Solar panel “Clean Machine” by former RDP students becomes finalist for provincial award
Aware of the benefits of a clean energy source like solar power, a former team of Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) engineering technology students sought to answer the question: how can you actually keep it clean?
Shedding some light on a solution for this problem, the team has been honoured as a provincial finalist for the Capstone Project of the Year Award by the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta’s (ASET).
ASET officials state that while solar panels are increasingly common as a climate-friendly, clean energy source, their efficiency decreases by as much as 50 per cent when they get dirty due to dust or grime.
They explain three types of systems currently exist for cleaning solar panels: