Business Plan

UPES

Development of Super Hydrophobic Transparent ‘anti dust’ Coating on Solar Panel

Prateek Diwan

UTD ID: 2021212316

Dust on solar panel Snow accumulation on solar panel Corrosion on solar panel

Business Problems

The accumulation of dust and snow on solar panel is a major problem and the

efficiency of the solar panels decreases considerably, therefore their utility becomes

more challenging.

Conventional way of cleaning leads to corrosion problem which reduces the life of

solar panels.

Advantage of “ anti dust’ coating

Nano-order surface roughness on film will create nano air pockets which will increases the

contact angle or reduces the wettability of water drop ( dew/ rain drop) which will keep away

the dust and contamination and reduces the snow accumulation.

Technical FeaturesUnique Feature Key Performance Indicator

Extremely Robust

coating

10-100 x improved hardness and superior thermal cooling Suitable metallic nano particle will improve the

hardness and thermal capability and can by confirmed by experiment

Super hydrophobic Droplet contact angle >160° & Roll off angle < 10°.

Optically transparent Transparency (95%+) Roughness and transmittance are two conflicting properties and to achieve

superhydrophobicity [high roughness], transmittance can be achieved up to 90-95%

Inherently self-

cleaning

Reduces the need for cleaning and washing of optical components; energy savings

AdvantagesKey Benefits Economic Implication

Improved Efficiency and

additional power generation

Improves the efficiency of solar panel by 2%; Results in a 12% increase in the power generated

Reduces Payback period Increases the profitability by $14.6 M per anum

Increases the life of solar panels As per manufacturer, the life of solar panel is upto15 years only and one of important parameter is muddy

surface and their manual cleaning with water will create corrosion problem. This corroded surface will become a

hub for growth of algae and other microorganisms or creatures, responsible for loss of solar panels life. So , in

overall by overcome all these losses by using such coating, the life of solar panel will be increased up to five

years.

Non-toxic Eliminates volatile toxic and waste disposal requirements, resulting in cost savings

80% of energy sources are obtained from burning of fossil fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas which released

CO2, CO, NO and other toxic gases, causing many potential environmental problems such as green house effect.

It can be minimized by using solar panels which is most abundantly available and has the potential of meeting

the rising energy demands.

waste disposal can not be used in coating. Here non-toxic means environment friendly only. it does not have any

relation with cost.

Competitive Differentiation

Super Hydro

Phobic

Durable Transparent Scalable Technology

Hydrophobic

coating (Aculon)

No ? Yes Yes SAM-

Phosphates

Hydrophobic

coating

(SANDIA)

Yes ? Yes Yes Sol-gel SIO2

Rain-X(Ecolab,

Inc)

No No Yes Yes Polymeric

organ silicon

Anti-fouling

coating Nanocyl

No ? No Yes CNT in silicone

Fluorothane

(Cyntrix corp)

Yes No No Yes Fluoropolymer

Self-cleaning

Nanotechnology

(Ross Inc)

Yes ? No Yes Spray-on

Powder

Target Customers –Market Potential and Current Practice

Primary Target Customer Market Potential Current Practice

Solar Panels Global Market Size - $600

Million; Worldwide Installed

Capacity- 72 GW; 5% global

CAGR

Nano-spray Combustion

Nano spray combustion is used

rarely market size not available

Manual cleaning is preferred

over solutions

Secondary Target Customer Market Potential Current Practice

Coated Float Glass Global Market Size - $20 billion;

Indian market - $300 million

Polymer Coatings

Tio2 paint is available but major

market is untapped

Automotive Glass Global Market size - $2 billion Polymer Coatings

Untapped market

Commercialization Plan