1. Subscribersonhouse
    Fast and Curious
    slatington, pa, usa
    Joined
    28 Dec '04
    Moves
    53223
    22 Nov '18 00:342 edits
    Not by design but it is now thought electrically charged dust devils attracts dust gathered on solar cells, extending the lifetime of Opportunity WAY past it's design life which was only 3 months.
    It sounds like future robots could be equipped with charge devices that do that job any time it needs it.

    https://www.space.com/25577-mars-rover-opportunity-solar-panels-clean.html

    Now a reality, at least in the labs:

    YouTube

    BTW, tandem solar cells, perovskites with IR now up to 24% efficiency:

    https://phys.org/news/2018-09-perovskitecigs-tandem-cell-efficiency-percent.html#nRlv

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