In dry arid environments solar panels lose their efficacy as dirt and dust accumulate on their surface. Current solutions are very labor intensive and environmentally unfriendly requiring manual laborers to drive to the site and hose off the photovoltaics with tens of thousands of liters of desalinated water. This approach to cleaning solar panels merely introduces a new problem: excessive water use. KAUST has developed a superior solution that enables solar energy to thrive and scale up without squandering water resources. KAUST’s fully automated mechanical system effectively removes dust without requiring any water. This environmentally friendly technology enables more widespread use of solar photovoltaics in arid regions and helps to conserve the Earth’s water resources.
This environmentally friendly technology enables more widespread use of solar photovoltaics in arid regions and helps to conserve the Earth’s water resources.