Synthesis of transparent thermal insulation coating for efficient solar cells

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce the simple synthesis process of thermal-insulation coating by using three different nanoparticles, namely, nano-zinc oxide (ZnO), nano-tin dioxide (SnO2) and nano-titanium dioxide (TiO2), which can reduce the temperature of solar cells. Design/methodology/approach The thermal-insulation coating is designed using sol-gel process. The aminopropyltriethoxysilane/methyltrimethoxysilane binder system improves the cross-linking between the hydroxyl groups, -OH of nanoparticles. The isopropyl alcohol is used as a solvent medium. The fabrication method is a dip-coating method. Findings The prepared S1B1 coating (20 Wt.% of SnO2) exhibits high transparency and great thermal insulation property where the surface temperature of solar cells has been reduced by 13°C under 1,000 W/m2 irradiation after 1 h. Meanwhile, the Z1B2 coating (20 Wt.% of ZnO) reduced the temperature of solar cells by 7°C. On the other hand, the embedded nanoparticles have improved the fill factor of solar cells by 0.2 or 33.33%. Research limitations/implications Findings provide a significant method for the development of thermal-insulation coating by a simple synthesis process and low-cost materials. Practical implications The thermal-insulation coating is proposed to prevent exterior heat energy to the inside solar panel glass. At the same time, it can prevent excessive heating on the solar cell’s surface, later improves the efficiency of solar cell. Originality/value This study presents a the novel method to develop and compare the thermal-insulation coating by using various nanoparticles, namely, nano-TiO2, nano-SnO2 and nano-ZnO at different weight percentage.