Development of Self-Cleaning and Antidust Acrylic/SiO₂ Nanocomposite Coatings for Solar Panel Applications

Dust accumulation on solar panels can reduce light transmittance by over 30% within a month, severely impairing energy output in arid regions; therefore, self-cleaning antidust coatings based on acrylic/functionalized silicon dioxide (f-SiO₂) nanocomposites were developed to mitigate this performance loss. The prepared coatings were comprehensively characterized by surface and structural analytical tools along with contact-angle goniometry and nanoindentation/scratch testing to evaluate their hydrophobic stability and mechanical properties. The result showed that UV–vis spectroscopy confirmed a high optical transmittance of ∼91% for the acrylic/7.5 wt % f-SiO₂ coating, only slightly lower than the pristine acrylic film. Optical profilometry revealed a microtextured surface with an average roughness of ∼2.5 μm, enhancing the dust removal efficiency. The coatings displayed superhydrophobicity with a maximum water contact angle of 153°, validating their strong self-cleaning capability. Mechanical testing demonstrated a notable increase in hardness from 0.23 GPa (pure acrylic) to 0.41 GPa (7.5 wt % f-SiO₂), along with improved adhesion, as the critical load rose from 8.2 to 16.4 N. In addition, a systematic study was conducted to evaluate the influence of pure acrylic and acrylic/7.5f-SiO₂ coatings on the photovoltaic performance of commercial minicrystalline-silicon solar modules. These results confirm that the developed acrylic/f-SiO₂ coatings successfully integrate high transparency, improved mechanical durability, and excellent self-cleaning efficiency without compromising their performance, offering a sustainable and scalable surface protection strategy to minimize dust-induced performance losses in solar energy systems operating under arid and high-soiling conditions.