The Mediterranean has always been seen as a privileged land for solar energy: abundant sun, large extensions and A clear commitment to renewables. However, two factors that come from the south and of the climate change are putting this equation in check: the dust storms of the Sahara and the sustained increase in temperatures.
The short. A new study warns that Sahara dust can reduce solar production in southern Europe by up to 50 %. Work, Posted in Renewable Energy magazine By the Hun-Ren Research Center of Astronomy and Earth Sciences of Hungary, analyzes the episodes between 2019 and 2023 in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece.
More in depth. To reach these conclusions, the scientists resorted to a data arsenal: the forecasts of the European Network of Transport Systems Operators (ETSO-E), NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis, the European database Copernicus Cams V4.6 and satellite cloud and aerosols. Thus they were able to evaluate time and daily how dust alters solar irradiance and, therefore, the ability of panels to produce electricity.
The additional finding is worrying: the current photovoltaic forecasts for the next day usually fail. In Spain and Portugal they tend to underestimate the real loss of energy (up to 15% less than expected), while in Italy and Greece the opposite occurs, with overestimations of up to 10%.
A problem that aggravates. Saharan dust is not a new phenomenon, but climate change is intensifying both its frequency and its reach. And Spain, as a study of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) warns collected in Xatakait is a true “hot point” of European warming.
In the last 50 years, temperatures have increased 3.27ºC in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, more than double the Mediterranean mean. Summer has extended 36 days, rainfall has decreased almost 20% and desertification advances by regions such as Murcia, Almería or Alicante. The scenario for 2050 is a country with steppe or even almost desert climate in much of its territory. If Spain becomes a warmer and more dry desert, dust storms will be more frequent and its impact on even greater solar energy.
Is there a possible solution? Until now, the great enemy of conventional solar panels was not only dust, but also heat. As we have developed in Xatakafor each degree above 25ºC, traditional plaques lose between 0.05% and 0.34% efficiency, which can translate into falls from 10 to 25% in very hot days.
But a recent study by Laughborough University proposes a script turn: The so -called photoelectocrochemical flow cells (PEC). This experimental technology not only supports heat, but takes advantage of it, with an optimal point around 45ºC. In addition, it does not require active cooling, which lowers installation and maintenance costs.
In parallel, startups like the Australian Coolsheet They are developing Passive cooling hybrid systems that cool the panels and, at the same time, heat water for industrial or domestic use. Every 10º less on the plate can be 4% more electrical efficiency.
Beyond the results. The research is not limited to more solar panels, but that It must be integrated In the new photovoltaic, more forecast of dust effects, improve real -time monitoring and design technologies that convert heat and extreme conditions into allies, not enemies.
Spain and the Mediterranean advance towards a scenario in which the sun will be more abundant, but also more hostile. The future of solar energy is to accept this paradox: it is not just about installing panels, but of adapting them to a changing climate, full of dust, heat and drought. Scientific research, technological innovation and political planning must go hand in hand so that the sun remains the solution, and does not become part of the problem.
Image | Eduardo Milla and Unspash
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