Nanofilm, a company specializing in nanofilm technology and thin films for a wide range of surfaces and substrates, announced that with the help of the Open Solar Outdoors Test Field, it is carrying out a research work on the advantages of hydrophilic and hydrophobic coatings for solar photovoltaic panels.
The study was started in 2010 and the Phase I test is determining the capability of the coatings to help discard snow from the solar panels in cold weather. Subsequent tests will help determine the ability of coatings to prevent dirt, which causes reduced panel efficiency and glass transmissivity.
The major challenge is to maintain the solar panel efficiency under various environmental disturbances such as snow accumulation and dirt. Nanofilm’s coatings address this challenge and help decrease solar panel efficiency loss. The coatings help in rapid shedding of snow build up and make it easy to clean the solar panels.
The Open Solar Outdoors Test Field has been developed by the Sustainable Energy Applied Research Centre (SEARC) and the Applied Sustainability Research Group. Several other companies that contributed to this development include Nanofilm, Advanced Solar Investments, Sustainable Energy Technologies and Dupont Canada.