Prototype Development and Evaluation of Self-Cleaning Concentrated Solar Power Collectors
The feasibility of integrating and retrofitting transparent electrodynamic screens (EDS) on the front surfaces of solar collectors was established as a means to provide active self-cleaning properties for parabolic trough and heliostat reflectors, solar panels, and Fresnel lenses. Prototype EDS-integrated solar collectors, including second-surface glass mirrors, metallized Acrylic-film mirrors, and dielectric mirrors, were produced and tested in environmental test chambers for removing the dust layer deposited on the front surface of the mirrors. The evaluation of the prototype EDS-integrated mirrors was conducted using dust and environmental conditions that simulate the field conditions of the Mojave Desert. Test results showed that the specular reflectivity of the mirrors could be maintained at over 90% over a wide range of dust loadings ranging from 0 to 10 g/m2, with particle diameter varying from 1 to 50 μm. The measurement of specular reflectivity (SR) was performed using a D&S Reflectometer at wavelength 660 nm. A non-contact reflectometer was designed and constructed for rapid measurement of specular reflectivity at the same wavelength. The use of this new noncontact instrument allowed us to measure SR before and after EDS activation. Several EDS prototypes were constructed and evaluated with different electrode configurations, electrode materials, and encapsulating dielectric materials.
- Research Organization:
- Boston Univ., MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0005794
- OSTI ID:
- 1351259
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-EE0005794_Boston_Mazumder_EDS; Boston_Mazumder_EDS_2015
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Mazumder, M. K., Horenstein, M., Stark, J. W., Girouard, P., Sumner, R., Henderson, B., Sadder, O., Hidetaka, I., Biris, A., and Sharma, R., “Characterization of electrodynamic screen performance for dust removal from solar pan- els and solar hydrogen generators,” Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on, 49(4), July, pp. 1793–1800, (2013)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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