As a kind of clean, pollution-free and renewable energy, photovoltaic (PV) power has been vigorously developed and utilized worldwide. However, PV power generation systems are likely to suffer from lightning strikes due to long-term exposure to open areas. Since the existing researches on the lightning receiving of PV modules are all based on the condition that the module surfaces are free of fouling, they do not consider the effect of fouling surface on the lightning receiving characteristics. Aimed at the deficiency in the existing researches on the lightning receiving characteristics of PV modules with fouling surface, a simplified fouling model of PV module suitable for lightning strike is established. Then, through the simulation calculation of electric field intensity and charge density of the PV module with and without fouling, it is found that compared with those of the module without fouling, the electric field intensities at the head and end of the fouled side of the PV module increase by 41.1% and 33.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, a lightning strike rod-plate model of PV module with fouling surface was built in a high-voltage laboratory to carry out long-gap discharge tests, and it was found that the PV modules with fouling surface were more susceptible to lightning strike, thus verifying the accuracy of the simulation model. Moreover, the influence of the installation angle of PV modules on the lightning receiving characteristics in the case of fouling surface was also discussed. Results show that at any angle, the lightning strike probability and electric field intensity of the fouled side were higher than those of the unfouled side. Compared with that in the case of an installation angle of 8°, the electric field intensity at the end of the fouled side decreased by 24.8% when the installation angle was 45°, indicating a deceased probability of lightning strike.