A Experimental Investigation on Synthesized & Characterized Self-Cleaning Modified Super Hdrophobic Nano-SiO₂ Coating for Solar Photovoltaic Application: Effects of HDTMS & TEA
MODIFIED SUPER HYDROPHOBIC NANO-SIO2 COATING BASED HDTMS AND TEA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56042/ijems.v30i4.386Keywords:
Superhydrophobic transparent coating, Photovoltaics, Hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS), Optically transparent nanolayers, Triethyamine (TEA)Abstract
Solar photovoltaics (SPV) is a significant renewable energy source. However, solar PV panels' efficiency decreases due to dust accumulation on their surface, leading to decreased power and increased maintenance costs. A super-hydrophobic, transparent, and self-cleaning nano-coating was synthesized using HDTMS-nano-silica and applied as a top-glass cover on solar PV cells to address this issue. The nano-coating improved the efficiency of the PV panels and reduced cleaning costs.
In the study’s first phase, hydrophobic and transparent nano-silica layers were synthesized using HDTMS and triethyl amine (TEA). The x-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) studies confirmed the presence of silica nanoparticles and successful modification to HDTMS-nano-SiO₂. Five potential samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the hydrophobicity was tested using a water contact angle test (WCA). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) studies revealed the stability of HDTMS-nano-SiO₂ at higher temperatures, and demonstrational assessment of transparency was also tested.
In the second phase, the environmental stability of the HDTMS-nano-SiO₂ coating was evaluated using three identical solar PV cells in the Jabalpur Engineering College campus. The experimental results show that nanomaterial-coated-uncleaned solar PV cells had an efficiency increase of 16% compared to uncoated-dusty-uncleaned solar PV cells and 6.5% compared to regularly physically cleaned uncoated solar PV cells. The active period of the nano-coating was 35 days.
The synthesized HDTMS-nano-SiO₂ coating proves to be a cost-effective solution to improve solar PV panels' efficiency by reducing dust accumulation and minimizing cleaning costs. The study demonstrates the potential of self-cleaning nano-coatings for enhancing the performance of solar PV panels.
