Study on a photovoltaic lunar dust removal system based on the photovoltaic effect of PLZT

The deposition of lunar dust on the surface of solar panels and optical elements is one of the most important problems need to be solved in lunar exploration. This paper will propose an initiative lunar dust removal system based on the photovoltaic effect of PbLaZrTi (PLZT), which is activated by the ultraviolet light extracted from sun light at the lunar surface. When ultraviolet light with a wavelength near 365nm illuminates on polarized PLZT materials, high voltages of several kilovolt per centimeter can be generated between two electrodes of PLZT. When two electrodes of PLZT are connected to a lunar dust collector (LDC) and the ITO film of protected surface respectively, an electrostatic field forms between LDC and the protected surface. Coulomb forces over particles will overcome gravitational force and surface forces, so the particles can be absorbed to LDC and removed by LDC finally. Based on the equivalent electrical model, mathematical model of electrostatic force is derived when the lunar removal electric field is acted either by single piece PLZT or by multi-pieces PLZT which are connected in parallel. Experimental platform is set up to prove the feasibility of this lunar dust removal system. In order to improve the removal efficiency, a novel configuration design of LDC based on multi-PLZT patched is proposed and its removal efficiency is evaluated by experiments.