Self-Cleaning Solar Mirror Coatings: From the Laboratory Scale to Prototype Field Tests

Autor: Anna Castaldo, Emilia Gambale, Giuseppe Vitiello, Giuseppe Cara
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Applied Sciences, Vol 14, Iss 15, p 6669 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2076-3417
DOI: 10.3390/app14156669
Popis: In this study, a low-cost, scalable and robust process is proposed as an innovative method for coating solar mirrors with a self-cleaning, transparent in the full solar range and versatile material based on auxetic aluminum nitrides, previously obtained at the laboratory scale. This work presents the scaling-up of the fabrication process from the laboratory to prototypal scale and the preliminary results of outdoor self-cleaning solar mirror field tests in the demonstrative concentrating solar power (CSP) plant ENEASHIP located in Casaccia (Rome) ENEA Research Center. Prototypes with a size of 50 × 40 cm have shown stability in external conditions: no coating degradation occurred during the test campaign. Their washing restores the initial reflectance affected by soiling and the self-cleaning performance allows for the utilization of a reduced quantity of water for cleaning operations with respect to the uncoated glass of back surface mirrors. A similar self-cleaning AlN coating could be utilized on other solar components affected by soiling, such as the glass envelopes in heat-collecting elements, PV panels and other parts where a self-cleaning performance combined with an optical one is required.
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