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 22 2008, 06:01 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Creative and simple. However, my gut feeling is that the pressure differentials would not be significant so the velocity of the venting gas will be low and the duration brief. That "air" is not very dense and it requires a whole lot of energy under those circumstances to get the dust particle to move and to break whatever electrostatic bonds might be holding the dust particles in place.
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
|
|
|
May 22 2008, 06:22 PM
Post
#3
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 903 Joined: 30-January 05 Member No.: 162 |
Martian air is very dusty and will be passing through valve in both directions. I suspect dust will ruin the valve or it's sealing ability very quickly.
As for lack of 'pop' with the system, use a micro air pump cogged to the anemometer to pump air into the tank all day when ever wind blows. Dust problem will remain with the valving and now it is more complicated and heavier, but it will clean the panels. Suddenly I understand mission creep. |
|
|
May 23 2008, 09:54 AM
Post
#4
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 655 Joined: 22-January 06 Member No.: 655 |
I understand that the dust buid-up on the arrays has been gradual, with 'cleaning events' every so often improving the situation for a time. How about a plastic 'sticker' over the panels similar to the protective plastic you get over the screen of a new mobile or camera? This could be left in place until the mission is 'power-critical' and then peeled back from the arrays (taking the dust with it) by a mechanism similar to that which opens the arrays initially.
I imagine the plastic cover would be quite inexpensive, the peeling mechanism less so. |
|
|
May 23 2008, 12:56 PM
Post
#5
|
|
Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
|
|
|
May 23 2008, 03:40 PM
Post
#6
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
That would have to be some REALLY HIGH TECH plastic to withstand years of temperature swings and solar radiation.
And remain non-brittle and clear! |
|
|
May 23 2008, 05:04 PM
Post
#7
|
|
Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
And bloody expensive !
|
|
|
May 23 2008, 07:51 PM
Post
#8
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 33 Joined: 5-October 06 Member No.: 1223 |
The real answer is just to make the solar panels large enough so that they produce enough power throughout the mission even with dust accumulation. For long duration missions go nuke and have it powered by an RTG, they really are the way to go.
Those are the engineering choices Nasa have made and personally I think they are the best. Next to having an astronaut with a soft bristle brush brush that is. |
|
|
May 24 2008, 01:03 AM
Post
#9
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 444 Joined: 1-July 05 From: New York City Member No.: 424 |
I think "Roving Mars" mentions a similar plastic wrap roller idea. I think that JPL's eventual thinking was along the lines of Alex Chapman's comment; just making the solar panels bigger gives the biggest glow for the buck.
TTT |
|
|
May 27 2008, 02:54 AM
Post
#10
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 21 Joined: 29-November 06 From: SESE/ASU Member No.: 1437 |
The real problem with Mars (and Moon) dust is that it is so very electrically charged. If you walked over to one of the rovers, and tried to brush the dust off, it would probably stick to your spacesuit glove. For example, look how dirty the Apollo astronauts got (e.g. Cernan below); all that dust was electrostatic cling. So, a simple solution would be to run a ground strip from the structure of the panels to the ground (which they may already do, I don't know). A more proactive solution would be to put a negative charge on the panels (or on a transparent, conductive coating on top). This, though, would probably strain both the power and fiscal budgets...
Simon |
|
|
May 27 2008, 03:15 AM
Post
#11
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 279 Joined: 19-August 07 Member No.: 3299 |
The Earth polar zone is very windy. I don't know if it applies the same to Mars' polar? Any way, Phoenix is programmed to have a short live and will be closed by the end of spring which is the session of low Tau factor (Atmosphere not so dusty as the ones in the summer times).
Any techniques to keep the solar panels clean s only worth when it will be living all round year as does the MER-x robots. Hence its design is according to the Phoenix mission objectives of 3 months (by the end of August). Well, let us see if anything goes so well and its mission might be extended. |
|
|
May 27 2008, 03:27 AM
Post
#12
|
|
Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
For long duration missions go nuke and have it powered by an RTG, they really are the way to go. Gotta agree completely, here, Phoenix's solar arrays are sufficient for its mission, which has an environmentally constrained duration. Solar panels require maintenance in Martian conditions that's probably beyond the scope of automation for very long-term missions; might be also true for lunar conditions, but of course there's no wind transport of dust there so the effect should be smaller. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
May 29 2008, 03:42 AM
Post
#13
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 87 Joined: 17-May 08 Member No.: 4114 |
The real answer is just to make the solar panels large enough so that they produce enough power throughout the mission even with dust accumulation. For long duration missions go nuke and have it powered by an RTG, they really are the way to go. RTGs are unfortunately expensive, and fuel is getting scarce. The US has stopped production of Pu-238, and AFAIK the Russians are shutting theirs down as well. From what I understand, we have enough available for the currently planned missions but little beyond that. Thinking about panel cleaning, it seems to me you don't need to run it very frequently. From the MER experience, averaging once every 3 months would probably be plenty. If you only need a few tens of cycles total, simple filters may be sufficient to make Hendrics suggestion workable from a dust POV. You'd need to be able to isolate it (lock the valves closed and cover the filters), but that should fairly straightforward. OTOH, at that level of use an expendable source might be competitive. If you use something that is liquid or solid at modest pressures, you can get a large volume without wasting too much mass on pressure vessels. CO2 seems like the obvious choice, although you may have to expend some effort keeping it in the desired state. Larger panels are clearly the simpler (= lower technical risk) way, but being able to clean off after a major dust storm has a certain attraction. |
|
|
May 29 2008, 03:57 AM
Post
#14
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 290 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
#15
|
|
Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 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 |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 27th April 2024 - 04:42 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. |