Aerosol Impacts on Solar Energy Production

Atmospheric aerosol particles—ranging from dust and sea salt to combustion products—interact with solar radiation through scattering and absorption, altering both the quantity and quality of sunlight reaching solar energy systems. By attenuating direct beam irradiance and modifying the diffuse component, aerosols can reduce output of photovoltaic (PV) arrays and concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. Spatial and temporal variability of aerosol loading, driven by wildfires, industrial emissions and meteorological factors, leads to fluctuations in system performance, complicating resource assessment and grid management. Recent studies have revealed that extreme smoke events may reduce daily PV yields by tens of per cent, while long-term trends in aerosol emissions contribute to regional dimming or brightening. Understanding these effects is vital for accurate capacity planning, forecasting and adaptation strategies in a world increasingly reliant on solar power.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have used high-resolution radiative transfer modelling combined with satellite observations to quantify smoke-driven reductions in direct normal and global horizontal irradiance across diverse spatial scales, demonstrating that extreme wildfire smoke events can depress solar resource availability by up to 30 per cent in affected regions. Foundational empirical research has also established robust parameterisations linking fine particulate concentrations to broadband solar radiation, offering simple yet effective tools for estimating surface irradiance losses from PM2.5 and informing solar resource assessments in data-scarce regions.

Aerosol Impacts on Solar Energy Production publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in aerosol impacts on solar energy production across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Aerosol optical depth (AOD): A measure of the integrated extinction of solar radiation by aerosols in a vertical column of the atmosphere.

Global horizontal irradiance (GHI): The total solar radiation incident per unit area on a horizontal surface, including both direct and diffuse components.

Direct normal irradiance (DNI): The component of solar radiation received per unit area by a surface held perpendicular to the sun’s rays, representing the direct beam.

Particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10): Fine airborne particles with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm or 10 µm that scatter and absorb sunlight.

Radiative transfer model: A computational tool that simulates the propagation, scattering and absorption of radiation within the atmosphere.

References

1. Solar energy resource availability under extreme and historical wildfire smoke conditions. Nature Communications (2025).
2. Quantification of the impact of aerosol on broadband solar radiation in North China. Scientific Reports (2017).
3. Smoke from 2020 United States wildfires responsible for substantial solar energy forecast errors. Environmental Research Letters (2022).
4. The effect of particulate matter on solar photovoltaic power generation over the Republic of Korea. Environmental Research Letters (2020).
5. Temporal Solar Photovoltaic Generation Capacity Reduction From Wildfire Smoke. IEEE Access (2021).