Ideas for a solar panel cleaner |
Ideas for a solar panel cleaner |
May 22 2008, 05:55 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Director of Galilean Photography Group: Members Posts: 896 Joined: 15-July 04 From: Austin, TX Member No.: 93 |
Just had an idea for a solar panel cleaner. Place a small, black tank on top of the deck. At the bottom of the tank is a one-way valve pointing into the tank. At the side of the tank is a pressure-relief valve tied to the dust removal tubes.
This removes the need for storing a gas for the cleaning, as well as any need for a pump. Ready...Set...Rip 'er apart! -------------------- Space Enthusiast Richard Hendricks
-- "The engineers, as usual, made a tremendous fuss. Again as usual, they did the job in half the time they had dismissed as being absolutely impossible." --Rescue Party, Arthur C Clarke Mother Nature is the final inspector of all quality. |
|
|
May 29 2008, 03:57 AM
Post
#2
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 291 Joined: 29-December 05 From: Ottawa, ON Member No.: 624 |
The simplist and most weight efficient would be to have "windshield wipers". You may want to have them charged to repell dust magnetically (or attract them and then switch polarity to dump them over the side) They could be rotated after the swipe with a brush to give them a nice polish after.
|
|
|
May 29 2008, 07:16 AM
Post
#3
|
|
Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
The simplist and most weight efficient would be to have "windshield wipers". Wipers to cover all of the arrays on a vehicle would be complex, large and heavy. You want a non-moving, low mass, low volume solution. I reported on one in development at the IAC in '06 - something along these lines.. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.js...rnumber=1391965 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.js...6141.pdf?temp=x http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6911593/description.html http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.js...85/01190698.pdf Doug |
|
|
Sep 13 2010, 06:06 PM
Post
#4
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1591 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
Wipers to cover all of the arrays on a vehicle would be complex, large and heavy. You want a non-moving, low mass, low volume solution. I reported on one in development at the IAC in '06 - something along these lines.. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.js...rnumber=1391965 (Bump of an old but relevant thread) News of work along the same lines: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26116/page1/ QUOTE The technology was developed for future rover missions to Mars, but it could work here on Earth to keep solar panels operating at peak capacity. It uses electrostatic charge to repel dust and force it to the edges of the panels. It can remove 90 percent of the dust on a solar panel in a two-minute cycle, says Malay Mazumder, a research professor at Boston University who led the work.
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 20th September 2024 - 03:18 PM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |