Coatings could enhance PVs

Industry analyst firm NanoMarkets claims that smart coatings offer solar panel makers ways to increase efficiency, lower costs and create higher value-added products.

Since these are the three main factors determining success in the photovoltaics (PV) industry, the company believes that sales of smart coatings to the (PV) sector, which are negligible now, will reach US$504 million in 2016, growing to US$847 million in 2018.

Self-cleaning coatings deposited on PV panels promise both higher panel performance and lower maintenance costs. Self-cleaning glass is already available from major glass manufacturers, so no great leaps in technology are required to deploy it in the PV space. By 2016, self-cleaning smart coatings sold into the PV sector will reach more than US$150 million revenues.

Electrochromic and similar on-demand tinting smart coatings will generate US$222 million from sales to the PV sector in 2016. NanoMarkets also foresees electrochromic PV windows that incorporate OLED technology, so that they can serve as lights after dark.

Thermochromic smart coatings are also expected to play a role in PV. These can be used to turn panels 'off' under extreme heat conditions that could permanently damage them. Some PV technologies - notably CdTe PV - are sensitive to heat and permanent degradation is possible if the panels are operated at too high a temperature.