Optical Microscopy Study of Soiling on Photovoltaic Glass: Evaluation of Mitigation Strategies

The natural soiling of photovoltaic cover glass has recently been shown to include both inorganic and organic particulate matter. Under favorable growth conditions, the latter can lead to the growth of dense colonies of filamentous fungi, potentially leading to measurable performance losses over tim...

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Published in2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC) (A Joint Conference of 45th IEEE PVSC, 28th PVSEC & 34th EU PVSEC) pp. 2841 - 2846
Main Authors Einhorn, Asher, Micheli, Leonardo, Miller, David C., Simpson, Lin J., Muller, Matthew T., Toth, Sarah, John, Jim J., Warade, Sonali, Kottantharayil, Anil, Engtrakul, Chaiwat
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.06.2018
Subjects
anti-reflective
anti-soiling
biofouling
Cleaning
coating
Coatings
Contamination
cover glass
degradation
Fungi
fungus
Glass
Microscopy
photovoltaic
soiling
Surface treatment
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Summary:The natural soiling of photovoltaic cover glass has recently been shown to include both inorganic and organic particulate matter. Under favorable growth conditions, the latter can lead to the growth of dense colonies of filamentous fungi, potentially leading to measurable performance losses over time. Herein, we report on a field study where glass coupon samples were deployed in soiling-prone locations, focusing on Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Mumbai (India). For each site location, clear differences in the soiling were observed. The samples from Mumbai were contaminated with an abundance of filamentous fungi whereas the samples from Dubai had primarily inorganic contamination. The effectiveness of soiling mitigation strategies, including cleaning techniques and glass coatings, are discussed in detail.
DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2018.8547217