Dust can cause up to 60% less energy production from solar panels in the desert. The NOMADD is a new innovative device that can change this.
In an effort to reduce their carbon footprints, countries in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia are increasingly looking at solar energy.
However, the big challenge to using solar panels in the desert is – you guessed it – dust.
The accumulation of dust on solar panels has made it challenging for the development of a thriving solar industry in the desert.
Georg Eitelhuber however, is an Australian-born mechanical engineer who is changing the game for solar energy in the Middle East.
A few years ago, Eitelhuber began developing a system to keep solar panels clean in the desert – a device called the NOMADD.
Eitelhuber is the founder and chief technology officer of NOMADD, a fully autonomous water-less robotic cleaning device that latches onto solar panels, removing dust.
The device is waterless, meaning it can operate in remote conditions in water scarce environments and still clean dust off of solar panels.
Eitelhuber believes that the Middle East is in an incredible position to take advantage of solar energy “because you’re getting more solar energy than many places in the rest of the world,” said Eitelhuber.
However, dust storms and sandstorms can quickly decrease the amount of energy that solar panels can produce, and therefore demotivate people from using them.
“Desert winds pick up the dust and push it on to the solar panels, all day, every day. Sometimes you can have dust storms which put so much dust on the solar panel surface, you can lose 60% of your output in a single day, said Eitelhuber.”
Eitelhuber realized that dust was a major issue for solar panels in Saudi Arabia. Solar panels are often cleaned manually, using a substantial amount of time, labor, energy, and water.
“Cleaning solar panels is no fun at the best of times, but if you’re standing outside in 50 degrees of heat pushing a broom up and down using water that’s been desalinated with the electricity that you’re producing, it’s a no win situation,” said Eitelhuber.
The device Eitelhuber has created is fully automated and does not require supervision while it is operating.
“The NOMADD is designed to automatically and fully self contain and move from one end of the panel and back again, and fully clean without water, and then recharge using a minute fraction of the energy being produced by the solar panels,” said Eitelhuber.
Eitelhuber moved to Saudi Arabia in 2009 to become a physics teacher at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, however It wasn’t until 2010, when Eitelhuber realized the need for a device that cleans and removes dust from solar panels when he learned how solar panels were being cleaned.
He started the project years ago, but the device has now come a long way winning several awards including the 2015 Forbes Award for Middle East Entrepreneurs Shaping Saudi Arabia’s future.
“I started years ago using lego and rolled up pieces of paper to prototype the NOMADD device, said Eitelhuber.”
Now, the NOMADD has come to fruition and a single device can be mounted on a row of solar panels up to 200 meters long and 3 meters wide.
“It uses a unique brush application mechanism which essentially persuades the dust to leave the panels with a minimum amount of interaction with the brush. Each NOMADD is capable of cleaning approximately 100 kilowatts of panels,” said Eitelhuber.
Although life in Saudi Arabia has long been defined by the oil industry, the country has now begun to look at what it has an abundance of: sunlight.
Eitelhuber has realized the problem that dust could have on the future solar industry in the region.
Despite the Middle East having an abundance of sunlight, it is products like the NOMADD that could allow the possibility for a successful solar industry in the future.
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