More Solar Power Thanks to Lockdown: Cleaner Air Causes Increased Yields for Photovoltaics

Jülich/Erlangen, 22 June 2020 – One notable side effect of the coronavirus lockdown has been the fall in anthropogenic air pollution. This can be seen, for instance, in the performance of solar power installations. The cleaner air has led to more sunlight reaching photovoltaic panels, which then produced more electricity, as scientists at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg have demonstrated together with partners at MIT and the solar developer Cleantech Solar. The researchers concentrated on the metropolis of Delhi, India in their study. The yield of solar power installations there was 8.3 % higher in late March than in the past three years around the same time, the scientists write in the journal Joule.

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