Non-Contact Electrostatic Cleaning of Photovoltaic Panels Using Corona-Induced Charge Transfer

This paper presents a novel non-contact electrostatic dust removal technique designed to clean dust from surfaces without modifying them, making it especially applicable to photovoltaic (PV) systems. Dust particles are first charged by a negative corona discharge generated by needle electrodes at DC voltages in the range of −5 kV to −22 kV. The charged dust particles are then dislodged using electrostatic force from a metal plate biased at voltages between +5 kV and +22 kV. Dust removal efficiencies of up to 82.56 % were achieved. In addition, this noncontact electrostatic dust removal technique restored up to 97 % of a PV panel's power output, demonstrating this technique's potential as an effective, waterless, and contactless dust mitigation solution.