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What's the downside of cleaning it? Is it irreparably damaged by dust? Or does a micron-thick layer of dust render it ineffective? We built windshield wipers t

by just2n 14y ago

What's the downside of cleaning it? Is it irreparably damaged by dust? Or does a micron-thick layer of dust render it ineffective? We built windshield wipers to clean car windows. I think we can manage something to clean these automatically. In the meantime, putting on a pair of work shoes and getting out the ladder once a week/month to polish the mirror hardly seems like a downside given it might be able to cool a medium-large home at no cost.

MichaelApproved 14y ago
"putting on a pair of work shoes and getting out the ladder once a week/month to polish the mirror hardly seems like a downside" I also wonder about why cleaning isn't a solution but, if it is to be a solution, then that solution must be automated. An automated system would be cost effective, dependable and conserve water. In the hottest places, where water is naturally scarce, the water would need to be reclaimed, filtered and reused in an efficient manner.
- drakaal 14y ago
  These are basically super mirrors. Have you ever tried cleaning the mirror in your bathroom to a spot free shine? Now imagine you had that outside, and you had to do it with bird poo, and dust, but you couldn't scratch the mirror, you couldn't use anything that would streak, and you have to be able to do it quickly enough that you don't interfere with the cooling...
  - just2n 14y ago
    Perhaps nanotechnology can provide a transparent, repellant surface? Even if it's prohibitively expensive for say your bathroom mirror, this would be a good application for justifying cost.
drakaal 14y ago
It's not just that you have to clean it. It is that if you don't you have a heater instead of an airconditioner. So if you have a rain followed by 110F you have a very bad day. And I can buy a lot of AC for $60 an hour that I would pay someone to get on my roof.
bigiain 14y ago
I can't (quickly) find the original Google paper, but here's a report of their report, which says Google worked out it's worth cleaning flat-mounted solar panels, but andgles ones (at least at SF's latitude) are adequately cleaned by rain (again, assuming Bay Area rainfalls). http://www.etcgreen.com/industry-news/solar/should-you-clean-your-solar-panels http://www.etcgreen.com/industry-news/solar/should-you-clean...
- waps 14y ago
  As for cleaning it, it will work no matter how you point it, so put it vertical, aim it at the neighbors you like the least (or you could aim it at an angle into the sky as well). But you can't reduce the cost and danger of that monster significantly : * a quartz : ? * SiC : not exactly cheap in large panels, but ok * MgF2 : this substance is NOT welcome in my house (you can't safely touch it, and if it gets vaporized or granulized in a fire or because someone puts a drill to this thing, people will start dying), also : expensive. * TiO2 : very very expensive * Ag : silver. Surprisingly cheap. This thing has the same problem as nuclear power. Solid state, yes. Easy, powerful and (probably) lasts hundreds of years. But it can turn a small misstep into a neighborhood extinction (exaggerated, but then so is nuclear power's dangers)
  - adrianN 14y ago
    According to the Wikipedia, MgF2 is not harmful to touch, only if inhaled or swallowed. But so are lots of materials used in construction. And I don't think TiO2 is very expensive, it's used all over as a pigment. Even sunscreen has it.

by just2n 14y ago

MichaelApproved 14y ago

"putting on a pair of work shoes and getting out the ladder once a week/month to polish the mirror hardly seems like a downside" I also wonder about why cleaning isn't a solution but, if it is to be a solution, then that solution must be automated. An automated system would be cost effective, dependable and conserve water. In the hottest places, where water is naturally scarce, the water would need to be reclaimed, filtered and reused in an efficient manner.

drakaal 14y ago
These are basically super mirrors. Have you ever tried cleaning the mirror in your bathroom to a spot free shine? Now imagine you had that outside, and you had to do it with bird poo, and dust, but you couldn't scratch the mirror, you couldn't use anything that would streak, and you have to be able to do it quickly enough that you don't interfere with the cooling...
- just2n 14y ago
  Perhaps nanotechnology can provide a transparent, repellant surface? Even if it's prohibitively expensive for say your bathroom mirror, this would be a good application for justifying cost.

drakaal 14y ago

It's not just that you have to clean it. It is that if you don't you have a heater instead of an airconditioner. So if you have a rain followed by 110F you have a very bad day. And I can buy a lot of AC for $60 an hour that I would pay someone to get on my roof.

bigiain 14y ago

I can't (quickly) find the original Google paper, but here's a report of their report, which says Google worked out it's worth cleaning flat-mounted solar panels, but andgles ones (at least at SF's latitude) are adequately cleaned by rain (again, assuming Bay Area rainfalls). http://www.etcgreen.com/industry-news/solar/should-you-clean-your-solar-panels http://www.etcgreen.com/industry-news/solar/should-you-clean...

waps 14y ago
As for cleaning it, it will work no matter how you point it, so put it vertical, aim it at the neighbors you like the least (or you could aim it at an angle into the sky as well). But you can't reduce the cost and danger of that monster significantly : * a quartz : ? * SiC : not exactly cheap in large panels, but ok * MgF2 : this substance is NOT welcome in my house (you can't safely touch it, and if it gets vaporized or granulized in a fire or because someone puts a drill to this thing, people will start dying), also : expensive. * TiO2 : very very expensive * Ag : silver. Surprisingly cheap. This thing has the same problem as nuclear power. Solid state, yes. Easy, powerful and (probably) lasts hundreds of years. But it can turn a small misstep into a neighborhood extinction (exaggerated, but then so is nuclear power's dangers)
- adrianN 14y ago
  According to the Wikipedia, MgF2 is not harmful to touch, only if inhaled or swallowed. But so are lots of materials used in construction. And I don't think TiO2 is very expensive, it's used all over as a pigment. Even sunscreen has it.