About solar lighting 14 October 2025
Across the world, air pollution is a major health, environmental, and economic challenge. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2023), 99% of the global population breathes air that exceeds recommended quality thresholds. In major cities across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, regular episodes of smog (a mixture of fog and human-made pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide or fine particles) are common, while in Europe, 96% of the urban population is still exposed to air pollution levels above WHO recommendations (EEA, 2024).
In this context, one question often arises among energy transition stakeholders:
Do solar panels remain efficient under polluted skies?
The answer is clear: yes. Modern solar panels, especially those designed by Sunna Design, are built to perform efficiently even under smog or high pollution. And beyond that, their deployment actively helps improve air quality.
Contrary to popular belief, smog does not completely block sunlight. Although suspended particles reduce direct light, diffuse light remains abundant and usable by photovoltaic cells. New-generation panels can capture this diffuse light and maintain stable production, even under grey skies.
A study by the MIT (Urban Haze and Photovoltaics, 2018) found that air pollution can reduce photovoltaic output by 2–9% in most large urban areas, and up to 11% in highly polluted cities such as Delhi. In other words, a solar panel continues to produce 90–98% of its potential output even during smog episodes, a much smaller impact than commonly assumed.
At Sunna Design, this resilience is no coincidence. Our products integrate TOPCon photovoltaic cells, ultra-efficient components capable of maintaining high performance even under low-light conditions.
These TOPCon cells offer an exceptional energy efficiency of up to 26%, providing nearly 20% more power than standard panels. They are also fully resistant to LID (Light Induced Degradation) and PID (Potential Induced Degradation), ensuring stable performance over years of operation, even under heat, humidity, or dust.
In addition, our panels feature self-cleaning coatings that reduce dust and fine particle buildup on the glass surface. This innovation minimizes maintenance needs while ensuring consistent power generation in demanding urban and industrial environments.
On our latest EverGen 3 range, these technologies are combined with an optimized mechanical design and intelligent energy management for long-term, reliable performance.
Every kilowatt-hour of solar electricity replaces a kilowatt-hour produced by fossil fuels. In France, this avoids approximately 30–50 g of CO₂ depending on the electricity mix (French Senate, 2024). In heavily carbonized countries dominated by coal, replacing fossil energy can avoid up to 600–800 g of CO₂ per kWh (Planète-Énergies, 2023).
Beyond CO₂, this means fewer fine particles, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, the key pollutants behind smog and respiratory diseases.
Solar energy is therefore a direct solution to improve air quality: the more solar electricity we produce, the less we burn gas, coal, or oil.
Beyond clean energy generation, solar public lighting is a strategic tool for cities and communities committed to the energy transition. It combines performance, autonomy, and energy efficiency, while significantly reducing the environmental footprint of urban infrastructure.
Key benefits include:
The EverGen 3 solar lighting range from Sunna Design perfectly illustrates this approach, combining high-efficiency TOPCon cells, self-cleaning coatings, and connected energy management for consistent performance and a smaller environmental footprint
Even though Sunna Design panels are built for demanding conditions, simple actions can further optimize lifespan and efficiency:
These practices ensure stable, long-lasting performance while reducing maintenance and travel-related emissions.
At the OCP industrial site, 195 autonomous EverGen solar streetlights were installed, organized into 15 groups monitored through the SunnaCloud platform. The client now benefits from real-time energy monitoring, preventive maintenance, and a significant reduction in operating costs, all with zero local CO₂ emissions.
In several rural municipalities, Sunna Design’s solar solutions provided reliable public lighting where the grid was non-existent. By eliminating the use of polluting generators, these projects have improved air quality and night-time safety.
Sunna Design supports cities and developers in deploying autonomous solar solutions tailored to all urban or rural environments.
