Designing Solar Yield Around Saudi Dust: What PVsyst Won't Tell You

Dust is the single most mis-modelled variable in Saudi solar projects. We share measured soiling data from four sites across three climate zones.

What we measured

Over 18 months we tracked string-level performance with clean reference modules and found an average 1.1%/week soiling rate in Riyadh during dust-storm season.

Cleaning frequency that pays back

For a 5 MWp rooftop array, bi-weekly cleaning during March-May recovered roughly 7% of annual yield — a net ROI after cleaning costs of more than 4×.