Synthesis and evaluation of nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide/single walled carbon nanotube-based hydrophilic self-cleaning coating layer for solar photovoltaic panel surface

Abstract

Self-cleaning coating for solar panel has recently gained considerable attention owing to its water and manpower saving feature. Nevertheless, most of the current self-cleaning coatings are either expensive due to the high production cost or not feasible to be utilized in large scales and some of it possesses negative impact on the environment. A simpler and cost-effective approach is required to overcome this problem. One way to overcome this issue is by utilizing Nitrogen to be doped with Titanium dioxide using sol-gel synthesis method. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate and evaluate the potential of a novel Nitrogen-doped Titanium dioxide/Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes (N-doped TiO2/SWCNT) photocatalyst nanocomposite for self-cleaning coating application on the surface of solar PV panel surface. The N-doped TiO2 photocatalytic powder was prepared via sol-gel synthesis method and then impregnated with SWCNT by varying the compositions of TiO2 and SWCNT. The nanocomposite was characterized using XRD, FESEM, and FTIR. UV–vis spectroscopy was utilized to evaluate the Methylene blue (MB) degradation in the visible light. This novel coating demonstrated an enhanced photocatalytic activity (PCA) of 72.43% degradation rate and wettability as high as 94.3 ± 2°. The voltage of solar PV panel with and without the self cleaning coating was also measured before and after the dust deposition. The coated solar cells portrayed steady state voltage output which indicates that the coating has no influence on the voltage output. In addition, it offers superior performance in terms of higher voltage after dust deposition testing, confirming the effectiveness of self cleaning coating in maintaining optimum performance of the solar PV. Overall, this study could serve as guidelines in selecting preparing materials (N-doped TiO2/SWCNT) and preparation (sol-gel synthesis) and coating (spin coat) methods of self-cleaning coating for solar panel or other similar application.