The EnergyVille dust wind tunnel has been specially designed to study dust dynamics and provides solutions to
understand and mitigate soiling problems in various environments and climates. We can also test your instruments and devices under harsh (windy and/or dusty) conditions. The environmental dust wind tunnel allows reproducible and reliable testing under strictly controlled conditions.
Contact
Kris Baert
Business Developer Electrical Energy Networks and Power Electronics at EnergyVille/KU Leuven
Description
EnergyVille has excellent facilities to tackle soiling problems:
- environmental wind tunnel with 2 test sections
- test sections are equipped with special light sources, suitable for photovoltaic measurements
- controlled sediment supply
- wind and dust measuring equipment
- measurements of wind, turbulence, temperature, soiling, optical transmittance and electrical properties and performance
- wind tunnel allows measurements in clean as well as in dust-laden airflow
- equipment for sediment characterisation
Advantages
The EnergyVille wind tunnel facility offers important benefits:
- measurements are performed under strictly controlled wind and dust conditions
- high repeatability and reproducibility of the results
- fast and reliable testing of protocols, methodology, instruments and accessories
- prediction of soiling effects on photovoltaic and other surfaces
- simulations, at full or reduced scale, of wind and dust dynamics
This service is suitable for
- manufacturers of anti-soiling and anti-reflective coatings
- designers and manufacturers of solar collectors
- companies involved in the planning and/or construction of new solar plants
- manufacturers of dust measuring equipment
- building architects
- institutions qualified for indoor and outdoor PV testing
Applications
- testing of anti-reflective and anti-soiling coatings
- testing of solar collector design and its effect on soiling
- prediction of soiling rates and soiling distributions
- soiling on buildings and consequences for building-integrated and building-applied photovoltaics
- wind-generated cooling of photovoltaic modules
- development and calibration of equipment for soiling research