Improvement of the self-cleaning capabilities and transparency of cover glasses for solar cell applications by modification with atmospheric pressure plasma

Abstract

Using a cover glass is indispensable for protecting solar cells in photovoltaic systems. Herein, the surface of the cover glass was modified by atmospheric pressure plasma to enhance the self-cleaning effect without degrading the transmittance. A lower surface energy was achieved by depositing fluorocarbon polymers, and a micro-nano multi-scale morphology was built on the cover glass within 50 s. These two properties led to an increase in the hydrophobicity, which enhanced the self-cleaning effect of the surface. The morphology of the surface also helped to improve the transparency by reducing reflections. Both the enhanced self-cleaning effect and the improved transparency induced by the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment were confirmed by analyzing the total conversion efficiency of a solar cell by outdoor field testing.

A noise-resistant ADSA-PH algorithm for superhydrophobic surface’s static contact angle evaluation

“…Generally, superhydrophobic surfaces are of micro/nano structure. [5][6][7] Applications of superhydrophobic surfaces include self-cleaning surfaces, antifogging surfaces, resistance to contamination/icing flashover, and more. Hydrophobicity is the key property of the superhydrophobic surface which is generally characterized by the static contact angle.…”