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US 2019/0245485 A1Published application
Optical Soiling Measurement Device for Photovoltaic Arrays
OwnerMichael Gostein, William Stueveinventors
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Abstract
A device comprising a transparent window, a photoemitter, a photodetector, and a measurement unit, wherein said photoemitter is configured to illuminate soiling particles accumulating on a surface of said transparent window, said photodetector is configured to generate a signal based on detection of light that passes through said transparent window and reflects and/or scatters from said soiling particles, and said measurement unit determines a soiling level of said transparent window based upon a measurement of said signal.
Claims11
A device comprising
- a transparent window,
- a photoemitter,
- a photodetector, and
- a measurement unit,
- wherein
- said photoemitter is configured to emit light that illuminates soiling particles accumulating on a surface of said transparent window,
- said photodetector is configured to generate a signal based at least upon detection of a portion of said light that passes through said transparent window and reflects and/or scatters from said soiling particles, and
- said measurement unit is configured to determine a soiling level of said transparent window, wherein said soiling level corresponds to a reduction in transmission of sunlight due to said soiling particles, based at least upon said signal and upon calibration data, wherein said calibration data relates said signal to sunlight transmission loss due to said soiling particles.
5 more elements
A method comprising
- allowing soiling particles to accumulate on a surface of a transparent window,
- illuminating said surface by emission of light from a photoemitter,
- measuring by a photodetector a portion of said light that scatters or reflects from said soiling particles, and
- determining a soiling level of said transparent window from a signal from said photodetector, wherein said soiling level corresponds to a reduction in transmission of sunlight due to said soiling particles, based at least upon said signal and upon calibration data, wherein said calibration data relates said signal to sunlight transmission loss due to said soiling particles.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.