High-performance multi-functional solar panel coatings: recent advances, challenges, strategies and industrial aspects

Abstract

Solar energy conversion is one of the most sustainable and cleanest methods of generating electricity to address the world's expanding energy needs. Solar cell panels, utilized in this conversion process, have exhibited significant advancements in efficiency over the years, primarily attributed to material design. Despite these improvements, the accumulation of dust on the solar panel surfaces compromises a significant portion of the power conversion efficiency of solar cell modules. Additional factors that reduce the efficiency of solar panels are fog and damage or cracks induced by adverse weather conditions. Therefore, there has been a recent surge in the development of multi-functional surface coatings for solar panels, aiming to impart properties like self-cleaning, anti-reflection, anti-fogging, anti-icing, self-stratifying, and self-healing. This review provides an overview of the current state of solar panel coatings with various functionalities such as self-cleaning, anti-reflection, anti-fogging, and self-healing. At the outset of the review, the fundamental concept of antireflective and self-cleaning properties is covered, which is followed by a discussion of various materials used in solar panel coatings. This review provided an in-depth mechanistic analysis of different micro/nanostructures or roughness in wettability and how surface functionalization with different functional groups changes the wettability. Also, the various factors affecting self-cleaning performance, such as the pinning effect, are presented. Furthermore, new developments in advanced coatings with hybrid functionalities, such as self-healing performance and self-stratifying coatings, are presented. This review also analyzes the several commercial grades of materials used in solar panel coatings. Additionally, this review highlights emerging trends in multi-functional coating materials and their corresponding advantages for enhancing solar panel performance.