Ideas for a solar panel cleaner Options

[hendric]

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.

1. Starting at daybreak, the tank starts filled with cold, dense atmo.
2. As the tank warms, the pressure builds within the tank.
3. Once the pressure reaches the cut-off of the pressure relief valve, the valve triggers and opens full-bore until the pressure difference reaches zero, and it then closes.
4. Pressurized air comes out of the tank and blows off dust from dust-sensitive devices, camera, solar panels, view ports, etc.
5. At night fall, the tank cools, lowering the pressure within the tank until it is below the outside pressure.
6. The one way valve opens, refilling the tank with colder, denser air.

Because the tank isn't required to hold high pressures, it can be very light. There is about 100 degree C difference between day/night, meaning during the day the tank should reach about 50% higher pressure than night time. The pressure difference can be increased by adding a heating element.

This removes the need for storing a gas for the cleaning, as well as any need for a pump.

Ready...Set...Rip 'er apart!

[simonbp]

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

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