Simulating module anti-reflection coatings with SunSolve

Anti-reflection coatings are used on 92% of today’s module glass to reduce the front-surface reflection and increase the power output of the module. Currently, most anti-reflection coatings are designed to maximize transmittance at normal incidence to improve the power output at standard test conditions. However, in the field, where the meteorological conditions vary widely in time and space, it is not clear whether a maximum power gain at standard test conditions leads to maximum energy yield. Here, we use SunSolve Yield, a ray-tracing software, to investigate the optimum anti-reflection coating design by simulating the energy yield from a PV system under real-world conditions. We found that manufacturers could immediately provide a 0.3% increase in energy yield relative to their products today by simply increasing the ARC thickness by 20–40 nm thicker.