RT Journal Article
T1 Anti-soiling coatings for solar cell cover glass: 												Climate and surface properties influence
A1 Jesus, Magnum Augusto Moraes Lopes de
A1 Timò, Gianluca
A1 Agustín-Sáenz, Cecilia
A1 Braceras, Iñigo
A1 Cornelli, Marina
A1 Ferreira, Angela de Mello
AB The objective of this study has been twofold: i) to investigate different strategies for CPV module glass surface modification, in particular preparing hydrophilic and hydrophobic coatings in order to reduce the dust accumulation (soiling) on the module surface; ii) to perform a joint comparative soiling testing in Italy, Spain and Brazil in order to understand the limit and advantages of the proposed anti-soiling coatings in different climate condition. Two TiO2/SiO2 films with different titanium content have been synthesized and benchmarked against pure TiO2 in relation to transparency and hydrophilicity. Moreover, a hydrophobic antireflective material based on functionalized-SiO2 thin film was also investigated. All these coatings have been deposited over low iron float glass substrates by sol-gel dip-coating and electron-beam evaporation technique. TiO2/SiO2 and functionalized-SiO2 films showed higher transmittance in visible range than pure TiO2. TiO2/SiO2 films showed a persistent superhydrophilic character with water contact angles near to 0° while functionalized-SiO2 presented hydrophobic property. The joint comparative soiling tests showed the importance of setting anti-soiling strategies in region characterized by more dry climate: in Brazil, which during the soiling test was characterized by a long dry period, the anti-soiling coatings were effective in reducing the soiling deposition and in the removal of the contaminants by rainwater; in Spain and Italy, the more frequent rain precipitation made the soiling effect less relevant, however, the deposition of anti-soiling coating on the module cover glass allowed to fully recover the initial transmittance after rain washing. A chemical and mineral characterization of the soiling has been carried out revealing the dependence of the contaminants from the environment conditions (e.g. car traffic, presence of industries, amount of rain and local minerals in the ground).
SN 0927-0248
YR 2018
FD 2018-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/11556/3499
UL https://hdl.handle.net/11556/3499
LA eng
NO Jesus , M A M L D , Timò , G , Agustín-Sáenz , C , Braceras , I , Cornelli , M & Ferreira , A D M 2018 , ' Anti-soiling coatings for solar cell cover glass : Climate and surface properties influence ' , Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells , vol. 185 , pp. 517-523 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.05.036
NO Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Elsevier B.V.
NO The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from SUN ON CLEAN project (European Commission, Call: FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IRSES, International Research Staff Exchange Scheme - MARIE CURIE ACTIONS) between CEFET-MG-Brazil, RSE-Italy, TECNALIA-Spain. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Basque Government (project FRONTIERS ref. KK-2015/00101 and KK-2016/00093 ) and FAPEMIG (Minas Gerais State Agency for Research and Development). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from SUN ON CLEAN project (European Commission, Call: FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IRSES, International Research Staff Exchange Scheme - MARIE CURIE ACTIONS) between CEFET-MG-Brazil, RSE-Italy, TECNALIA-Spain. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Basque Government (project FRONTIERS ref. KK-2015/00101 and KK-2016/00093) and FAPEMIG (Minas Gerais State Agency for Research and Development).
DS TECNALIA Publications
RD 26 jul 2024