Effects of Coating Materials as a Cleaning Agent on the Performance of Poly-Crystal PV Panels

Hot and arid areas are considered a harsh environment when it comes to cleaning photovoltaic (PV) modules. Minimizing the panel tilt angle makes it evident that dust and other substances such as airborne dirt (both organic and inorganic) and bird droppings can build up over time and impact the amount of electricity generated by a module. The current study aims to find the most effective and optimum cleaning technique/material based on cleaning performance of the PV panel. The effects of different easy-to-clean materials on the performance of poly crystalline silicon type PV modules were experimentally investigated. As there is no specific recommended material to clean solar panels, the cell surface was coated with different types of easy-to-clean materials available in the Jordanian local market. The cleaning materials utilized were: Crystal glass coating type AJJL-CSS, jiajialy nano energy saving & anti UV solution, GIE (Galsilk 7, isopropanol, ethanol, water), TGIE (TiO2, Galsilk 7, isopropanol, ethanol, water), sodium hexa meta phosphate, and NanoUltra. Results from temperature measurements and output voltage of coated cells showed that all coating materials were able to reduce the cell temperature in different scales. The jiajialy nano energy saving & anti UV solution provided the best cooling effect, while the GIE and TGIE showed good results, too. Output voltage of cells coated with GIE and TGIE materials was the highest.