st June and 21st
December) for Lahore, Pakistan. Depending upon the sun’s tra-
jactory over Lahore, we devided whole year into time intervals in
which solar incidence angle on tilted plane either remain same or
there was small change. On the basis of this concept we proposed
two tilt angle adjustment schedules that require six and four times
adjustments over the year (see Fig. 10).
The first proposed adjustment schedule requires six adjust-
ments over a year. Once from 5 May to 5 Aug, once from 6 Aug to 21
Sep, once from 22 sep to 4 Nov, once from 5 Nov to 5 Feb, once from
6 Feb to 21 Mar and once from 22 Mar to 4 May. This proposed
adjustment schedule resulted in 2651 kWhr/m2 energy harvested
by solar panel over a year, which is close to daily and monthly
adjustment but with less number of adjustments and it is better
than fixed, seasonal and biaanual adjustments in terms of solar
radiation collection. Moreover, a proposed adjustment schedule is Fig. 11. Comparison of all adjustment schemes in terms of solar radiation collected by
presented in a study carried in Jeddah for optimum tilt angle for solar panel and percent increase in input solar radiation of multi adjustment schemes
Jeddah [18] which also requires six times adjustment over a year with respect to fixed adjustment.
and gives best results among other periodic intervals. When that
proposed schedule is apllied to Lahore, it gives 2650 kWhr/m2
which is less than our proposed adjustment schedule. Similarly is adjusted, more it harvests the energy. So, suitable adjustment
another adjustment schedule is proposed which require only four scheme can be adopted as per industrial or household use.
adjustments over a year and gives 2640 kWhr/m2 solar irradiance The optimum tilt angle study for Lahore is partially extended to
collection over a year. Although this value is little less than previ- other cities of Pakistan. One city from each province of Pakistan is
ously proposed adjustment schedule but fewer adjustments are chosen and the monthly optimum tilt angles are found using above
required in this proposed schedule. Moreover this proposed discussed MATLAB optimization code and are shown in Fig. 12
schedule is better than fixed, biannual and seasonal adjustment (Latitude of the respective city is shown in parenthesis ahead of
schedule in terms of solar radiation collection while seasonal and the name of the city in Fig. 12).
this proposed schedule both require four times adjustments over a As all these cities lie in northen hemisphere and their latitudes
year. The adjustment schedule of this proposed model can be are close to each other so general trend of variation in their optimal
described as, once from 22 March to 21 Sep (Because summer tilt angles with respect to months is almost same. So, other
season is relatively longer than other seasons in Lahore), once from adjustment schedules studied for Lahore are also applicable to
22 Sep to 4 Nov, once from 5 Nov to 5 Feb and once from 6 Feb to 21 these cities. However, Fig. 12 shows that as lattitude increases, the
March. So these two proposed adjustments schedule can be used monthly optimal tilt angle also increases. This is because as latti-
depending on the need and conditions. The energy harvested by tude increases, distance from the equator increases and to get
solar panels using proposed adjustment schedules are compared maximum solar radiation on solar panel, larger tilt is needed.
with fixed, daily, biannual, monthly and seasonal adjustments in
Fig. 11.
Fig. 11 also shows the percentage increase in energy harvested
by PV panel for each adjustment scheme with respect to fixed
adjustment. It can be clearly seen that more frequently the PV panel

