This study explores the use of electrostatic cleaning to remove dust from the surface of photovoltaic solar panels. First of all, existing systems used for dust removal from solar panels were evaluated. Then, the effects of dust on the panel were investigated for Şanlıurfa province in Turkey. In addition, the elemental content of the powder was analyzed. A new device for electrostatic cleaning has been designed and implemented. The cleaning performance of this device has been tested considering the electrode designs. The electric field value was determined by analytical and numerical methods in the conventional model (parallel electrode) model. Electric field distribution was investigated using Ansys Maxwell simulation software. The printed circuit boards of the proposed model and the conventional model were produced. The traditional model with positive and negative waveform is widely used in electrostatic cleaner studies. Dust removal efficiencies and electrical losses for different frequency and voltage values were compared for both cards. It has been shown that the proposed model can perform cleaning with high efficiency despite similar loss variation.

In this study, a novel electrostatic cleaning scheme has been applied to a new designed and developed electrode having high cleaning efficiency. In this method, a high voltage, four-channel, 1 Hz square wave signal is applied to a specially designed electrode array. Models of the electric field distribution of the proposed electrode array were developed and analyzed using Ansys Maxwell simulation software and printed circuits boards (PCBs) were produced. The performance of dust removal using the electrodes was evaluated. A 1 MW solar power plant was taken as a case study, and performance and cost were compared with the classical panel cleaning method (wet cleaning system). Our study has shown that the electrostatic cleaning method can be carried out with lower cost and higher efficiency than existing methods.