Self-Cleaning Transparent Dust Shields for Protecting Solar Panels and Other Devices

Abstract

Abstract The development of transparent flexible dust shields using both single- and three-phase electrodynamic shields is reported here for possible application on Mars and Earth to minimize obscuration of solar panels from the deposition of dust. The electrodynamic screens (EDS) are made of transparent plastic sheets, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for its UV radiation resistance, and a set of parallel conducting electrodes made of transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) embedded under a thin transparent film. The basic principle of EDS operation, a simplified mathematical model of particle trajectories, the experimental setup used for testing the screens, and their dust removal efficiencies (DRE) are described. Results of our measurements on dust removal efficiency of EDS as a function of the particle size and electrostatic charge distributions of Mars simulant dust are reported. The results show that the EDS technology has a strong potential for protecting solar panels against dust hazards with DRE higher than 80% for dust. The power requirements will be approximately 10 watts per square meter of the panels when cleaning is needed. Keywords: electrodynamic screenmars missionsparticle removalself-cleaning solar panelstribocharging The research was supported by NASA Grant NRA 02-0SS-01 (ROSS-2002), JPL Contract No. 1263202. We are thankful to Rao Surampudi and Chester Chu of JPL for their continued support for EDS development. We are thankful to Sid Clements of ASU, Jim Mantovani of NASA KSC, and Praveen Srirama, David Clark, and Chris Wyatt of UALR for their contributions to this study. Notes Both the theoretical and experimental studies are being pursued jointly at the Department of Applied Science, University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR), Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory, NASA Kennedy Space Center, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Appalachian State University (ASU), North Carolina.