Fig. 10. Optimum tilt angles for different intervals. Fig. 12. Monthly optimum tilt angles for five cities of Pakistan.
838 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843
3.3. Experimental results
To validate the aforementioned trends in the simulated results,
two experiments were conducted on the rooftop of the School of
Science and Engineering building at Lahore University of Manage-
ment and Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. In these experiments five PV
panels adjusted at different tilt angles were used to find the opti-
mum tilt angle for a given day. The short circuit current and open
circuit voltage of these PV panels were simultaneously measured
after every 15 min. The collected data were used to find short circuit
current (Ah/day) and maximum energy (Wh/day) produced by each
PV panel at respective tilt angle. First experiment was conducted on
September 27th, 2017. These PV panels were adjusted at 25
, 30
,
35
, 40
and 45
tilted towards north. Fig. 13 shows the experi-
mental and simulated short circuit current and energy produced by
PV panels as a function of panel tilt angle for the same date i.e. 27th
September. In the experiment, the highest amount of short circuit
current and energy was produced by PV panel adjusted at 30
and
the simulation results depict the same trend. This matches with the
fixed annual optimal tilt angle for Lahore which is close to the
optimal tilt angle at equinox days (see Fig. 6). The experimental
result is also consistent with the simulated monthly optimal tilt
angles (see Fig. 4). Indeed, if we consider a time period from 15th
September to 15th October, then theoretical monthly optimum tilt
angle for this period is ~31
which agrees well with the experi-
mental result in Fig. 13.
The second experiment was conducted on 16th January 2018. In
this experiment five PV panels were adjusted at 50
, 55
, 60
, 65

and 70
tilted towards north. Fig. 14 shows the experimental and
simulated short circuit current and energy produced by PV panels
with respect to tilt angles for 16th January. In experiment, the
highest amount of short circuit current and energy produced by PV
(a)
(c)
Fig. 13. (a) Short circuit current vs. tilt angles (Experimental) (b) Energy vs. tilt angles (Experimental) (c) Energy and short circuit current vs. tilt angles (Simulated).
panel was observed at 55
that matches closely with the trend
observed in the simulated results (Fig. 14(b)). Both experiments are
hence in close agreement with the theoretical results. The rated
values for fill factor (75%) and power conversion efficiency (10%)
were used in the calculations for the output energy and short circuit
current for simulation results in both cases. The absolute values for
simulated energy and currents are slightly higher as compared to
the experimental values in the 2nd experiment. This can be
attributed to the partly cloudy weather and the presence of mois-
ture on the panels during the experiment.
3.4. Impact of soiling on PV panels energy production
Above study and experiments are carried out on clean solar
panels, but, in practice, solar panels are exposed to atmospheric
conditions which include dust, rain etc. So there is a need to study
the impact of these factors on solar panel performance in the
outdoor field. Here we present the results of the modeling study of
PV soiling effect using reported aerosol properties over Lahore and
the experimental data for soiling as a function of tilt angle for
Lahore.
Fig. 15 (a) shows the percentage loss in solar spectral intensity
incident on the PV panel as a function of accumulated mass density
using our soiling model described in section 2.9. The corresponding
number density of the particles and extinction coefficients (calcu-
lated using (12)) are shown in Fig. 15 (b) and Fig. 15 (c) respectively.
The soiling loss approaches to <10% for the soiling mass density 
1g=m2 and could increases to ~40% for soiling mass density
approaching 10 g=m2 . These two values correspond to lightly and
heavily soiled panels respectively and could be considered as the
lower and the upper range for PV soiling loss in Lahore.
For benchmarking the soiling loss in Lahore, an experiment was
(b)
 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843
(a)
(c)
Fig. 14. (a) Short circuit current vs. tilt angles (Experimental) (b) Energy vs. tilt angles (Experimental) (c) Energy and short circuit current vs. tilt angles (Simulated).
conducted on a set of solar panels tilted at 0
, 35
and 90
for 100
days. The data for clean vs. soiled panels were measured every
other day during this period and the comparison of average short
circuit current, and, average power produced by clean and soiled
solar panels is shown in Fig. 16. In all cases, the clean panels
generate considerably larger power as compared to those which are
soiled. As seen in results shown in Fig. 6 above, fixed optimal tilt
angle for Lahore is 31.5
. The maximum short circuit current and
power generation is therefore from the solar panel with the tilt of
35
. Further, short circuit current and power generation from the
solar panel tilted at 90
is minimum because of the fact that more
parallel the sunrays to solar panel, lower the sunlight absorption in
solar panel. Whereas short circuit current and power production
from solar panels tilted at 0
lies in between them.
Fig. 17 shows the difference in power produced (DP) by clean
and soiled solar panels and corresponding power loss due to soiling
at different tilt angles. The experiment was performed on a roof top
which was free of any shading effects from the surrounding
buildings or trees etc. It can be seen from the figure that the vertical
tilt has the minimum DP between clean and soiled panels and
hence power loss is minimum at this tilt which is 13.5%. This is
expected since the amount of dust accumulating on panel surface
should increase going from vertical to the horizontal tilt. Therefore,
the maximum percentage loss in power between the clean and
soiled solar panels in our experiment is observed at 0
which is
839
(b)
26.2% i.e. double of the power loss at vertical tilt. However, soiling
losses at 35
lie in between these two tilts and provide maximum
power generation as well.
3.5. Impact of soiling on optimal tilt angle of PV panel
Soiling study on PV panels carried out from 21st September to
21st December which is the duration of autumn season. Fig. 18(a)
shows the solar radiation collected by clean panels and soiling
losses in autumn season when tilt angle changes from 0
to 90
. The
soiling losses are obtained by fitting the data in Fig. 17(b). Fig. 18(b)
shows the solar radiation collected by clean panels and corre-
sponding solar radiation for soiled panels after incorporating soil-
ing losses. The optimal tilt angle for clean panel for autumn season
for Lahore is 51
(see Table 1). When soiling losses are incorporated
then optimal tilt angle changes to 55
.
4. Conclusions
In this paper, the optimum tilt angles for PV panels were
investigated for several cities in Pakistan including Lahore, Baha-
walpur, Hyderabad, Peshawar, and, Sibi through MATLAB optimi-
zation code and using solar irradiation data for last 17 years from
NREL [65] and ESMAP [66]. Experiments for validating the optimal
tilt calculations were done in Lahore which matched well with our
840 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843

