A photovoltaic (PV) panel's ability to produce renewable energy effectively is a potential alternative to address the growing world energy needs while simultaneously reducing harmful emissions and their associated environmental effects. In this paper, an experimental study was conducted to compare clean, dusty, and muddy photovoltaic panels in Al Seeb, Oman. Moreover, the effect of the water-dust ratio on the performance of solar panels was investigated in outdoor climatic conditions. It was observed that the maximum efficiencies for clean, dirty, and muddy panels were 25, 20, and 19, respectively. Output power decreased by 52 when dust accumulated on the solar panel and by 65 when the panel was covered with mud. The results showed that when the water-dust ratio increases, the power reduces; when the ratio reaches 1 ml/g, the resulting power was 26 W with an efficiency of 17. For 0.3 ml/g, output power reaches 32 W with an efficiency of 20. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.