Antireflective coating using a WO3–TiO2 nanoparticle photocatalytic composition for high efficiency thin-film Si photovoltaic modules

Abstract We propose a cost-effective, low-temperature antireflective coating for the outer glass substrates of 1.43 m 2 thin-film Si photovoltaic modules using a WO 3 –TiO 2 nanoparticle photocatalyst. The coated nanoporous films provide the broadband antireflective effect, which results in the increased initial performances. Notably, the self-cleaning effect due to the photo-induced superhydrophilicity leads to a significantly reduced outdoor-exposed degradation. Therefore, the drastic energy output gain of 4.3% is achieved for a tandem photovoltaic module via a long-term outdoor field test.