Theory 30/Stokes Number/Solar panels
Soiling Follows Stokes
The claim
Dust accumulation on solar panels is set by the Stokes number of the particles, so wind removes some size classes and deposits others.
01Mechanism
Particles that follow the flow deposit by settling while inertial ones impact; the ratio determines which process dominates at a given wind speed.
02Prediction
Soiling pattern should track particle Stokes.
03Refutation
Soiling tracking wind speed alone would remove particle inertia.