Retrieving pollution from photovoltaic solar panels.

The study presents the results of using photovoltaic systems, commonly installed on buildings to produce energy, to detect episodes of air pollution. The amount of electric power produced by the panels is affected by various factors, including the solar panel efficiency, technical characteristics, and atmospheric constituents like aerosols that can scatter and absorb incoming solar radiation. The retrieved Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) is used to evaluate the concentration of surface particulate matter and atmospheric column turbidity, which affects the solar panel energy production. The abstract presents a new technique to retrieve the AOD at 550 nm through an iterative process and forecast the produced electric energy by a photovoltaic panel using a simple model.