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August 30, 2010 - Volume 88, Number 35
- p. 24
- DOI: 10.1021/CEN082310150422
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U.S. Air Force
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October 28, 2011
Speedy Homemade-Explosive Detector
Forensic Chemistry: A new method could increase the number of explosives detected by airport screeners.
Solar Panel Makers Cry Foul
Trade: U.S. companies complain of market dumping by China.
Novartis To Cut 2,000 Jobs
Layoffs follow similar moves by Amgen, AstraZeneca.
Nations Break Impasse On Waste
Environment: Ban to halt export of hazardous waste to developing world.
New Leader For Lawrence Livermore
Penrose (Parney) Albright will direct DOE national lab.
Hair Reveals Source Of People's Exposure To Mercury
Toxic Exposure: Mercury isotopes in human hair illuminate dietary and industrial sources.
Why The Long Fat?
Cancer Biochemistry: Mass spectrometry follows the metabolism of very long fatty acids in cancer cells.
Dust particles that collect on solar panels and block sunlight can be shaken off with a jolt of electricity—a technique that could help keep the panels operating efficiently. Malay K. Mazumder of Boston University described a “self-cleaning” technology for solar panels, which he and his colleagues originally developed for solar panels on spacecraft. The panels are covered with a transparent screen impregnated with transparent indium tin oxide electrodes. Pulses of electricity sent through the electrodes generate waves of electrostatic and dielectrophoretic forces that literally shake both charged and uncharged dust particles off to the sides of the panels. Mazumder cited experiments showing that 4 g of dust on a 1-m2 panel reduces solar power conversion by 40%. In desert regions such as those of Arizona, Australia, and India, where large-scale solar panels are common, the dust problem can be even worse. With the Boston group’s technology, a solar panel could dust itself off in two minutes using less than 10 W/m2, which is only a small amount of the power generated by the panels, Mazumder said.
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- ISSN 0009-2347
- Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society
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