A slick technology for the solar power industry was announced this week by a group of national laboratory.

The scientists have developed an inexpensive “superhydrophobic” coating that, applied to solar panels, would make them self-cleaning and therefore more efficient.

The superhydrophobic coating has been in the works for a year and a half, said Scott Hunter, the principle scientist on the team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. 

Although superhydrophobic materials have been studied for over a decade, Hunter said he believes his team has developed the best superhydrophobic surface yet for self-cleaning.

“It’s a really useful and important idea,” said Alex Martinson, an assistant chemist in the material science division at Argonne National Laboratory southwest of Chicago. As the price of producing solar technology decreases, the costs of installing and cleaning solar panels becomes more significant, Martinson said. Solar panels that would be self-cleaning “makes the whole system more affordable,” he said.

More at source: News Medhill

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