Find dusting those tables and dressers a chore or a bore? Dread washing the windows?
Imagine keeping dust and grime off objects spread out over an area of 25 to 50 football fields. That’s the problem facing companies that deploy large-scale solar power installations, and scientists have now presented the development of one solution — self-dusting solar panels ― based on technology developed for space missions to Mars.
In a report at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on August 22, they described how a self-cleaning coating on the surface of solar cells could increase the efficiency of producing electricity from sunlight and reduce maintenance costs for large-scale solar installations.
For more on this article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100822150641.htm
Source: Science Daily / University of Toronto