News

Solar panels are rated on efficiency and the power output under standard laboratory conditions. Of course, your solar energy system isn't being installed in a lab. It's going outside, where all kinds of things can change its actual solar energy yield. That's why the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative is funding research into better, tougher modules that can last longer and generate more electricity in less-than-ideal conditions. Read on to learn about three ways the outside world can conspire to cut into your solar energy yield — and how SunShot-funded projects are working on solutions.

MAN, IT'S A HOT ONE

High temperatures reduce the voltage of a solar cell — which, as you might guess, is a bad thing. Conventional rooftop solar modules can lose as much as 30 percent of their electricity output on hot summer days. Researchers at Arizona State University are trying to address this problem by improving the backsheet — or bottom layer — of a solar PV module, which serves as an electrical insulator and protects the module from moisture and other environmental damage. By studying backsheets with different heat-conducting properties, the team hopes to keep solar panels cooler and improve performance in hot weather.

DIRT DOES HURT

Another way panels lose power is simply that they get dirty. The effects of soiling†(as it's known in the solar industry) vary widely by location, but energy yield losses of 10 percent are not uncommon. Enki Technology researchers are scouring everything from panel maintenance procedures to environmental conditions to better understand how and why panels lose power to dirt. The company hopes to use the information it gathers to better predict soiling from one solar energy system to another, and to design more effective dirt-resistant treatments for PV module glass.

SHADY SITUATIONS

While heat and dirt reduce solar panels' energy yield in a pretty straightforward way, shadows are a bit more complicated. In instances when a faint cloud goes over the solar module, the power levels are simply reduced. However, sometimes the light is completely or regularly blocked by a permanent st...