Simulation of the PM2.5 Dust Deposition on Self-Cleaning Glasses

The accumulated dust on solar Photovoltaic (PV) module will decrease the transmittance of solar cell glazing and lead to significant reduction in power conversion efficiency of PV modules. To solve this problem as mentioned, self-cleaning technology, as a possible way to reduce the dust deposition on the surface of glass, can be used in the solar energy field. In this paper, we use Computaional Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to simulate the particle deposition on the traditional glass and glass with self-cleaning coating, and compare the quantity of particle accumulation on different types of glass. One model is constructed for the self-cleaning glass simulation in the chamber with the size of 60cm*100cm*60cm by controlling the surface roughness of the chamber’s undersurface. The simulation results verified that the existence of self-cleaning glass could reduce the quantity of particle deposition dramatically, especially for particles with diameter less than 100nm. These findings prove that the use of self-cleaning technology can lessen the dust accumulation on PV module significantly.