Sand and Dust
Anti-Soiling Solution

A central aspect of desert regions is soiling. Soiling is a gradual covering of the module surface by fine particles (sand or dust). Due to this layer of dust, incident sunlight will be absorbed or reflected, and less light can be used by the solar cells. The energy yield of the module will be lower.

Desert areas with high levels of airborne dust can also have high humidity levels, resulting in wet surfaces in the morning from dew, combined with drying during the day. These daily humid-dry cycles promote the cementation process, which significantly increases particle adhesion on the surfaces of PV modules, and therefore greatly increases soiling. Cementation is one of the most important reasons for high dust accumulation on surfaces, since these crusts adhere too strongly to be removed by natural cleaning through wind. As a result, after cementation, the surfaces must be cleaned mostly by high amounts of labour and water, which is time-consuming and expensive.

In a current research project, J.v.G. technology is working together with a glass supplier to develop an Anti Soiling Solution for the module glass surface. The solution will reduce soiling and cementation and thus lower cleaning costs.

If you need more information, please contact us.