OPTIMUM PV

The goal of the OPTIMUMPV project is to develop multipurpose coatings to improve the efficiency of solar photovoltaic modules (PV), and reduce their maintenance and operating costs based on three different approaches: self-cleaning, lowering the temperature of the photovoltaic modules and using a wider range of the solar spectrum.

To those ends, the three functionalities that will be added to the module are: anti-dirtiness, getting the surface of the panels to stay clean longer; rejecting infrared light, which makes the modules overheat and reduces their efficiency; and luminescence to transform the ultraviolet light that reaches the module into visible light in the spectral range the panels can convert into electricity.

In the project, work has been done on developing new particles that make it possible to make use of the solar energy the modules cannot transform into electricity, in addition to coatings that prevent overheating and also provide water-repellent and anti-dirtiness properties that make the PV modules stay clean longer, thus increasing their efficiency.

The biggest problem that arose in the project was the difficulty of combining the various effects into a multipurpose coating because, despite having achieved good partial results, the combination of all the effects to obtain the formulation that provides all the properties to the modules has not been possible. The OPTIMUM-PV project has thus managed to lay the groundwork for future research that limits the intrinsic problems of photovoltaic energy.