The impact of photovoltaic (PV) installations on downwind particulate matter concentrations: Results from field observations at a 550-MW_AC utility-scale PV plant

Figures & data

Figure 1. Site map showing the PV block numbers and the locations of the four beta attenuation monitors (BAMs) that recorded the PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ readings.

Table 1. Sample sizes, means, and standard deviations for the three groups of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentration readings at the four BAM stations.

PM fraction	BAM station	Group	Mean	Standard deviation	Sample size
PM2.5	West	Background	0.005	0.02	2913
		Construction	0.005	0.007	2713
		Post-construction	0.003	0.003	650
	East	Background	0.006	0.011	2962
		Construction	0.006	0.015	1705
		Post-construction	0.003	0.003	272
	North	Background	0.006	0.01	2962
		Construction	0.004	0.004	2962
		Post-construction	0.002	0.002	549
	South	Background	0.006	0.01	973
		Construction	0.007	0.01	2640
		Post-construction	0.006	0.004	390
PM10	West	Background	0.017	0.04	2962
		Construction	0.01	0.03	2822
		Post-construction	0.013	0.014	838
	East	Background	0.02	0.04	2962
		Construction	0.019	0.036	1864
		Post-construction	0.01	0.019	318
	North	Background	0.02	0.02	2962
		Construction	0.012	0.02	2962
		Post-construction	0.01	0.018	780
	South	Background	0.01	0.038	1181
		Construction	0.024	0.041	2962
		Post-construction	0.021	0.038	968

Figure 2. Time series and the corresponding linear trend equations for PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations at the four BAM stations for the construction and post-construction groups. The zeroth day, by convention, represents the first day of recording PM₁₀ concentrations after the start of construction.

Figure 3. Confidence interval (at 95%) plots depicting the mean PM_2.5 concentration levels for the background, construction, and post-construction groups recorded at the four BAM stations.

Table 2. Kruskal-Wallis test results demonstrating statistically significant differences between the median background, construction, and post-construction PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations in each BAM station at a 95% confidence interval.

		PM10		PM2.5
BAM station	Group	Median concentration (mg/m^3)	P	Median concentration (mg/m^3)	P
West	Background	0.011	<0.001	0.004	<0.001
	Construction	0.011		0.004
	Post-construction	0.009		0.003
East	Background	0.012	<0.001	0.004	<0.001
	Construction	0.012		0.004
	Post-construction	0.007		0.003
North	Background	0.014	<0.001	0.005	<0.001
	Construction	0.009		0.003
	Post-construction	0.008		0.003
South	Background	0.009	<0.001	0.004	<0.001
	Construction	0.016		0.006
	Post-construction	0.013		0.006

Table 3. Results of the nonparametric post hoc analysis to rank the background, construction, and post-construction PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations from the four BAM stations.

		PM10		PM2.5
BAM station	Comparison	Score mean difference	P	Score mean difference	P	Conclusion (ranking of PM10 and PM2.5 mean concentrations)
West	Construction − Background	137.1	0.0245	164.11	0.019	PM10: Construction > Background > Post-construction PM2.5: Construction > Background > Post-construction
	Post-construction − Background	−324.83	0.0001	−247.31	0.0047
	Post-construction − Construction	−461.93	<0.0001	−411.43	<0.0001
East	Construction − Background	−86.39	0.1642	−105.56	0.0448	PM10: Background > Construction > Post-construction PM2.5: Construction > Background > Post-construction
	Post-construction − Construction	−925.23	<0.0001	−607.5	<0.0001
	Post-construction − Background	−1011.62	<0.0001	−713.02	<0.0001
North	Post-construction − Construction	−735.77	<0.0001	−878.11	<0.0001	PM10: Background > Construction > Post-construction PM2.5: Construction > Background > Post-construction
	Construction − Background	−1335.14	<0.0001	−677.8	<0.0001
	Post-construction − Background	−2070.91	<0.0001	−1555.91	<0.0001
South	Construction − Background	804.39	<0.0001	451.37	<0.0001	PM10: Construction > Post-construction > Background PM2.5: Construction > Background Post-construction > Background No statistically significant difference between construction and post-construction mean PM2.5 concentrations
	Post-construction − Background	603.92	<0.0001	516.12	<0.0001
	Post-construction − Construction	−200.47	0.0007	64.74	0.9