“Netherlands-based Rads Global Business BV has developed a multifunctional anti-soiling nanocoating for solar glass that is also claimed to mitigate potential-induced degradation (PID), and to be anti-reflective and anti-corrosive.
“This coating can be used for dry cleaning by robots in large PV plants,” company CEO, Rajbeer Singh, told pv magazine. “It increases the efficiency of wet cleaning by reducing water consumption in the range of 50 to 70% due to the self-cleaning function of the coating,” he said, noting that soiling, scaling, corrosion, abrasion and glass reflection can reduce transmission of light through the module glass in real field conditions in a range of 5% to 20%.
According to him, the coating solution can increase the performance of a PV power project by between 5 and 15% and ensure a reduced cost of cleaning and fewer damages to PV modules due to corrosion and operation and maintenance. “Our coating can reduce the cost of cleaning by 60%,” he explained, adding that revenue increase for a PV project in deserts and the polluted site could be in the range of 8 to 18%.
The technology is patented in the Netherlands and the coating production is planned to be located in India, where a factory is currently under construction. “As the coating is applied to the tempered cut size solar glass, the coating line can be installed with any solar glass manufacturer as well as PV module manufacturer,” Singh said. “The coating is applied through a chemical combustion vapor deposition (CCVD) process and this process makes it highly durable.” According to him, the coating could be applied directly to the module in a panel factory or onto the solar glass in a glass factory.”
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Bellini, Emiliano. PV Magazine 13 January 2021.