(a) (b)

(c)
Fig. 15. (a) Percentage loss in incident solar spectral intensity due to soiling as a function of the surface mass density of the dust. (b) The number density distribution of soiling
particles for varying mass density of the dust. The distribution is assumed to be the same as that for the reported aerosol distribution for Lahore extracted from satellite data [72] (c)
Extinction coefficient as a function of wavelength for varying soiling mass density.

(a) (b)
Fig. 16. Comparison of clean and soiled solar panels in terms of (a) short circuit current and (b) power produced.
 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843 841

(a) (b)

Fig. 17. (a) Difference in power produced (DP) by clean and soiled panels (b) Percentage loss in power due to soiling at different tilt angels.

(a) (b)

Fig. 18. (a) solar radiation collected by clean panels and soiling losses (b) solar radiation collected by clean and soiled panels.

Table 1 the location.

Monthly, seasonal, biannual and annual optimum tilt angles for Lahore.
The experiments to validate the theoretical optimum tilt angle
Months Monthly Seasonal Biannual Annual (Fixed) for Lahore were conducted in two different seasons. The optimal tilt
January 58
50.5
50.5
31.5
angle was determined on the basis of the measurement of short
February 48
circuit current and electrical energy at fixed intervals through the
March 32
day. The experimental results were found to be in close agreement
April 12.5
5.5
6
with the simulated results for these months.
May 1.5

June 6.5

For the case study of Lahore, changing the tilt angle daily,
July -4
6
monthly, seasonal or biannual results in an increase in harvested
August 6
energy by 7.41%, 7.25%, 6.09% and 5.90% per annum respectively
September 25
over a fixed tilt angle i.e. more the frequency of altering tilt, more
October 43
51
50.5

will be the energy harvested. Variation in optimum tilt angle in
November 55.5

December 61.5
summer and winter season is however quite small as compare to
spring and autumn season as the optimal tilt changes rapidly in
equinox months and remain steady in summer and winter months
when the sun settles on the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn,
simulation predictions. Due to the geographical location of Lahore,
respectively. Incorporating these observations, we propose
sun takes a ’longer path in summer season and optimum tilt angle
adjustment schemes which can maximize the energy harvesting
goes into negative reaching the lowest value of 6.5
in June
over the year while minimizing the frequency (cost) of adjustment.
whereas in winter season, sun takes a shorter path reaching the
The 1st scheme involves six tilt adjustments spread over the year
highest value of 61.5
in December. The fixed optimal tilt for Lahore
and gives 7.05% increase in harvested energy over a fixed optimal
is 31.5
which is equal to its latitude. A similar trend was found for
tilt angle which is close to the improvement provided by the
the other cities in Pakistan as well. Comparing to the published
monthly tilt adjustment but with only half of the adjustment fre-
studies for various courtiers around the world, we find that the
quency. The 2nd scheme require only four tilt adjustments in a year
qualitative trend for optimal tilt in Pakistan is similar to the
and gives 6.59% increase in harvested energy over fixed tilt which is
countries lying in northern hemisphere such as India, Saudi Arabia,
better than the seasonal tilt involving the same number of adjust-
and North America. The quantitative values for monthly and sea-
ment in a year.
sonal optimum tilt angle however vary according to the latitude of
842 A. Ullah et al. / Renewable Energy 139 (2019) 830e843

