New Delhi: Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur have created a coating technology that makes the self-cleaning process easy for solar panels. The newly developed coatings are superhydrophobic, transparent, scalable and long-lasting.
As per IIT Jodhpur, the method developed by the scientists decreases dust buildup on solar panels, has a low water requirement for self-cleaning and can be easily integrated into solar panel manufacturing facilities. The innovation has now been submitted for patent authorization.
Team Members Meignanamoorthi G, Project Assistant, and Mohit Singh, Research Scholar and Prime Minister's Research Fellow (PMRF), Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at IIT Jodhpur, worked with the principal investigator, Ravi K R to create this self-cleaning coating.
Informing about this development, IIT Jodhpur officials said, “Depending on the location of the solar power plant and the climate in which it is used, solar panels have been found to lose 10 to 40% of their initial efficiency due to dust accumulation within a few months".
The officials further added that some of the methods currently used to clean the solar panel are expensive, inefficient, and have various practical problems in continuous use. They can further cause irreversible damage to the solar panel.
As a result, the IIT Jodhpur researchers were inspired by this current issue and created a self-cleaning coating using superhydrophobic material to help in the easy and self-cleaning of solar panel surfaces.
Ravi K R said, "The implementation of this technology for real-time applications requires both the contribution of academics and industry. In order to achieve the integration of research production, the relationship between academia and industry is dynamic and collaborative".
"Therefore, in order to provide this simple-to-clean coating technology to the PV market and scale it up for the greater good, our research team intends to collaborate closely with industry partners" he added.
In the near future, researchers hope to conduct in-the-moment studies on self-cleaning coating durability in various parts of the nation, including coastal regions, arid and semi-arid desert regions, and rural and urban areas.
The numerous possibilities for re-coating are also being looked into by researchers to repair usage-related damage. Researchers from IIT Jodhpur will also try to lessen the efficiency loss caused by dust buildup in solar thermal applications.
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