Sponsored by:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Project Background and Design Goal
Solar arrays are expected to power human activities on Mars, but dust accumulation significantly reduces power generation. The goal of this project is to investigate the use of piezoelectric actuators to remove dust by inducing vibrations on solar cells.
Design Outcomes
- Modeled a solar cell and piezoelectric actuators in ANSYS to optimize actuator placement for maximum vibrations
- Identified the solar cell’s resonant frequency to drive the piezo actuators.
- Selected actuators for experimental testing.
- Verified power recovery after each cleaning cycle by testing.
Design Constraints
- Operate in the martian environment (dry, dusty, thin CO2 atmosphere, temperatures from
20 °C to -70 °C). - Design shall not increase the mass of the solar cell by more than 30%.
- Shall consume less than 0.088Wh.
- Design shall restore approximately 70% of solar cell output.
Download the project summary (PDF file).
Image 1: ANSYS modal analysis of the solar cell with two actuators.
Image 2: A dusted solar cell during testing.
Members of the Project Team
Student Team:
- Ryan Bercich - Major: Computer Engineering
- Juliah Moriango - Major: Electrical Engineering
- James Morrison - Major: Mechanical Engineering
- Philip Jensen - Major: Mechanical Engineering
Industry Representative: Meghan Bush and Jeremiah McNatt
Faculty Advisor: Jason Petaja
Pictured left to right: Ryan Bercich, Juliah Moriango, James Morrison, and Philip Jensen