Smart polymer-based self-cleaning coatings for commercial solar cells and solar panels

Solar radiation can be directly converted into electrical energy by solar panels. The amount of incoming light utilized by solar panels determines their efficiency. Only 30%–40% of the incident solar radiation is utilized by solar panels. Therefore, a large amount of incident radiations remains unutilized owing to the deposition of environmental dust accumulation and reflection of light by glass of panel surface. As a result, self-cleaning/superhydrophobic antireflection coatings are in high demand to tackle these technological issues. The surface possesses unique texture and chemistry because of the low surface energy materials with nano/microtexturing of materials enhancing antiwetting properties. Similarly, the transparent coating can decrease the reflection of light from the surface due to optical path differences. See-through ultrahydrophobic coatings that keep atmospheric dust off of solar panels are greatly desired. This reduces surface reflectivity. In-depth discussion has been given in this overview of the underlying mechanism, materials, production, applications, and challenges related to superhydrophobic surfaces.