Improvement of an electrostatic cleaning system for removal of dust from solar panels

Abstract

An improved cleaning system has been developed that uses electrostatic forces to remove dust from the surface of solar panels. A two-phase high voltage is applied to the parallel wire electrodes embedded in the glass plate of a solar panel. It was previously demonstrated that the adhering dust can be repelled from the surface of a slightly inclined panel by applying a low-frequency high-voltage. However, the performance is low for extremely small dust particles. The proposed system improves the performance by the application of a high voltage, reduction of adhesion force, utilization of natural wind, and frequent operation before the deposition of dust. In addition to the cleaning performance, the frequency response and actual power consumption of the high voltage source was investigated to provide data for the design and efficiency evaluation of the system. It was demonstrated that the energy consumption is extremely small with a simple and potentially low-cost high voltage source. This technology is expected to increase the efficiency of the mega solar power plants constructed in deserts at low latitudes.