Characterization of electrodynamic screen performance for dust removal from solar panels and solar hydrogen generators

The solar energy conversion in Gigawatt (GW) scales by photovoltaic, photothermal, and photoelectrochemical processes is of national and global importance. High transmission efficiency of sunlight through the top cover glass plates of the solar panels for light absorption and high light reflection efficiency of the mirrors for concentrating solar radiation for their incidence on solar energy conversion devices are needed. Automated cleaning processes, either passive or active processes are needed for cost-effective operation of these devices. Transparent electrodynamic screens (EDS), consisting of rows of transparent parallel electrodes embedded within transparent dielectric film can be used for dust removal. When the electrodes are activated by phased voltage, the dust particles on the surface of the film become electrostatically charged and are removed by the traveling wave generated by applied electric field. Over 90% of deposited dust is removed within two minutes, using a very small fraction of the energy produced by the panels. No water or mechanical cleaning is needed. We report here the processes involved in charging the dust layer deposited on the EDS and characterization of the charging efficiency. The performance of the EDS for dust removal from the solar panels, solar concentrators, and solar hydrogen generators is presented.