A Comparative Study of the Effects of Superhydrophobic and Superhydrophilic Coatings on Dust Deposition Mitigation for Photovoltaic Module Surfaces

Abstract

To comparatively evaluate the suitability of superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic coatings for photovoltaic (PV) module surfaces in arid and low-rainfall regions, this study investigates their dust deposition mitigation performance under anhydrous conditions and assesses the impact of dust reduction on PV power generation efficiency. An experimental platform for dust deposition and a PV output measurement system were constructed to evaluate the performance of coated PV modules. The open-circuit voltage (Uoc), short-circuit current (Isc), maximum power (Pmax), and dust deposition mass were measured before and after dust exposure. Additionally, the influence of coating properties on dust deposition behavior and the correlation between dust deposition density and PV output power were systematically examined. The experimental data reveal a linear relationship between PV output power loss and dust deposition density. Dust accumulation decreases monotonically with panel tilt angle, while displaying a non-monotonic response to wind speed, peaking at 3.9 m/s. Under optimal conditions (60° tilt angle and 5.2 m/s wind speed), minimal dust deposition densities were observed: 0.25 g/m2 for superhydrophobic coated PV modules versus 1.11 g/m2 for superhydrophilic coated surfaces. Both superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic coatings demonstrated effective dust deposition inhibition in anhydrous environments. However, the dust deposition mitigation efficiency of the superhydrophobic coating (88.7%) is significantly better than that of the superhydrophilic coating (46.2%) under the working conditions of a large inclination angle (60°) and high wind speed (5.2 m/s). These findings provide critical experimental evidence for optimizing self-cleaning coating selection in PV modules deployed in arid regions.

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