In recent years, the installed capacity of solar power generation equipment has been continuously increasing, but in cold and snowy areas, solar panels are easily covered by snow, leading to a decrease in power generation efficiency. Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed a transparent coating that can reduce the accumulation of ice and snow on solar panels, resulting in a winter power generation efficiency of 85%. The research findings are published in Advanced Materials Technology.
Anish Tuteja, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Michigan, stated that in cold and snowy climates, solar panel power generation can be reduced by 80-90%, which is also a disadvantage for widespread solar power generation. During the research on the deicing coating process, the team found that low interface toughness and low adhesion strength are the key characteristics of deicing technology. Based on this, vegetable oil is added to PVC materials to accurately balance low surface adhesion and low interface toughness, achieving good deicing and snow removal effects. After testing at the solar field in Fairbanks, Alaska, the average snow and ice coverage of coated panels throughout the winter was about 28%, while the average snow and ice coverage of uncoated panels was about 59%. This coating can be sprayed or brushed in cold weather and has a validity period of up to one year.
In addition, timely removal of ice and snow covering the solar panels is also particularly important. The fully automatic cleaning robot developed and produced by Multifit Solar has a scrubbing function, which can timely and effectively remove floating snow. This G1 cleaning robot comes with spiral bristles, made of nylon material, and the robot can be fixed on the solar panel array to remotely control the robot in the background as needed. When encountering snowy weather, when the ice and snow have not yet formed, the scrubbing mode of the cleaning robot can be activated for repeated cleaning, making the solar panel less likely to be covered by ice and snow for a long time and affecting power generation efficiency.The G1 cleaning robot has been selling well for over 5 years and has been exported to dozens of countries both domestically and internationally, receiving unanimous praise from customers.
Post time: Oct-31-2023