Outdoor performance and durability testing of antireflecting and self-cleaning glass for photovoltaic applications

Creating an artificial system for imparting self-cleaning and antireflective properties to photovoltaic panels by employing organic and inorganic materials has attracted much attention among researchers recently. This has been done primarily to elevate roughness and modify surface chemistry. However, such materials suffer from durability issues when placed outdoors. Therefore, this paper elaborates upon the self-cleaning and antireflective performance of hydrophilic nanostructured glass substrates. Nanostructured glass substrates were subjected to an outdoor exposure of 12 weeks at different angles of inclination. Their performance was measured in terms of optical transmission, water contact angle, analysis of dust accumulation and application to solar modules as packaging covers. The nanostructured glass samples showed improvement in self-cleaning performance of solar modules, with only an insignificant drop of 0.3% in efficiency relative to a 2% drop in a planar glass solar module over a long term exposure period. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.