Layering Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) Spray Coatings for Improved Photovoltaic Module Efficiency

Due to the negative effects of fossil fuels on the environment, people have been starting to look at renewable energy as an alternative source of power - specifically solar energy (Perkins-Kirkpatrick, & Gibson, 2017; Saboori, Rasoulinezhad, & Sung, 2017; Sturve et al., 2014). Photovoltaic modules are used to harvest energy from the sun by converting solar radiation into electricity. However, the glass on photovoltaic modules, that is used to protect itself from rain and dust, reflects potentially useful light away from the solar cells - thus lowering the amount of transmitted light; this causes the efficiency of photovoltaic modules to drop, making it difficult for people to switch to renewable energy (Ali, Khan, & Jafri, 2014). By layering SiO₂ anti-reflective spray coatings on the glass of a photovoltaic module, the researchers would be able to allow more light to transmit into the solar cells, thus increasing the efficiency of the photovoltaic modules.The researchers had six set-ups, one control and five experimental, with different amounts of layers each (single layer to five layers). The power produced by each set-up was measured using a digital multimeter at seventeen time intervals between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM on December 6, 2018; the average temperature on that day was 30 degrees Celsius.It was discovered that the photovoltaic module with two layers of SiO₂ spray coatings performed the best by having a mean power of 4.34 W, while the photovoltaic module with four layers performed the worst by having a mean power of 2.15 W. Using a two-tailed independent samples t-Test, the researchers found out that the difference between the means of the control group and the experimental group with two layers of coating were not statistically different.Layering SiO₂ spray coatings probably improves the efficiency of the module, but the difference is not significant statistically. It is recommended to use an actual SiO₂ film to ensure the purity and thickness of the layers.