Yingli Green Energy, a solar panel manufacturer, announced a partnership with WattGlass, a provider of the best-in-class anti-reflection (AR) and anti-soiling (AS) coating for module glass. WattGlass is a SunShot awardee and has been working closely with Yingli Green Energy Americas over the past twelve months to demonstrate leading performance and reliability metrics.

The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade. Through SunShot, the Energy Department supports efforts by private companies, universities, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour.

The WattGlass coating virtually eliminates reflection, glare, and fogging on glass and other transparent materials using a proprietary nanoparticle coating. The coating is uses no solvents and is completely water based which makes it easy to handle and eliminates cumbersome storage requirements. The coating improves nameplate module power output over competing coatings while also providing value to project owners through reduced operational and maintenance costs. This partnership will combine Yingli’s world class manufacturing expertise with WattGlass’ award winning technology and will result in a pilot demonstration in 2018.

“Yingli is focused on providing the most value to customers and we are committed to differentiating ourselves through advanced technology solutions. The WattGlass coating is an example of this commitment as it enables higher power outputs while also reducing the maintenance costs for project owners,” commented Sergiu Pop, Director of Business Development for Yingli Americas. “We are evaluating the technology for implementation across our product lines and are excited to be working with WattGlass.”

“The SunShot award has enabled us to complete all the necessary testing to go-to-market and we are thrilled to be working with Yingli,” said Corey Thompson, CEO of WattGlass. “The WattGlass coating will provide an immediate advantage over competing technologies and the Yingli team is world-class at moving technologies from the lab to full-scale manufacturing.”