Table 2 (continued )
Proposed Scheme 1 Proposed Scheme 2
Location Months Kt Hb Hd bopt ð
Þ
5 Nov e 5 Feb 58.5
5 Nov e 5 Feb 58.5

6 Feb e 21 Mar 41.5
6 Feb e 21 Mar 41.5
December 0.61 3.58 1.71 59.5
22 Mar e 4 May 14.5
22 Mar e 21 Sep 5.5
Peshawer January 0.59 3.21 1.50 62
5 May e 5 Aug -4
22 Sep e 4 Nov 41.5
February 0.54 2.61 1.90 49.5
6 Aug e 21 Sep 14
March 0.57 3.61 2.47 33.5
22 Sep e 4 Nov 41.5
April 0.60 4.35 2.86 14.5
May 0.64 5.20 3.02 0
June 0.65 5.25 3.26 5.5
July 0.61 4.24 3.40 3
The accumulation of dust (soiling) on the panels can contribute August 0.59 3.87 3.10 8.5
to a significant loss in energy output of PV panels. We have used a September 0.63 4.40 2.56 27.5
simple approach to estimate the extinction coefficients for the October 0.67 4.25 2.10 47
November 0.63 3.60 1.67 59.5
soiling using Mie scattering model for the reported aerosol par- December 0.60 3.29 1.42 64.5
ticulate distribution for Lahore. A lower and upper ranges for the Sibi January 0.63 1.69 4.15 58
power loss due to panel soiling in Lahore is predicted using the February 0.62 2.12 3.98 47
model. The results show that the soiling losses can be up to 10% for March 0.62 2.66 4.47 30.5
April 0.65 3.08 4.86 11
a lightly soiled panel and could go up to 40% for a heavily soiled
May 0.67 3.24 5.49 3
panel. We have further quantified the soiling loss and its depen- June 0.66 3.53 4.87 8.5
dence on tilt angle in Lahore using experimental measurements. July 0.62 3.67 3.88 5.5
Power output and short circuit current of identical PV panels soiled August 0.62 3.30 4.16 5
for ~100 days showed that the relative loss in the output power for September 0.67 2.63 5.17 24
October 0.68 2.16 5.24 43.5
the soiled panel vs. the clean panel both placed at the same tilt was November 0.65 1.81 4.41 56
26.2%, 18.4%, and, 13.5% for the tilt angle of 0
, 35
and 90
December 0.62 1.54 4.35 61
respectively. Our work provides useful protocols of tilt adjustments Hyderabad January 0.62 1.87 4.34 54
with or without the presence of soiling for PV systems in Pakistan. February 0.63 2.21 5.08 44
March 0.64 2.76 5.98 26.5
The quantification of soiling losses and the theoretical predictions
April 0.65 3.23 6.61 7
for upper/lower range for soiling losses highlight the significance of May 0.66 3.48 6.87 6
soiling for PV systems in Pakistan and indicate the need of optimal June 0.63 3.46 6.70 11
restoration protocols for soiling. July 0.57 3.46 5.84 8
August 0.57 3.18 5.88 2
September 0.61 2.78 5.90 19.5
Acknowledgment October 0.62 2.40 5.37 38.5
November 0.60 2.09 4.47 51
The authors would like to thank Hayat Ullah for his assistance December 0.59 1.83 4.05 56.5
during optimum tilt angle experiment.

Appendix
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