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Test methods for hydrophobic coatings on solar cover glass

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conference contribution
posted on 2017-07-21, 09:11 authored by Kenan Isbilir, Bianca Maniscalco, Ralph Gottschalg, Michael WallsMichael Walls
The world market for solar energy continues to expand. However, to be competitive with traditional energy sources, photovoltaic (PV) modules must be capable of continuous and reliable high performance. Performance losses occur due to the soiling of the cover glass on modules. Soiling can be reduced by using hydrophobic coatings. These decrease surface energy and thus minimize adhesion to soiling. These coatings can help reduce maintenance and retain consistent electrical output. It is not yet clear, how hydrophobic coatings can be assessed and compared. In this paper, test methods to simulate the stresses that coatings experience in their life-time are assessed. These test methods help to predict the durability and useful lifetime of the coatings when applied to solar cover glass. Various test methods from different standards have been applied to hydrophobic coated glass surfaces and optimized to simulate real-outdoor conditions. A sand impact test and a water drop simulation test have been devised to study the effect of sand and rain on hydrophobic performance and durability.

Funding

The authors are grateful to EPSRC for support of the SOLplus project funded through EP/N510014/1.

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Published in

44th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)

Citation

ISBILIR, K. ... et al, 2017. Test methods for hydrophobic coatings on solar cover glass. 44th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), Washington DC, USA, 25th-30th June 2017, pp. 2827 - 2832.

Publisher

© IEEE

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2017-06-23

Publication date

2017

Notes

© 2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.

ISBN

9781509056057

Language

  • en

Location

Washington DC, USA

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