Anti-Reflective-Coating Tuned for Higher Solar Module Voltage

The use of a low absorbing extra-white solar module cover glass increases the light transmission to the solar cell. Due to lower absorption over a broad wavelengths range, a low-iron extra-white glass has a significantly higher energy transmission than normal window glass. Specialized solar-grade high-transmission glasses covered with an anti-reflective coating (ARC) shows a further increase in module efficiency in the order of 2,5-3%. Besides the increased short circuit current due to increased transmission an additional advantage of a ARC is presented: a decrease in heating of the solar module during light exposure due to observed increase in reflectance for the longer wavelengths results in higher open circuit voltage of approx. 1 %