The potential of using textured and anti-reflective coated glasses in minimizing dust fouling

The effect of texturing and anti-reflective coating of PV module glass cover on the overall performance of modules was investigated. The results indicate that texturing a module's surface and adding an anti-reflective coating boosts the power output of a clean PV module by an average of 4-8%. Clean modules covered with an anti-reflective coating exhibited the largest increase in power output. Texturing the module surface generally raises the temperature relative to that of flat glass modules. The study also confirms that dust accumulation can lead to a drastic reduction in PV module power output (a 10-17% reduction after six weeks of exposure without cleaning). Texturing and anti-reflective coating of PV modules glass cover can relatively reduce power reduction due to dust coverage. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.