Self Cleaning Solar Panels Brighten Solar Power’s Future
Posted by Damien Cabral on Tue, Aug 24, 2010
Don’t you hate washing your windows every spring? We all do. Well imagine washing over 25 football fields worth of glass. Many of our commercial sized solar farms face this harsh reality everyday (especially in the desert regions). As you may already know, Solar PV panels (photovoltaic) utilize the light from the sun and convert it into energy we use to power our homes and offices. Unfortunately, over time these panels can get very dirty, especially the panels located in our sun rich deserts (pictured above). This dirt/dust build up decreases the panel efficiency and ultimately leads to less power generation.
How would you go about cleaning thousands of solar panels at one time? It is a tough call because you are combing cleaning techniques (typically water and soap) with sophisticated equipment and a large volume of electricity, usually not the best mix. Luckily for the future of the solar industry, some very smart scientists are hard at work trying to solve this problem.
Recently, the American Chemical Society (ACS) released a report that claims there may be a solution. The technology’s origin can be traced back to self-dusting technology developed for the space mission to Mars. An electrically sensitive material is place on the glass or a transparent plastic sheet covering the panels. Sensors monitor the dust levels on the panel and trigger an electric charge when the dust reaches unacceptable levels. The charge triggers a dust-repelling wave lifting the dust away. Scientists insist that this process removes 90% of the dust in under 2 minutes.
We have a feeling that this new technology will prove to be very useful, as more commercial sized solar installations break ground. Are you interested in learning more about Solar Panels for your home? Download our Free Solar White Paper here.
Image Credit: Science Codex
