{"id":336583,"date":"2026-06-15T02:27:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T02:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/336583\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T02:27:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T02:27:37","slug":"utep-study-dust-prone-desert-in-new-mexico-ideal-for-solar-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/336583\/","title":{"rendered":"UTEP study: Dust-prone desert in New Mexico ideal for solar energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 Solar energy developers eyeing parts of Southern New Mexico may not have to worry about dust after all.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to a new study led by University of Texas at El Paso researchers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

According to the study, photovoltaic panels in Alamogordo \u2014 an area battered by frequent dust storms carrying particles from the gypsum dune field at White Sands \u2014 lose only 2 to 3 percent of their power output due to dust accumulation, a rate far lower than that of solar facilities in comparable desert regions across the world.<\/p>\n

The findings, published in the journal Atmosphere in April, carry direct implications for the economics of solar energy in the Chihuahuan Desert, the team said. Because dust-related losses at the study site are modest, and because light rainfall proved sufficient to restore panel performance, operators of solar facilities in the area may be able to clean their panels far less frequently than those at sites in the Middle East, Iran, or China \u2014 where soiling losses can reach 10 to 80 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we found is that this location is genuinely favorable for solar energy, not just because of its abundant sunshine but because of how the dust behaves here,\u201d said German Rodriguez Ortiz, the study\u2019s lead author and a doctoral graduate of UTEP\u2019s Environmental Science and Engineering Program. \u201cThe wind that brings dust from White Sands also helps clean the panels, and the gypsum itself appears to be less harmful to performance than the types of dust studied at other sites globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two natural factors appear to work in the region\u2019s favor. Prevailing south-to-southwest winds strike the front face of south-facing panels directly, physically dislodging accumulated particles in a passive cleaning effect, the study says.<\/p>\n

Additionally, rainfall as light as 2.2 millimeters per hour was sufficient to restore panels to near-baseline performance \u2014 a lower cleaning threshold than has been documented in California, India and other solar markets, the study added.<\/p>\n

The anti-reflective coating on the panels studied may have contributed to rain\u2019s effectiveness, pointing to a potential design consideration for future installations.<\/p>\n

The study also found that gypsum \u2014 the distinctive mineral blown from White Sands \u2014 absorbs less light than other common dust minerals, meaning its optical interference with panel performance is inherently limited. That characteristic, combined with the region\u2019s wind patterns and responsiveness to rain, positions the southern Tularosa Basin as a location where the solar resource and the operating environment are better aligned than previously understood, Rodriguez Ortiz said.<\/p>\n

These factors lead to a reduced cleaning frequency, which translates into lower water consumption, less labor and meaningfully lower long-term operating costs, the team said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis research demonstrates the kind of place-based science UTEP is uniquely positioned to conduct,\u201d said Thomas E. Gill, Ph.D., professor of earth, environmental and resource sciences, co-author of the study and Rodriguez Ortiz\u2019s doctoral adviser. \u201cOur location in the Chihuahuan Desert is not just a backdrop \u2014 it is a living laboratory, and this work shows how deeply understanding your local environment can generate insights with real economic and energy consequences for the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study was conducted at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation\u2019s Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, where the team monitored six solar panels across three sampling periods from late 2022 through spring 2024, recording 22 dust events in the process.<\/p>\n

Co-authors include assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry Jose A. Hernandez-Viezcas, Ph.D.; UTEP researcher Alejandro J. Metta-Magana; and alumna Malynda Cappelle, Ph.D., of the Bureau of Reclamation.<\/p>\n

The researchers recommend longer-term monitoring to capture seasonal variation through the summer monsoon and more and less dusty periods, and more detailed investigations into optimal cleaning practices.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 Solar energy developers eyeing parts of Southern New Mexico may not have to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[120139,138,140,139,120142,120143,120140,120141,955,16113,9243,27,4533,120138],"class_list":["post-336583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-chihuahuan-desert","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-german-rodriguez-ortiz","tag-gypsum-dune-field","tag-photovoltaic-panels","tag-rodriguez-ortiz","tag-solar-energy","tag-solar-panels","tag-southern-new-mexico","tag-texas","tag-utep","tag-white-sands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}