Old solar panels regain 96% power as wind tech wipes off 83% dust

A research team from the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST) and Samsung Electronics has developed a novel self-powered system that uses wind energy to remove dust from solar panels, significantly improving their efficiency. The core innovation is a wind-powered three-phase rotational triboelectric nanogenerator (RTENG) that supplies high voltage (up to 1,383 volts) to an electrodynamic screen (EDS), which actively sweeps dust off panels in a single direction. This design overcomes limitations of previous single-phase systems that moved dust side to side and relied on gravity, resulting in inconsistent and less efficient cleaning, especially on tilted panels. The new three-phase EDS system demonstrated a dust removal efficiency of 83.48%, about 1.6 times higher than earlier models, and restored solar panels to approximately 96% of their original power output using only wind power. This technology is particularly valuable for remote or harsh environments—such as deserts, mountains, or