"Usually, for the large area of solar panels, water is used in the cleaning process; but in arid regions, the lack of water requires for alternative cleaning processes that can minimize the amount of water required. Sustainable cleaning methods are particularly important in large-scale utilization of solar panels. There is a variety of methods that can be used to clean the PV modules. Manual cleaning is the most obvious, but it comes at the cost of labors and it is the most time consuming method. An alternative that is being extensively investigated relies on the use of self-cleaning coatings that minimize dust accumulation. Studies show that super-hydrophobic surfaces exhibit self-cleaning properties"


Benghanem, M., Almohammedi, A., Khan, M. T., & Al-Masraqi, A. (2018). Effect of dust accumulation on the performance of photovoltaic panels in desert countries: A case study for Madinah, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems, 9(3), 1356.

The photovoltaic (PV) solar panels are negatively impacted by dust accumulation. The variance in dust density from point to point raises the risk of forming hot spots. Therefore, a prepared nanocoating was used to reduce the accumulated dust on the PV panels' surface. However, the effectiveness of these coatings is greatly influenced by geographical and climatic factors. Three identical PV modules were installed to run comparable experimental tests simultaneously. Thus, the nanocoated panel's efficiency was found to be higher than that of the reference panel by 30.7%"

Tayel, S. A., Abu El-Maaty, A. E., Mostafa, E. M., & Elsaadawi, Y. F. (2022). Enhance the performance of photovoltaic solar panels by a self-cleaning and hydrophobic nanocoating. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 21236.

Antisoiling coatings are developed to reduce dust accumulation, but, even if the coating can reduce natural soiling rates, frequent cleaning is still necessary. However, regular cleaning of PV modules by using dry brushes or other technologies can damage the coated glass surfaces. The simulated abrasion test and results obtained for 100 cycles is likely equivalent to the damage after harsh and dry manual cleaning every three months for 25 years. Even for such a harsh scenario, especially Coating 2 can still possess AR- and AS functionalities. Since it is assumed that the damage potential is significantly reduced by using softer rotating brushes and water (typical for commercial cleaning machines), the coating properties could possibly be maintained over the typical lifetime of PV modules if such optimized cleaning techniques are used.


Lange, K., Bahattab, M. A., Alqahtani, S. H., Mirza, M., Glaubitt, W., Naumann, V., ... & Ilse, K. K. (2019). Combined soiling and abrasion testing of antisoiling coatings. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 10(1), 243-249.