Coating to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic cells

Window Insulation’s Solar Enhancer Coating is designed to enhance the efficiency of solar panels. The coating minimises the reflection of the solar cells, improving efficiency, and the cells’ ability to self-clean and degrade the pollutants. Its anti-static properties enable the layer to actively repel dust and dirt. The superhydrophobic, antireflective coatings show self-cleaning, anti-dust, antipollution, anti-icing, and antifogging features. All of this can lead to an improvement of efficiency of the solar cells.

This is the 4th version of the product which uses graphene. This version is planning to undergo third-party testing in a specially equipped solar facility in Germany. Additionally, the product has been undergoing independent testing with both the Swiss and Italian Government. There has been testing done on the previous version of the solution by various universities which shows the coating can improve the PV yield by 20-30%.

The coating works by providing the PV panel with a thin, transparent, hydrophilic coating layer. The photocatalyst element of the coating is activated by sunlight and forms a reactive oxygen species (ROS), this ROS reacts with organic material like microbes and VOC-compounds found on surfaces.  This causes the microbes and VOCs to decompose, with the oxygen compounds reacting with water and carbon dioxide and being neutralised. Durability testing indicates that the coating has a demonstrated durability of more than 10 years, with newer versions expected to last between 10-15 years before reapplication is required.