Electrostatic cleaning equipment for dust removal from soiled solar panels

Electrostatic cleaning equipment has been developed to remove dust from the surface of soiled solar panels. When a high AC voltage is applied to the parallel screen electrodes placed on a solar panel, the resultant electrostatic force acts on the particles near the electrodes. The reciprocatory motion of the particles between the electrodes arises due to the alternating electrostatic force, where some particles pass through the openings of the upper screen electrode and fall downward along the inclined panel owing to the gravitational force. We demonstrated how dust is removed efficiently from the panel surface. High cleaning performance is realized by the application of low frequency high voltage, and high inclination of the panel and low initial dust loading are preferable. Although residual dust accumulates after repeated cleaning operations, the amount of accumulated dust is much smaller than that without cleaning. The power consumption of this system is negligibly low. This technology is expected to significantly increase the efficiency of mega solar power plants constructed in deserts.