Self-cleaning and antireflective packaging glass for solar modules

Verma, Lalit; Sakhuja, Mridul; Son, Jaesung; Danner, Aaron J.; Yang, Hyunsoo; Zeng, Hua Chun; Bhatia, Charanjit S.

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2011.02.017

Cited by 164 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The benefits of integrating antireflective properties with self-cleaning coatings using typically sol-gel processing and sputtering processes have been reported [51][52][53]. It is well known that in photovoltaic cells glass transparency is strictly linked with efficiency which is believed to drop by 33% per 1 g/m 2 of dust accumulation on the surface [54]. Other studies on the combination of renewable power generation and destruction of air pollutants in urban environments reported gain of 2.65% after measurements under standard test conditions with antireflective glass [55].…”

Section: Multifunctional Hydrophilic Self-cleaning Coatingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thin Films for Advanced Glazing Applications

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Functional thin films provide many opportunities for advanced glazing systems. This can be achieved by adding additional functionalities such as self-cleaning or power generation, or alternately by providing energy demand reduction through the management or modulation of solar heat gain or blackbody radiation using spectrally selective films or chromogenic materials. Self-cleaning materials have been generating increasing interest for the past two decades. They may be based on hydrophobic or hydrophilic systems and are often inspired by nature, for example hydrophobic systems based on mimicking the lotus leaf. These materials help to maintain the aesthetic properties of the building, help to maintain a comfortable working environment and in the case of photocatalytic materials, may provide external pollutant remediation. Power generation through window coatings is a relatively new idea and is based around the use of semi-transparent solar cells as windows. In this fashion, energy can be generated whilst also absorbing some solar heat. There is also the possibility, in the case of dye sensitized solar cells, to tune the coloration of the window that provides unheralded external aesthetic possibilities. Materials and coatings for energy demand reduction is highly desirable in an increasingly energy intensive world. We discuss new developments with low emissivity coatings as the need to replace scarce indium becomes more apparent. We go on to discuss thermochromic systems based on vanadium dioxide films. Such systems are dynamic in nature and present a more sophisticated and potentially more beneficial approach to reducing energy demand than static systems such as low emissivity and solar control coatings. The ability to be able to tune some of the material parameters in order to optimize the film performance for a given climate provides exciting opportunities for future technologies. In this article, we review recent progress and challenges in these areas and provide a perspective for future trends and developments.

show abstract

Section: Multifunctional Hydrophilic Self-cleaning Coatingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thin Films for Advanced Glazing Applications

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[147] For all of these studies, no V OC or fill factor losses were observed. [46,120,[148][149][150] …”

Section: Nanostructure Layers On the Solar Device Exteriormentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Highly Efficient Nanostructured Solar Cells Using Concurrent Electrical and Optical Design

Wang

2017

Advanced Energy Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For example, the multiple exciton generation (MEG) effect, observed in quantum dots (QDs), could have the potential to boost the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit from 33.7% to 44.0%. [4,5] Nanostructured absorbers, featuring subwavelength features, can achieve an absorption enhancement factor higher than the conventional ray-optic limit across a broadband range of wavelengths, which opens an entirely new way of designing highly efficient nanostructured solar cells. [6,7] Meanwhile, the utilization of nanostructures can improve carrier collection by promoting the separation of photogenerated carriers and shortening the diffusion length of charge carriers using core-shell architectures. [8] However, despite the advantages of nanostructures, at present the efficiency of these solar cells remains lower than that of first-and second-generation devices. Compared with commercially available Si wafer photovoltaics, whose energy conversion efficiency can reach 25.6%, the record energy conversion efficiency of a nanostructured Si solar cell is only 22.1%, which is still far from the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit of 32.0%. [9,10] This limited performance is due to the fact that most nanostructures bring accompanying optical or electrical losses to solar cells (Figure 1). [11][12][13][14][15] In fact, most nano-based solar cells have relatively low open-circuit voltages (V OC ) and a disproportionate enhancement of the short-circuit current density (J SC ) compared to the absorption enhancement via light-trapping nanostructures. Therefore, in order to avoid the counterbalance of optical and electrical gains by the accompanying losses associated with nanomaterials, it is necessary to look beyond singularly focused optical or electrical promotion schemes, and instead shift toward the concurrent design of electrical and optical properties using a combined perspective to achieve highly efficient nanostructured solar cells.Thus far, many excellent reviews have summarized different photon management or light-harvesting schemes with the use of nanostructures. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] These authors point out that important work remains to ensure that improved optical absorption does not come at the sacrifice of the device's electrical properties. [16,17,[19][20][21][22][23][24] However, there have been few reviews that propose a solution for how to overcome this challenge. Recently, there has been considerable effort to increase both light absorption and the photogenerated carrier collection Recent technological advances in conventional planar and microstructured solar cell architectures have significantly boosted the efficiencies of these devices near the corresponding theoretical values. Nanomaterials and nano structures have promising potential to push the theoretical limits of solar cell efficiency even higher using the intrinsic advantages associated with these materials, including efficient photon management, rapid charge transfer, and short charge collection distances. However, at present the efficiency of...

show abstract

“…In practical operating conditions for solar cells, surface contamination of the photovoltaic modules by dust accumulation is always possible. It has been reported that the accumulation of dust on the window of a solar cell causes degradation in the solar cell efficiency [1,2]. It is commonly claimed that superhydrophobic surfaces can provide self-cleaning windows in solar cell applications [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of a Large-Area Superhydrophobic SiO₂ Nanorod Structured Surface Using Glancing Angle Deposition

Kim

Seo

2017

Journal of Nanomaterials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique was used to generate SiO 2 nanorods on a glass substrate to fabricate a low-cost superhydrophobic functional nanostructured surface. GLAD-deposited SiO 2 nanorod structures were fabricated using various deposition rates, substrate rotating speeds, oblique angles, and deposition times to analyze the effects of processing conditions on the characteristics of the fabricated functional nanostructures. The wettability of the surface was measured after surface modification with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM). The measured water contact angles were primarily affected by substrate rotation speed and oblique angle because the surface fraction of the GLAD nanostructure was mainly affected by these parameters. A maximum contact angle of 157 ∘ was obtained from the GLAD sample fabricated at a rotation speed of 5 rpm and an oblique angle of 87 ∘ . Although the deposition thickness (height of the nanorods) was not a dominant factor for determining the wettability, we selected a deposition thickness of 260 nm as the optimum processing condition based on the measured optical transmittance of the samples because optically transparent films can serve as superhydrophobic functional nanostructures for optical applications.

show abstract

Self-cleaning and antireflective packaging glass for solar modules

Cited by 164 publications

References 18 publications

Thin Films for Advanced Glazing Applications

Thin Films for Advanced Glazing Applications

Toward Highly Efficient Nanostructured Solar Cells Using Concurrent Electrical and Optical Design

Fabrication of a Large-Area Superhydrophobic SiO₂ Nanorod Structured Surface Using Glancing Angle Deposition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Self-cleaning and antireflective packaging glass for solar modules

Cited by 164 publications

References 18 publications

Thin Films for Advanced Glazing Applications

Thin Films for Advanced Glazing Applications

Toward Highly Efficient Nanostructured Solar Cells Using Concurrent Electrical and Optical Design

Fabrication of a Large-Area Superhydrophobic SiO2 Nanorod Structured Surface Using Glancing Angle Deposition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Fabrication of a Large-Area Superhydrophobic SiO₂ Nanorod Structured Surface Using Glancing Angle Deposition