In recent years, the installed capacity ofsolar power generation equipment has been continuously increasing, but in coldand snowy areas, solar panels are easily covered by snow, leading to a decreasein power generation efficiency. Scientists at the University of Michigan havedeveloped a transparent coating that can reduce the accumulation of ice andsnow on solar panels, resulting in a winter power generation efficiency of 85%.The research findings are published in Advanced Materials Technology.

Anish Tuteja, a professor of materialsscience and engineering at the University of Michigan, stated that in cold andsnowy climates, solar panel power generation can be reduced by 80-90%, which isalso a disadvantage for widespread solar power generation. During the researchon the deicing coating process, the team found that low interface toughness andlow adhesion strength are the key characteristics of deicing technology. Basedon this, vegetable oil is added to PVC materials to accurately balance lowsurface adhesion and low interface toughness, achieving good deicing and snowremoval effects. After testing at the solar field in Fairbanks, Alaska, theaverage snow and ice coverage of coated panels throughout the winter was about28%, while the average snow and ice coverage of uncoated panels was about 59%.This coating can be sprayed or brushed in cold weather and has a validityperiod of up to one year.

In addition, timely removal of ice and snowcovering the solar panels is also particularly important. The fully automaticcleaning robot developed and produced by Multifit Solar has a scrubbingfunction, which can timely and effectively remove floating snow. This G1cleaning robot comes with spiral bristles, made of nylon material, and therobot can be fixed on the solar panel array to remotely control the robot inthe background as needed. When encountering snowy weather, when the ice andsnow have not yet formed, the scrubbing mode of the cleaning robot can beactivated for repeated cleaning, making the solar panel less likely to becovered by ice and snow for a long time and affecting power generationefficiency.The G1 cleaning robot has been selling well for over 5 years and hasbeen exported to dozens of countries both domestically and internationally,receiving unanimous praise from customers.