The paint that improves the energy

Photovoltaic plants are static systems, with low maintenance costs, easy to build and manage and with very stable and safe performance over time, unique compared to other conventional technologies of electricity production. In any case even for plants with the best performance, some variables can affect their performance and therefore need “extraordinary” care. Contrary to what can be imagined, the overheating of a photovoltaic cell leads to a lower yield of the panel and the systems so far developed to decrease the temperature have shown encumbrances and high costs. Together with the University of Tor Vergata we decided to develop a project to optimise the thermal exchange between the photovoltaic panel and the external environment. Among the solutions identified during one year of study, the one that gave the best results is the “coating” method, that is a granule painting on the back of the panel that, for the type of materials used (titanium and zirconium), tends to lower the temperature. The research and the tests carried out confirmed our hypotheses: a reduction of the temperature induced by the “coating” from 1 up to 5 °c with consequent increase of the panel yield and therefore of the energy production. After this first experimental phase of our project, we can now switch to further testing on our plants with the objective of validating the data recorded in the laboratory in the warmer months (spring, summer).